Is there a way to migrate my iPhoto content into Lightroom 5?

iPhoto is not on the way out with the release of Yosemite. Apple have stated that it will be updated to run on Yosemite. That means that iPhoto will continue to run for another 18 months at least. iPhoto will then be migrated into a new App, called Photos, sometime in 2015. This migration will include the seamless adapting of your iPhoto app to the new Library. Even then, iPhoto will still continue to run until you update to a version of the OS that doesn't run it at all. There has been a lot of discussion on the merits or otherwise of migrating to Lightroom. One thing is sure is that there is no rush, and it might be worth waiting to see what the new Photos app is like before making such a big decision.

You've gone from using a consumer level Photo Manager (retail cost $15) to a using two very serious professional level applications (combined retail cost about $800 - if you could still buy Photoshop at retail at all.) Even at subscription rates thats $100+ per year. Are you sure that's what you want to do? That's a heck of a learning curve for a start.

Anyway to cases:

Lightroom has no ability at all to parse an iPhoto Library. There is no migration path at all. So you'll need to export your Events to folders in the Finder. Then import those to Lightroom.

When you export you're going to have to choose which version to export - the original or the edited versions. Or both - and have duplicates in your Lightroom library. Also, you'll need to consider what to do with metadata that you may have added in iPhoto. Along the way you'll lose the non-destructive editing feature.

This User Tip

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921

has details of the options in the Export dialogue.

Thanks for clarifying the iPhoto situation. I'm are I saw somewhere that Yosemite was going to come with Photos instead of iPhoto.

It will come with Photos but that doesn't mean iPhoto won't continue to work as Apple has promised. If you upgrade to Yosemite you can try both iPhoto and Photos with your library (be sure you have a current backup copy somewhere) and see which you prefer.

Yosemite won't come with Photos.app. That's not scheduled for release until 2015 at a point yet to be announced.

Thanks. Missed that.