Murray Foote -

Overview

What do you do with photographs when you are travelling with cameras?

This post focuses on Lightroom Desktop and Lightroom Classic, and how you can use local storage and the Adobe Cloud. I also touch on other software options, but I’m not discussing what cameras or lenses to take — only how to manage your images.

(Images shown are from my travels, with links to posts).

Jökulheimaleið, Highlands, Iceland 2013. A full colour image.

Minimum setup

The simplest approach is to rely on memory cards alone. This may be necessary for multi‑day walks away from civilisation. Preferably, use a dual‑slot camera and set it to back up one card to the other. You’ll need enough cards for the entire trip. When you return home, import the cards into your computer.

Another minimal option is to back up your cards to a phone using USB‑C and a hub. This works, but phones are not ideal for large‑scale image handling.

Vrindavan, India, 2014. Taken from a moving mini-bus.

Manual Approach

When travelling with a laptop (or tablet/iPad), you can use a traditional workflow. I previously used Lightroom Classic to copy images to my hard disk while also making a backup to a portable SSD. I often also used Acronis to back up to another portable drive.

At home, I exported a Lightroom Classic catalogue from the laptop to a portable disk, then imported that catalogue into Lightroom Classic on my home PC. This preserved any edits made while travelling.

You would use a similar approach if you rely on Capture One, DxO PhotoLab, On1 or Luminar. But Lightroom now offers more flexible options.

Willie Lockett (Willie Lockett and the Blues Crewe), New Orleans 2015. He also has a PhD in computer science.

Versions of Lightroom

This article was prompted by two presentations at the Lightroom Virtual Summit 2026: Matt Kloskowski’s Lightroom or Lightroom Classic Intro, and Glyn Dewis’s Lightroom Desktop – Local or Cloud. Matt’s presentation showed me how Lightroom Desktop has changed, while Glyn’s presentation showed how Lightroom Desktop can be used effectively while travelling.

Lightroom Desktop (officially just “Lightroom”) was cloud‑only when introduced in 2017. Cloud storage was expensive, and Lightroom Classic remained far more powerful, so many users ignored Lightroom Desktop.

However, Lightroom Desktop has now caught up with the functionality of Lightroom Classic. In 2023 it also gained local storage as well as cloud storage. You can now choose either. Many Classic users may not realise how much Lightroom Desktop has changed.

A 1958 Edsel Pacer convertible, Fusterlandia, Havana, Cuba (2016).

Lightroom Users and Plans

Lightroom remains dominant among RAW processors. Approximate usage:

Professionals: 40–50% Lightroom, 35–45% Capture One
Enthusiasts: 65–75% Lightroom, 15–20% DxO or Capture One
Hobbyists: 80–90% Lightroom

Lightroom is subscription‑based. The Lightroom Plan includes all Lightroom versions and 1TB cloud storage. The Photography Plan includes Lightroom plus Photoshop and also 1TB cloud storage.

I’m on the Legacy Photography Plan, identical to the current Photography Plan except with only 20GB of cloud storage. It is priced the same as The Lightroom Plan but you can’t subscribe to it now.

Wedding couple on top of the Kuhkna Ark, Khiva, Uzbekistan (2018).

Using Lightroom Desktop while Travelling

Lightroom Desktop now supports both cloud and local storage.

Select the Cloud tab and import images (refer image below):
- Lightroom stores full‑resolution originals on both your laptop’s hard drive and to the Adobe Cloud..
- Any album you assign for your images appears in Lightroom Classic as a collection
This workflow requires fast, unlimited internet and a 1TB cloud plan.
When you get home, start your PC and open Lightroom Desktop
- Your images automatically download from the Cloud

Limitations

Internet speed matters. Uploading large RAW files is only practical in countries with fast upload speeds and places with unlimited upload.
Cloud downloads are slow.
They also go to a fixed folder on your C Drive.
- You must manually move downloaded originals into your preferred folder structure.
Lightroom Classic does not automatically import full originals from Lightroom Desktop.
If your laptop or your home computer has limited C drive space, this workflow may be impractical.

Lightroom Desktop with Cloud tab open. The uploaded images are in an album called “Test Synch” (bottom left), also corresponding to a collection in Lightroom Classic.

Images: Cherry Venture with Double Island Point Lighthouse in the background (1987). Brown’s Bay, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia (IR, 2024), Jessie on the cat pad on my desk (2026).

Using Lightroom Classic while Travelling

Another alternative uses Lightroom Classic to avoid the problems with Lightroom Desktop and the Cloud.

Import images to your chosen locations on your laptop
Backup to an external SSD during the import
Create Collections for all images or those you wish to retain
- Ordinary collections, not smart collections or collection sets
Enable Sync with Lightroom for those collections to upload Smart Previews only to the Cloud (refer screenshot below)
- Smart Previews are tiny (circa 2% of the original size), editable, and ideal for slow or restricted internet
- Not only are they tiny but they don’t count against your Cloud storage quota.

Then when you return home

Open Lightroom Classic on your PC to automatically download Smart Previews for your synced Collections
Import the images from your Lightroom Backup SSD
- The backup has original files, not compressed and not in a different format
- I have some spare M.2 SSDs in small cases to use as very fast external drives. Ordinary SSDs will also work just fine.
Lightroom Classic matches the originals to the Smart Previews to include any edits made while travelling

This avoids the large cloud uploads and downloads required by Lightroom Desktop.

Cutout from Lightroom Classic. The “Test Synch” collection has a flash symbol on the check box to the left, indicating smart previews have been uploaded to the Cloud.

Rather than clicking on the check box, you can also right-click to “Sync with Lightroom”.

Hybrid Workflow

Use Lightroom Desktop while travelling and import via the Cloud tab:

Full originals are stored locally and uploaded to the cloud
- 1TB Cloud storage required
Albums appear in Lightroom Classic as collections containing Smart Previews

At home:

Lightroom Classic receives Smart Previews
You import the full originals from your travel SSD
Classic matches them and applies your edits

This gives you cloud‑based organisation with Classic‑based file control.

Wild orangutan, Sepilok, Sabah, Malaysia (2019).

Processing while Travelling

There are often opportunities to process images while travelling — evenings, ships, airport lounges, flights.

I cull images in FastRAW Viewer or Lightroom Classic, select images in Lightroom Classic and process in Capture One. Prior to 2020 I processed in Lightroom Classic while travelling.

To retain Capture One edits, I use sessions rather than a catalogue. Sessions are faster, more compact, and task‑based. They live inside the trip’s folder structure. When I return home, I simply copy the session folder to my PC.

Stream below Hogarth Falls, near Strahan, Tasmania (IR, 2023).

AI Notes

I used CoPilot (Microsoft’s AI assistant) in this post for some specific questions I had on computers and photographic software. It is reliable for these topics and I did verify most answers. There will also be no copyright violations in providing those answers.

AI can clearly be a valuable research resource but there are many concerns.

Data centres generate excessive noise and require vast amounts of water for cooling
- Water is increasingly precious in our times of climate change.
AI can extensively use stolen information.
- This seriously undermines researchers, writers, musicians, photographers, videographers and creative people generally, as well as many institutions that rely on proprietary data.
There will be great income generated but it may go mainly to billionaires and displace some jobs.
- The solution for this and 50 years of neoliberal policies requires far-reaching taxation changes. The top marginal rate of income tax in the US in the 1950s was 91% for example.
AI‑generated policies can be misguided
- I remember reading about Trump using AI to generate a misconceived policy, no doubt giving misconceived instructions.
- The prospect of a world run by AI is quite disconcerting.
AI weaponry poses serious risks
- Israel has been using AI identification of bombing targets in Gaza with no or minimal human oversight.
- The spectre of autonomous AI weaponry that could become out of control is looming.
AI is growing much faster than regulation is able to adapt and control.

While there are many benefits, the risks are massive.

Australian Masked Owl, Raptor Domain, Kangaroo Island, South Australia (2024).

Summary

Recent improvements to Lightroom have made travelling with cameras more secure and flexible. You can upload full images to the Cloud using Lightroom Desktop or use a leaner workflow with Lightroom Classic and smart previews.

If you have fast internet and 1TB cloud storage:

Use Lightroom Desktop (Cloud tab)
Images save to both cloud and local storage
Back up to cards and SSDs
At home, Lightroom Desktop downloads originals
- You move them to your preferred folders