Adobe seems to have the whole ‘software for photographers’ market covered.  This isn’t to say they are the only ones out there (Aperture, Photomatix, Paint Shop Pro and Picasa are but just a few other popular ones), but Adobe offers a range of software, from the photo amature to the photo wizard; caring for all their necessary photo editing needs.

Adobe’s Photoshop, as part of it’s CS (Creative Suite) is the big boy of the family (see CS5 review here), while Photoshop Elements is the software of choice for photography beginners, which sort of leaves a gap then, for the photo enthusiast who needs more than what Elements offers, but doesn’t require all the complexity (or much higher price, for that matter) of PS.  Here is where Lightroom comes into play and with it’s latest version out now, it seems the Adobe Photo Phamily (don’t Google that, I made it up) is complete.

This isn’t the first version of LR, but version 3 has much more to offer the semi-pro photographer.  Importing of photos from your memory cards or directly from the camera is now much faster, thus saving you time when transferring.  For those of you with newer DSLR’s that have Movie Mode functions, you will be pleased to know that LR3 can now also import and manage your movie files as well. 

You can also tether your camera to your computer and use LR3 to preview the shots and your camera settings (aperture, shutter speed, white balance, ISO) in the Lightroom workspace.  The software also offers a shutter release command if you want to trigger the camera via the computer.

The improved processing engine of the software also allows for much better handling of RAW photos taken by your camera as well as providing better noise reduction controls!

Lightroom 3 will also recognise most (newer) camera lenses (from the EXIF data of your photos) and it’s lens correction function will work accordingly in correcting vignetting, distortion and chromatic aberration your lens may cause.

When you’re done editing your photos, LR3 has a number of refined and well laid options that will allow you to present your photos in a professional manner.  The Print module allows you to easily adjust the size of your photos, add borders and even assign printer profiles while the Slideshow module will allow you to creating stunning audio-visual presentations.  The Web module has new, refined templates with which you can showcase your portfolio online.

As with Apple’s Aperture, LR3 also has the Flickr tool, which allows you to upload your photos directly to your Flickr account (provided you have one).

So there you have it; if Photoshop Elements is the high school of Adobe photo editing software and if Photoshop CS is the CEO, then Lightroom seems to be the fresh-out-of-university graduate.  If you insist on Adobe or are already familiar with it’s layout and tool options, then you have a decent choice of photo editing software ‘levels’ to choose from.

You can download the free trial of LR3 from Adobe’s official website:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/