In Praise of Apple Photos

In my never-ending quest to simplify my photographic workflow (and also my life workflow) — I’ve discovered that Apple Photos is actually a very strong alternative to Adobe Lightroom (or perhaps– even superior?)

Benefits of Apple Photos over Adobe Lightroom

  1. Faster: Loads photos faster when scrolling through images
  2. Simpler: Superfluous functions are taken away; stripped down to the essentials.
  3. Simpler workflow: I like the simple ‘heart’ or ‘favorite’ ❤️ icon as a way to quickly ‘flag’ (select your best photos).
  4. Simpler ways to process your photos (I really like the Apple Photos ‘Light’ function to adjust the brightness of your images– it works very well!)
  5. Free: Included with Mac, iPhone, iPad. The frustration with always having to login to Adobe Lightroom — and having to pay a monthly subscription fee.

Importing Photos
Looking at photos in a new ‘My Albums’

Why not as much love for Apple Photos?

How to flag (favorite) photos in Photos
How to flag (favorite) photos in Photos

My theory:

A lot of people look down on Apple photos because it isn’t “pro” enough.

Truth be told, it seems that Apple Photos does at least 85% of what Adobe Lightroom can do, but it simplifies your photographic workflow process, while allowing you to view, post-process, and export your photos faster and simpler!

I honestly think that Apple Photos is one of the most underrated tools for Apple/Mac/iPhone/iPad. This piece of software alone is worth the investment in any Apple device — and it’s free!


I plan on using more of Apple photos for my photographic workflow, and will keep you updated!

ERIC