I just purchased Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 via Amazon, and I've been migrating some of my RAW files over from Aperture. I came across a skyline photo I haven't processed in the months since I went to Treasure Island and processed it using Lightroom.

Lightroom workflow will take some getting used to after Aperture. Certainly my main reason for switching is the noise reduction, which is far superior to Aperture. I shoot with the 2x crop of a Micro Four Thirds camera and compared with APS-C or Full Frame, noise is much more noticeable. The tools included in Lightroom are far more robust: Brushes, gradients, and radial filters open up far more possibilities than the basic tools in Aperture. This enables me to accomplish more in a single app rather than exporting to Pixelmator and crafting a solution there.

In the above comparison, a photo from the Nor Cal Pirate Festival. The fae girl's hair has more texture and detail than the original process done in Aperture. This was done by brushing more clarity, sharpening and exposure. The whites of her eyes were brightened in both versions, but in Lightroom the iris' color was saturated and the catchlights (the reflection of the light source in the subject's eyes) whitened and brighter using the whiten teeth brush setting (oddly enough) with increased exposure.