The first time you opened Bridge or Photoshop, it probably was confusing also. Photoshop looks at one photo at a time and allows you to change parts of each pixel with different tools. Lightroom is a photo cataloguing tooI. When you "edit" in Lightroom, you are simply changing a description of the photo and not the pixels. You use the "editing" part of Lightroom to apply different words (data) to see what the photo would look like with those "edits." Lightroom is basically a Librarian for your photos. You "import" the photos into the library (like the public library) and Lightroom like a librarian, "catalogs" each photo you import. Through the "editing module" you actually add "data" to the catalog entry describing the photo so you can see it with a different look. It is like changing the description in a book library catalog but not really changing the book it describes. I first learned on Photoshop 1.5 and the first few weeks were like learning a new language. Learning Lightroom is no different. It is a new language! - When it clicks for you, Lightroom is a fast and easy way to view a lot of images as on a Photography Lightable. Like 99jon and dj_paige said, Lightroom is a different way to work with photos. And like learning a new language, you need to give it time and a different approach. Lightroom, UNLIKE any other application, is not easy to learn on your own. i.e. "figuring it out" is not really an option. I was asked to write several books on Lightroom when it was at version 1, and I was so confused I had to talk with the developers directly . There were no online tutorials or books. However, once I "got it" like a lightbulb going off, it was super fast for me and then I was able to explaining it in my books ( which were super basic and all out of print now) Please do not give up. You can continue to use Bridge and Photoshop the same way you always have and some professional photographers prefer to use Photoshop and Bridge. However, you can watch the entry level online tutorials or probably get a very simple book on Lightroom that makes sense to you even if it is not a book on the current version or LR, just to get the concept. In other words, Lightroom CC is the current version, but if you found an old book on LR 2 or 3 or ? or an older video, the concepts are still the same and it is the concept that is difficult to understand at first. The new version just can do more. Then the rest will fall into place for you.
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