iPhoto is Apple's default photo management solution. I have used it since early 2004 when I purchased my first Mac. I currently run OS X 10.6.8. and iPhoto '09 (iPhoto version 8.1.2 Build 424). In late 2013, this is considered an old version of the OS and an old version of iPhoto. I have seen more recent versions of iPhoto as my wife runs 10.7 and a newer version of iPhoto.

In the spring of 2012 I purchased a Cannon t3i and started to shoot RAW. (Read large photo size and editable images.) So, I need a photo editing solution with more power than iPhoto. My iPhoto collection was also starting to wax big approaching 28,000 images at the time (and why not after 9 years of collecting photos).

iPhoto is a brilliant way to browse photos and gives great access to simple tools to crop, rotate, and apply redeye reduction. However, iPhoto has a weakness when it comes to embedded metadata. If you want to export your photo, with geo-tagged location, and with keywords applied then one needed to export the photo as a .jpg. And one could not apply these metadata "enrichments" to the original photo file type. iPhoto's "Export Original" is just that, the original file, not the original plus added metadata.

Enter Lightroom. Continue reading →