Breaking up is hard to do. No one likes coming to the realization that a once blossoming relationship is now dwindling, leaving you less than fulfilled and perhaps jaded.
When Apple dealt the blow back in June that it was killing my beloved Aperture, I was heartbroken. I was an early adopter of Aperture. Actually, because I was working for Apple at the time of the release (November 2005), I was glued to the demo on the sales floor the day it came out and took home a copy that night.
At the time there was nothing like it. Apple’s iPhoto program was similar, but professionals lacked something robust & refined with sophisticated tools.(Adobe wouldn’t come out with even a beta for Lightroom for several months, following up with an actual working release in February of 2007.) I adored the freedom I found in Aperture’s editing tools. The workflow was groundbreaking and sped up my editing a zillionfold!
Okay, I am exaggerating, but it was a far cry from Bridge, Camera RAW, & Photoshop for each one. It was also amazing to have the organization. A huge part of Apple’s success is due to their streamlining of organization. They make things easy. You don’t have to spend time over thinking what you’re doing or how you’re doing it; it just works.
So along I went on my happy little Aperture trail for years. Then I started hearing about this Lightroom thing. I didn’t think much of it. After all, I was completely happy with what I was able to do in Aperture. It was meeting my needs and then some. However, around this time, Apple had already released the iPod, which was taking the world by storm, and slowly, the pro market was beginning to notice support for pro apps dwindling. Logic Pro, Final Cut, Motion, even pro hardware options seemed to be getting put on the back burner.
Releases were slower and fewer as this new addition to the family started taking over. I was disappointed, but was happy that they were continually updating Aperture, so I kept my nose to the screen and kept working. As Lightroom began finding it’s feet and gaining traction, I kept ignoring all the funny looks other photogs gave me when they found out I still used Aperture. They’d ask me why and all I could say was that it just worked for me. It’s simple, straightforward, and stable. Why fix it if it isn’t broken?
Well, it did break. I didn’t see it coming–or at least I was in denial about seeing it coming. When the news broke about Apple killing yet another pro app I threw a bit of a temper tantrum, I’ll admit. Changing workflows is difficult. Retraining your brain, your muscle memory, heck, even just reorganizing your hard drive is a pain in the butt! And of course, it’d come right as wedding season was peaking for me and there’s about zero time for any of those shenanigans. Luckily, I’m surrounded by many lovely photographer friends who have been truly supportive of the switch and tolerant enough to laugh off my gripeing and grumbling along the way as I ask question after question after question.
I’m discovering that Lightroom, while on the outside is very much the “same” as Aperture (a system of organizing and editing photos on a professional level), they are very much different beasts and Lightroom has grown far more robust than I thought it had. As much as I hate to break up with Aperture, I know that sooner or later (likely sooner, with the way technology advances) I’m just plain not going to be able to open and work on my photos anymore and (the part I really hate) the coding Aperture is written on isn’t going to be readable eventually, so I’ll need to migrate my libraries over so I’ll still be able to have access to them. Ugh! Plus, support for plug ins & specialty software is getting hard and harder to come by with Aperture, and easier and easier for Lightroom.
At least with Adobe, I know that support for their programs isn’t going anywhere because all they are is their programs! They’ve carefully cultivated their company over decades to be the industry standard, not the industry option, which is comforting. Also, in knowing that, at least I know there will be support and community out there for me in the switch. As I make this journey I’ll be blogging extensively about my “adventures” (and misadventures!) of coming into Lightroom with Aperture eyes and how I’ve found to overcome the differences and embrace the advantages that Lightroom has to offer, so stay tuned for more!
Lisa is a D.C. area wedding & boudoir photographer. Check out her !
I still live in Aperture. I love Aperture. I wish pigs had wings. … As far as I am concerned, it is the best CENTRAL Location for any workflow I wish to work with, and it is easy to find any single image without knowing everything about the single image. AND I OWN IT, I do not rent CC from Adobe. … In Aperture, I can scroll through my entire library of 250 thousand plus images in a single window based on time from my first import into Aperture to the images I shot today, and because I shot the… Read more »
That’s fine to feel that way… but you may want to download a demo and try a new version. Also, Lightroom is still sold as a standalone product and I’ve been told will continue to do so. So you might reconsider that complaint.
I only stated a fact in reference to CC. … I know how long it will take to move to Lightroom, if nothing else changes. So, I can afford to wait. Keeping my eyes open.
Their other products used to be sold as standalone too.
