What lens should I buy next? That's the second most common question we see here at Photorec.tv. Can you guess the first most common question?Lightroom users I have two tools that can help you make sense of all your metadata and provide some insight as to how you shoot which you can use to make smart, data driven purchases that fit your way of shooting.

Method #1 - Lightroom Dashboard

Access at - https://www.lightroomdashboard.com/Easy drag and drop a backup of your LR catalog and the browser based tool returns a simple graphical display with plenty of information - what was your favorite ISO of 2016? I bet ISO 100.

Method #2 - Jeffrey’s “Data Plot” Lightroom Plugin

Access at http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/data-plotDownload and install Jeffrey's plugin (I show you how to install plugins in my Lightroom for Beginners)Once installed you can find the options under File > Plugin Extras jf Data Plot  From there you have the option to view graphs and even create collections based on your data - want a collection of all your shots captured with prime lenses? It's possible.

Method #3 - Lightroom's Metadata Tools

No plugins, no drag and drop - just use the tools already built into Lightroom to make some sense of your data.In the Library Module(1) Grid View > Click Metadata(2)You can now add columns and change the data in the column simply by clicking on the header (3) Which method do you like best? Any surprises in your findings?  What gear do you hope to add in 2017 to your camera bag?Have you ever had someone audibly lose their breath when they see one of your photos? It's an amazing feeling and I want to help you get there - Become a PRTV member Today!