Struggling with Lightroom CC

I’ve been trying to use Lightroom CC exclusively for managing and editing photos. The intention was to go all-in for a while and determine if I could live there.

I don’t think I can.

This is me just thinking out loud after a few weeks of giving Lightroom a fair shake.

Overall, Lightroom CC is fine. It’s missing some “power user” features from things like Lightroom Classic or Capture One Pro, but it’s easy to use, fairly powerful, and “nice”. I love being able to view and edit photos on any device at any time. That alone is what lead me to try this experiment. I like that it’s pared down and simple. I like that it now has Faces and “Sensei” for searches. The cloud has some magic features, certainly.

But the magic of the cloud is also the dealbreaker. I just can’t get past the thought of having all my photos managed and hosted by Adobe…basically forever. I don’t like that I can’t even look at my photos without using Lightroom. I don’t like that I can’t manage file names. I don’t like that there’s still no “trash” and if I were to fumble-finger a deletion I could lose photos permanently.

It feels unsafe for me to trust my library to Adobe’s cloud. I’ve got nothing against Adobe, and their software subscription plans are fair and a good value. Storage plans, on the other hand, could get steep, and that’s only going to get worse as my library grows.

I’m learning (or possibly confirming) that I’m lost without a “Reveal in Finder” option. I don’t like not having control over the underlying files.

This experiment may be drawing to a close. I may have to crawl back and beg Capture One Pro to take me back.

Wiki note