I have been meaning to spend some "quality time" getting a better feel for Lightroom for the past month or so and finally got around to it tonight. My first couple experiences with Lightroom had been only so-so. I had been a bit turned off by it's performance with raw files and some of the library management stuff, but I really loved the look of the interface and wanted to give it a another try.

The thing that finally put me over the edge was some Lightroom tutorials that I found thanks to Photojojo. After watching a the tutorials I was eager to put my knew knowledge to use and give it another try. After a good hour and half of playing around tonight I must say I am very happy.

So far my favorite new features are the side by side before and after layout and the new tonal curve develop section. As a post processing newb I find the tonal curve to be just flat out intimidating, but after watching a couple tutorials on how to make adjustments in Lightroom I found that it actually wasn't that hard to work with. Lightroom gives you a lot of help with the curve and combined with the before & after layout option you can really see how your changes are affecting your photo. Pretty damn sweet.

I didn't actually work on any raw photos this time around, but hopefully when I give those another try I'll find that the performance is better than I remember from last time.

Preparing one of the two birds for the evening on the rotisserie.

Relaxing after the first thanksgiving dinner of the season.

A shot looking down at the floor in the bar Fluid, San Francisco.

Hmmm ... wine =)

Snapped this one off @ Mr. Smiths as part of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine festival that they hosted. What can I say, I love a good excuse to consume a bottle of wine.

Went to this new restaurant (and I really mean new as in 2 weeks old) with my roommates and was able to compose this shot from our table. It was a pretty cool little venue and the food was decent too.

Well, this is it, the first entry from the photo journal which I am starting now and *hopefully* going to continue indefinitely. Quite simply, the goal is to take at least a handful of photographs per day and post the best of 'em here. Lets hope this lasts ;)