Need help with my work flow... Lightroom or Aperture?

Hello, I'm a Mac user and I shoot exclusively in raw. I like using CS5 because I enjoy taking the time to give each photo that level of attention. But when I take 20-30+ images in a single shoot, post processing raws individually becomes pretty exhausting...

I import all my photos using Image Capture and just dump them into a folder. I'm fairly new to Macs, and being a PC user... I'm not sure how much I like iPhoto, this may sound dumb, but I don't know where my photos go when I import them using iPhoto.

When using Aperture, is it pretty easy to jump from Aperture to CS5?

Any advice on how to improve my work flow? Which program would be better for me?

Thank you. Any help or nudge into the right direction would be helpful.

30? or 300?

When using iphoto, your photos are in - User, photo, and there is the iphoto library. Aperture 3 will be in the same place.

Can't comment on the raw processing. I do not use it really.

kjonnnn wrote in post #11720376
30? or 300?

Sometimes it can get up into the 300-600 range. But not too commonly as I don't take on any jobs anymore.

Even when I go out and shoot 100-200 images, I try to hand pick images only because I know it would be too exhausting to work on all of them individually.

I've got Aperture and have added the Nik Complete software package. I love the ease of it. Even before that I purely used Aperture- although I'm currently working on learning Photoshop for the long run.

this is how you process a bunch of photos quickly in aperture 3

http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1022&messag​e=34688305

With iPhoto your photos are managed inside iPhoto. With Aperture you can either let Aperture manage your files or you can use a referenced library and keep them organized on your own. With Aperture you can right click on a photo, RAW or JPG, and open it in Photoshop. Just click save in PS and go back to Aperture and your file is there. Also many plug-ins are available in Aperture versions which allow you to use them without going to Photoshop. I rarely use PS anymore.

I tried Lightroom and just found it was not as user friendly as Aperture. It is a matter of preference. If you buy Aperture from the app store in Snow Leopard it is $79 and can run on all your Macs. So if you add a Laptop later you don't need to buy another license. Also there is a great feature in Aperture that allows you to merge libraries and such. This is useful for those who might shoot, download and start some editing in the field and then come home and want to move them into the main library. Also you can export a project work on it and bring it back in with all the changes.

I highly suggest you watch the Lynda.com videos for Aperture 3. A Google search will give you a free short subscription. Also Youtube, Apple and iTunes have tutorials.