As mentioned in my last post, I just made the switch to a Mac. One of the migration duties was to move my Lightroom catalog and photos… fortunately this is a pretty simple task. Here are the steps I went through:
Moving the Lightroom Catalog and Photos
- Download Lightroom from Adobe. The Lightroom license allows for installation on two computers, so my existing license key for Windows works just fine on the Mac.
- Install Lightroom on the Mac.
- Locate your Lightroom catalog and preview cache files. The catalog (filename ends in .lrcat) is the Lightroom database containing all of your edits and metadata. The cache file (same name as your catalog, plus the word Previews, and ending in .lrdata) contains the image thumbnails for your photos. It’s not necessary to move this file, but if you do, you’ll save a bit of time because Lightroom won’t have to rebuild all of your thumbnails.
- Take a look at where your photos are stored. After moving Lightroom, you’ll need to update the file locations so that it can find your files. Hopefully you have your images in some sort of logical storage locations.
- Move your Lightroom catalog and cache files to the Mac. I used an external (firewire) hard drive but you could also use any other file transfer method. I created a “Lightroom” folder within the “Pictures” folder for my Lightroom files and put them inside.
- If you’re moving your photo files, move them at this point. If they’re on a external drive or another storage location that isn’t changing, continue along…
- Open Lightroom on the Mac and open up your catalog. You should see thumbnails but if you look in the Folders panel, you’ll see that the names are grayed out because Lightroom can’t find the files.
- The final step is to help Lightroom find your photo files. Right-click on a grayed-out folder location and choose “Find Missing Folder” and browse to the correct location.
That’s it! You’ve moved Lightroom and all of your data is intact. You can also move plugins and presets which are as straightforward as moving them from the PC file location to the Mac file location.
Moving Lightroom Plugins and Presets
Since Lightroom lets you choose your own plugin location, you will simply move files from your plugin location on your PC to a location on your Mac, then reinstall the plugin via Lightroom’s Plugin Manager (on the File menu).
Presets might be a little more hidden. On Windows Vista, they’re stored in folders under C:\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\. On Windows XP, they’ll be in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Adobe\Lightroom. Move your custom presets to the Mac. On the Mac, you’ll want to store them inside ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom.
Overall it’s a fairly simple process given the complexity of the program.
Online retailers are now a major presence in nearly every industry. Photography equipment is no exception. Major players in the online photo gear space include B&H Photo/Video, Adorama, and even Amazon.com. The big advantage to ordering gear online is that in general it’s going to be anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars cheaper than the same item in a brick-and-mortar retail shop.
The strong case for buying local is one of supporting local businesses, which have the opportunity to offer better in-person service than an online shop. I say opportunity, because there are many notable cases where photographers have had horrendous customer service from local shops.
Which is better? It depends, and a lot of it is personal preference. Some folks would rather simply make an online order, save a few dollars, and have the convenience of the item being delivered to their door. Others prefer to walk into a store, get their hands on the equipment, make a purchase and take it home on the same day.
My purchases are split probably 50/50 between my favorite local shop (Pro Photo Supply) and my favorite online retailer (B&H Photo). I like the idea of supporting local, but sometimes the price difference and convenience of delivery to my door sends me in the direction of B&H. There doesn’t seem to be one correct solution for everyone, but rather it’s a matter of personal preference. What’s yours?
The Gorillapod by Joby is a creative take on a compact tripod. It’s made of a series of ball-and-socket joints which allows each tripod leg to flex in any number of positions. It can be set on a tabletop and used like a typical tabletop tripod, or the legs can be flexed, which brings out the real draw to this item: a lightweight Gorillapod can be secured to a handrail, light post, tree branch, or other such item that allows one to leave their heavy tripod at home and instead secure the Gorillapod to any available sturdy post.
I took my Gorillapod on our Disneyland trip last fall, and it worked great, allowing me to use a handrail as a base for a shot like this one:
The Gorillapod is an excellent lightweight tripod for times when carrying a full-size one would be cumbersome. Purchase the Gorillapod SLR-Zoom via B&H Photo.
This is part of my Gear series, in which I take a look at photo equipment I’ve used.
In a comment to an earlier post, Dale asked for some sample photos taken with my Canon 300mm f4L IS lens. I should’ve included some with the original post but neglected to do so… here are a few that illustrate getting close to a subject, the bokeh of the lens, and shooting a subject “head on” to see compression of the distance when using a long telephoto lens.
As I mentioned in the original post, I don’t have any complaints about this lens; long fast glass is a good thing for many purposes.
