As strong as Lightroom v1.4 was, the Adobe team has made an even better program. The sidebars and tabs have been re-ordered in a more logical manner than in v1. Of course, this causes some disorientation for experienced users. For me, though, this lasted only a short time. Here're my short takes on the two modules that are most important to me.


The addition of "Smart Collections" has made it easier for me to see where I need to work. John Beardsworth's workflow template is phenomenal. Of course, I've made some changes to it. I may even post my version in my Public Files folder in a few weeks after I've fine-tuned it. Keyword sets are handy, too. I've been taking an online course about using the Lensbaby 3G for outdoor and landscape photography from Tony Sweet through BetterPhoto.com. I've made a keyword set that contains the f-stops for the aperture rings supplied for the Lensbaby. Of course, being able to put the correct keyword on a photo depends on my having taken notes while shooting. Argh! :-p


An even greater number of useful features have been added to the Develop Module. Of course, all presets made for v1 work with v2. For me, the most important new feature is called the "Adjustment Brush". This lets me make selective adjustments to specific areas of an image. It's superior to Photoshop for this because it's non-destructive, as usual. There is a small problem with it, though. It's very processor-intensive. I haven't looked at the "Graduated Filter" much, yet. However, I think it'll be very useful and will let me leave my glass graduated neutral density filters home.