Reblogged this on Depth of Field and commented: Awhile back, we posted about Apples discontinuation of Aperture, and asked what your plans were if you were an Aperture user. Would you go Adobe? Try an open source solution? Since the announcement of Apple discontinuing it’s support of Aperture, Adobe made a wise move and came out with a subscription based, cloud based, Lightroom product. Reality is hitting Aperture users like me, as I know I have had a deer-in-the-headlights look ever since the announcement. Changed forced upon photographers like me who have grown comfortable in their work flows and plug… Read more »
What actually broke in Aperture? I’m primarily at Lightroom user (current version) but still have an Aperture library from book projects I’ve done in the past (something that Lightroom still doesn’t do as good IMHO for my needs). You say that Aperture broke but you don’t say what broke specifically. Does it not launch? Your statement seems a little misleading. Yes, Apple has said they’re not continuing development, but for those that have it, or buy it via the App Store, it still works in its current form. Choosing to move to an app that is still actively supported is… Read more »
Apple has stated that it will only update Aperture for Yosemite compatibility. There has been no commitment (not would I expect it) for future Operating Systems. Here in lies the problem. After seeing the slow painful death of FCP7… you become locked into an OS. Sure.. no problem. Until you buy a new machine and realize that you can’t retrograde to an older OS.
Another happy Aperture user here – will follow this with great interest… The biggest thing to soften my dismay was watching Rich and Scott’s how-to on Lynda.com – thanks guys!
OMG!! I feel the EXCT same way! I started with Aperture because I was a Mac user, and quite frankly, Lightroom and Photoshop were simply too expensive. I sat down with the “Apple Pro Training Series” book and went through it page by painstaking page. I was (am) an “expert” with this damn program, and I have loved it. I feel that my photography world has been kicked in the crotch now, and I dread the time-suck that will be involved in learning a new program to the extent that I have learned Aperture. I honestly don’t know where to… Read more »
I’ve been using Aperture since 2008 and until recently I’ve been pretty happy with it. I find the performance on my 2011 MacBook Pro has suffered since Mavericks. I tend to start a new Library each year and use referenced masters while keeping the originals on an external drive.
At this point I use Lightroom occasionally and am trying to become more comfortable with it.
I’m still on the fence about whether to make a full switch to Lightroom or to wait and see what the new Photos app will have to offer for the enthusiast/hobbyist photographer.
When the announcement came I was dismayed and a bit anxious. I started experimenting with different replacements… But over the last few months I have just decided to be happy with Aperture for the time being. Apple promises that their new replacement for iPhoto and Aperture will be able to at least import and service all my Aperture files. So I don’t think I will need to try to “translate” all my current libraries to Lightroom or whatever program I choose to replace Aperture with whenever I find that my upgraded machine or OS won’t open Aperture. At that time… Read more »
It’s definitely premature to move to Lightroom without knowing what Apple’s promised Photos app will be like, don’t you think? It should be here in the next few months. I’d rather wait before switching. Keep in mind that the Photos app will surely import photos, libraries, and most if not all adjustments from iPhoto and Aperture (since they now use the same format). Also keep in mind that Apple’s new Photos app will work on all your Apple devices: from iPhones to iPads to MacBook Airs to Mac Pros, and everything in between. And it will have direct access to… Read more »
Things I love about Aperture: best, most flexible organizational system; brushing in individual adjustments; Auto-Curves! (especially the RGB Auto-Curves); easy, flexible posting to Facebook and Flickr (w/o creating a “collection”)
Things that LR gets right: the RAW processing for my Pany G6; sharpening and noise reduction that is light years beyond Aperture (without round-tripping through a plug-in that creates a memory-hogging TIFF or PSD); perspective correction w/o a plug-in; and better B&W conversion
I’m surprised so many people are assuming that Lightroom is the only and inevitable migration path for all the Aperture lovers out there. I’m on the Aperture boat since 1.0 came out in 2005 and have been very vocal and enthusiastic about it all those years. After extensive testing over the last three weeks I’ve come to the conclusion, that there is no better tool for Aperture people than Capture One Pro 8 by Phase One. Lightroom has some extremely strange user interface and design issues, that I just can’t overcome. It terribly wastes screen real estate and has absolutely… Read more »
I can’t for the life of me understand why someone would ever consider comparing Capture One to Lightroom OR Aperture. Capture One is NOT an asset management system of any merit and Lightroom and Aperture are primarily asset management systems. Capture One may be great for RAW conversion but it is far from intuitive and is in no way something that would meet my needs as a longtime Aperture user. And as far as best picture quality – there is plenty of doubt about Capture one. It is miserable at converting X-Trans images. Iradent Developer is much better.
Scott, I’m a bit surprised about your reply. Maybe you did not have the chance so far to check out the latest version 8.1 of Capture One, which has included a lot of DAM features and made a big jump in that area from version 7? It is even the only software that I know of, which offers a “managed” library in the same sense like Aperture did from the beginning (and which I prefer, btw, knowing that I’m in a minority with this). You can decide for each and every image if you want to have C1 manage it… Read more »
I am not sure if I have the latest version of Capture One – I will double check that. I guess I just wanted to make sure that your very definitive statements about C1 being the best were put in context for those who may not share your camera brand or your opinion. I am glad you found something that works for you. I will look deeper into Capture One but based on my previous experience, it lacks the interface and the user-friendly aspects of Aperture.