I’m in the middle of writing a book about black and white photography, and one of the topics I wanted to cover was why black and white still exists in a world of color, and whether black and white images can sometimes work better. It’s a difficult argument to make, but I think I’ve found a good example.
General
Adobe Lightroom: what is it, where do you get it, what does it cost in 2025?
Adobe Lightroom is not one program but three. You could easily call it an ecosystem. At heart, it’s a tool for both organizing your photos and editing them. So how do you get it, what does it cost, and which version do you need?
Referenced vs managed files in cataloguing software: what’s the difference?
Well, there’s quite a lot, as it happens, and it affects the way you store, access and organize your photos
Is noise as bad as you think it is?
This question comes in three parts. First, is your camera really as bad at high ISOs as you think? Second, is noise REALLY that intolerable? And is your attitude to noise stopping you from taking shots you might actually like?
More than half of photographers use Lightroom, according to Shotkit survey
Camera gear website Shotkit has run a survey of 657 photographers to find out what software they use, and Lightroom is by far the most popular option, with 58% of the vote. Equally interesting are the reasons why users don’t choose Lightroom, and what they use instead.
I’m shooting RAW with my iPhone but I’m not sure I should
Don’t get me wrong. I really value the processing headroom of RAW files, whether they’ve been shot on a phone or a full frame camera, but I’m starting to think the iPhone might be a special case.
Don’t forget about white balance just because you’re shooting RAW
It’s true that you can set the white balance to whatever you like when processing RAW files, but there are still advantages to choosing the setting you want – or you think you will want – on the camera when you shoot.
The one great strength of non-destructive editing – it remembers what you did
Have you ever browsed your back catalog of images, re-discovered one with some edits that you really love… but you can’t remember how you did it? For someone like me who uses all sorts of software for all sorts of different techniques (and has a memory like mine) it’s a real issue.
Panoramic photography tips: how to shoot panoramas successfully
Panoramic photography is really easy to do but not so easy to get right. Your software can work wonders, but you have to give it a fighting chance. Here are 10 panoramic photography tips that might help.
Why calling RAW files ‘digital negatives’ is only half right
RAW files are not quite ‘digital negatives’. They are actually more like the latent images on undeveloped film and need a ‘digital developer’. Choosing the best digital developer (RAW processing software) can make a big difference to your images.