Today’s Question: Do you personally use any software for “quick” photo review or culling before bringing into Lightroom, such as FastRawViewer or Adobe Bridge?
Tim’s Quick Answer: No, I don’t perform an initial review of my images before importing into Lightroom Classic. I prefer to initiate my Lightroom-based workflow as soon as possible. I also feel that the “extra” step of this initial review would actually slow down my overall workflow.
More Detail: Many photographers prefer to use specialized browsing software for their initial review of photos, often using that process to delete outtakes before bringing the remaining images into their normal workflow. A variety of software tools (such as FastRawViewer, which you can find at https://timgrey.me/fastraw) render raw captures very quickly, generally faster than the same previews could be generated within Lightroom Classic.
I certainly understand the motivation for using software such as FasRawViewer before importing images into Lightroom. However, my preferences is to initiate my Lightroom-based workflow immediately, rather than culling images with other software first.
To begin with, I’m eager to get my photos downloaded and backed up, which is part of my workflow for importing photos into my Lightroom catalog. I generate Standard previews as part of this import process, and after that process is complete I find the browsing experience within Lightroom to be perfectly acceptable.
I also feel that the extra step of reviewing images before initiating my normal workflow would add some time to my overall workflow. I also worry that a workflow that is slightly more cumbersome might lead to errors where photos are reviewed with software such as FastRawViewer, but then never imported into Lightroom.
Admittedly, most of this comes down to personal preference. I prefer to get into Lightroom right away to start my organizational workflow. Many other photographers prefer to perform their initial review before importing into Lightroom. If you think the latter might work for you, FastRawViewer is certainly a good software option for this purpose. You can learn more about this software here: