import iphone photos ( are optimized on phone, but have Full Res in Apple photos on mac mini)

[charkenna]

Lightroom Version

lightroom classic 11.5

Operating System

1. macOS 12 Monterey
2. iOS

I'm having an awful time importing iPhone photos into Lightroom Classic (mac mini M1 Monterey 12.5 OS )

1- LR classic could not SEE photos on iPhone 8plus.... so I got a new iPhone 13Pro, and now LR classic SEES the photos when I plug iPhone into Mac (good)
BUT photos are OPTIMIZED on iPhone (its too full, no room for Full Res on iPhone, ) its too late to use Lightroom on iPhone to help, as there's no storage space.
2- on my Mac Mini in Apple Photos I checked off "download originals to this Mac"...

so NOW, which way shall I import to Lightroom? (thousands of photos)

Favorite choice:
It would be easy to import from iPhone BUT the photos are Optimized...
will LR pull in Full Res photos from iPhone during import? or not? ( I suppose I could do a test photo and see, but someone somewhere should have the answer?)

If not, then do I have to :
A) download originals to a folder in Mac from icloud (time consuming) then import them into Lightroom like normal
or
B) 'migrate' the Apple Photos library to Lightroom (but I believe I have to do this with lightroom CLOUD-based app? and can't migrate with LR CLASSIC? is this true?
would log into lightroom cloud based first and do it? then sync with LR classic? is there a way?
I also heard that it changes the file naming of the photos ? or the dates ? not sure?

in the end I want all iPhone photos downloaded into proper dated files like any other normal import. Prefer to do it from the phone.... unless i cant because of the 'optimized' issue....

thanks for any help!
I cannot use lightroom camera, or the LR ios App (no room on iPhone to transfer them into that) ... maybe in the future, but right now, I have to get these photos imported to Lightroom classic.... then I can get them off my iPhone and do it properly in the future.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Your favourite choice isn't possible. LrMobile cannot automatically pull in full resolution images from the iPhone if they only exist in the Camera Roll in optimised form.

I don't know enough about the Photos app on your desktop Mac to advise which is easier, option A or B. I never use it, nor do I use iCloud for Photos (because of the very complication you are having to deal with), but either option should allow you to end up with your goal of having all the full res images stored in dated folders in LrC. My instincts would be to do option A), but I've got no sound technical reason for saying that. Others here might have a different view.

 

[clee01l]

I agree with Jim on a plan to handle the existing iCloud Photos.
Option B is possible and AFAIK, does not alter the file names from those stored in iCloud. Once in the Adobe Cloud (Lightroom Library) , you can sync Lightroom Classic (LRC) to Lightroom and this will sync all full-size image in the Adobe Cloud to your Lightroom Classic Catalog.
Going forward, you can do as I do and abandon Apple Photos entirely using the Lightroom App on your iPhone to take the photos and store them directly in the Adobe cloud. These will the automatically sync to your LRC catalog.
iCloud Photos does not play well with other cloud systems like Adobe Cloud. You can use one or the other but not both satisfactorily.

 

[charkenna]

Your favourite choice isn't possible. LrMobile cannot automatically pull in full resolution images from the iPhone if they only exist in the Camera Roll in optimised form.

I don't know enough about the Photos app on your desktop Mac to advise which is easier, option A or B. I never use it, nor do I use iCloud for Photos (because of the very complication you are having to deal with), but either option should allow you to end up with your goal of having all the full res images stored in dated folders in LrC. My instincts would be to do option A), but I've got no sound technical reason for saying that. Others here might have a different view.

thanks for replying. I meant my favorite way is to connect iPhone to the Mac and use Import in Lightroom Classic... just wondering what size it will import from the iPhone... since they are optimized on iPhone, does it import optimized photos or does it pull in full res. photos from icloud while they are being imported? I am not using lightroom mobile. I think I will try a sample photo.... then compare its size to what a full res. HEIC photo 'should' be when imported to LR classic...

 

[charkenna]

I agree with Jim on a plan to handle the existing iCloud Photos.
Option B is possible and AFAIK, does not alter the file names from those stored in iCloud. Once in the Adobe Cloud (Lightroom Library) , you can sync Lightroom Classic (LRC) to Lightroom and this will sync all full-size image in the Adobe Cloud to your Lightroom Classic Catalog.
Going forward, you can do as I do and abandon Apple Photos entirely using the Lightroom App on your iPhone to take the photos and store them directly in the Adobe cloud. These will the automatically sync to your LRC catalog.
iCloud Photos does not play well with other cloud systems like Adobe Cloud. You can use one or the other but not both satisfactorily.

Thanks for replying.
**so I think both of you think I should download from the iCloud browser to a folder on my Mac? and NOT do the 'migrate' option?**
-do you know what the size of a HEIC photo is when download full resolution size?
- when iPhone is plugged into Mac, the Lightroom classic Import screen shows the HEIC photos.... but I can't find info online if these will download as optimized small versions or full size somehow?... no info on the internet... (I can't even find out how big the photo SHOULD be when imported this way, so I could do a test photo and see what gets imported)..

-in my mac Photos I have chosen 'download originals to this mac', it took days to be finished. (5 years worth) Now it's ready if I want to 'migrate' to Lightroom. I may try that..... It seems scary for some reason.
-on my iPhone, they are optimized... I don't think I can use the LR app on iPhone to sync them...worried that they'll still be optimized? there's no answer online for that... plus my phone has no room for this duplication. in future, I will do this way.

-if I download from iCloud to my Mac to a pictures folder, I think it will take forever... vs 'migrate'?

I'm so dismayed... I cant wait to have this done so I can never use apple photos again. I quit photography a few years ago but am starting over with my daughters wedding photos, so I cant screw up....
I wish for the days of just plugging my phone into my Mac and importing to LR... this is this first time I ever had 'optimized' photos (never again)
thanks for your responses.

 

[charkenna]

I agree with Jim on a plan to handle the existing iCloud Photos.
Option B is possible and AFAIK, does not alter the file names from those stored in iCloud. Once in the Adobe Cloud (Lightroom Library) , you can sync Lightroom Classic (LRC) to Lightroom and this will sync all full-size image in the Adobe Cloud to your Lightroom Classic Catalog.
Going forward, you can do as I do and abandon Apple Photos entirely using the Lightroom App on your iPhone to take the photos and store them directly in the Adobe cloud. These will the automatically sync to your LRC catalog.
iCloud Photos does not play well with other cloud systems like Adobe Cloud. You can use one or the other but not both satisfactorily.

update: I have it all figured out... downloading from the icloud... I'll do things differently in the future. thank you everyone

 

[charkenna]

thanks for replying. I meant my favorite way is to connect iPhone to the Mac and use Import in Lightroom Classic... just wondering what size it will import from the iPhone... since they are optimized on iPhone, does it import optimized photos or does it pull in full res. photos from icloud while they are being imported? I am not using lightroom mobile. I think I will try a sample photo.... then compare its size to what a full res. HEIC photo 'should' be when imported to LR classic...

thanks for replying. I meant my favorite way is to connect iPhone to the Mac and use Import in Lightroom Classic... just wondering what size it will import from the iPhone... since they are optimized on iPhone, does it import optimized photos or does it pull in full res. photos from icloud while they are being imported? I am not using lightroom mobile. I think I will try a sample photo.... then compare its size to what a full res. HEIC photo 'should' be when imported to LR classic...

update: I have it all figured out... downloading from the icloud... I'll do things differently in the future. thank you everyone

 

[charkenna]

I agree with Jim on a plan to handle the existing iCloud Photos.
Option B is possible and AFAIK, does not alter the file names from those stored in iCloud. Once in the Adobe Cloud (Lightroom Library) , you can sync Lightroom Classic (LRC) to Lightroom and this will sync all full-size image in the Adobe Cloud to your Lightroom Classic Catalog.
Going forward, you can do as I do and abandon Apple Photos entirely using the Lightroom App on your iPhone to take the photos and store them directly in the Adobe cloud. These will the automatically sync to your LRC catalog.
iCloud Photos does not play well with other cloud systems like Adobe Cloud. You can use one or the other but not both satisfactorily.

I downloaded photos from icloud, and imported to lightroom.... some of the HEIC photos have a jpeg duplicate... do you know why? I thought maybe it was that some were edited in iPhone, but that's not the case, its only some random ones. Is there a way to stop that from happening? I think you said in another thread that HEIC is better, so I assume I can just keep the HEIC to develop?

 

[camner]

-in my mac Photos I have chosen 'download originals to this mac', it took days to be finished. (5 years worth) Now it's ready if I want to 'migrate' to Lightroom. I may try that.....

Since you said you had "download originals to this Mac" checked, you simply could select all the photos you want to get into LrC, export as originals from Photos to a folder of your choice, then import into LrC from that folder. There is (was?) no need to redownload all the files from iCloud to your Mac, since they were already there!

BTW, exporting originals from Photos to a folder is VERY quick!

As far as the duplicates are concerned, I think that MAY be due to how "Live" photos are handled. Live photos are really small movie files, so I'm pretty sure that when you transfer from iCloud (or Photos), the Apple ecosystem will render two files: the movie file and a jpg file.