I enjoy the big monitor attached to my desktop computer, but not enough to tote it around on photo trips. It's just too big and bulky. This does not mean, however, that I am forced to leave Lightroom behind as well.

In accordance with the Lightroom license, I have the software installed on my laptop, too. So when I am out on the field for a photo shoot I can have Lightroom with me. Some people might not think is a big deal or even necessary, but I couldn't disagree more and here's why: If I can be creating my Lightroom catalog right away, this will save precious time later. Importing as a catalog is the key and I use it all the time.

Here is a typical scenario.

I am on a photo shoot and have with me my camera gear, my laptop with Lightroom installed, a backup drive, and an inverter. The inverter allows me to charge batteries and also power my ac adapter for my MacBook Pro right in my truck. This is critical on overnight and longer trips where electricity is not readily available. I simply plug the inverter into the power point in my truck and plug the battery charger and laptop into the inverter. Sweet!

Okay, but why is it important for me to have Lightroom with me on photo trips. There are actually several reasons. First, at the end of each shoot (that's right, after each shoot) I can quickly upload my photos to my laptop right inside of Lightroom. I have this set up to also automatically back up each photo that is uploaded to an external hard drive. This way, I have two copies--one of my laptop and one on the hard drive.

There are times when the sun is so bright that I cannot really see how a photograph turned out on the back of my camera's LCD panel, but I can view the photo after the shoot right inside of Lightroom.

Another reason I like using Lightroom in the field is that I can quickly get images off my compact flash cards and put them back in to use. This is really helpful on big photo shoots like when I am photographing tournament baseball.

Perhaps one of the best reasons to use Lightroom in the field is that I can start editing photos immediately. I can go through the photo shoot and flag the ones I want to keep and edit later, or I can add keywords or star ratings and even start editing photos right away. And here's the beauty of this: When I get home I can import the catalog and photos using the catalog I created out in the field. It's that simple. By importing the catalog I not only copy each photo onto my Drobo, but I also retain all the editing, flagging, and keywording I started out in the field. This is awesome!

Give "Import from Catalog" a try. Once you do I am sure you will really like it. There is no reason to delay editing your photos because you can now do this in the field and everything is imported at home.