Confessions Of A PhotoShop Hater....

[skieur]

I don't "fix" things in the darkroom or image editing software. I create my photographs with the complete process in mind from exposure to finished print. It's called "previsualization". If I've done my job right I've taken into account all aspects in the creation of a photograph from the beginning to the end, and not just started and stopped at the camera. But to each their own.

Not being a diplomat, I will say this straight out. The general opinion of all experienced professional digital photographers is that ALL digital images require some degree of postprocessing. Digital photos cannot handle the tones or the richness of colour inherent in film without postprocessing. Put simply ALL digital photos require some degree of work on colour correction alone, besides work on contrast and other details. If you do not believe me, there are currently several books in your local camera store which will verify what I have said by some of the top expert and successful professional photographers in the field.

skieur

 

[Sw1tchFX]

I guess it boils down faster and easier vs. features and control.

Lightroom is faster and easier to do the basic color correction, but advanced image programs such as photoshop have incredible amounts of features and enough control that you can change each and every pixel if need be.

 

[skieur]

I guess it boils down faster and easier vs. features and control.

Lightroom is faster and easier to do the basic color correction, but advanced image programs such as photoshop have incredible amounts of features and enough control that you can change each and every pixel if need be.

You have nailed it very well. Photoshop offers infinite control over small changes which slows down the process but makes it very precise and personal in deciding changes.

PaintShop Pro and Lightroom combine features together and provide "default suggestions" which makes the process faster but not quite as precise.

I am currently making use of software filter plug-ins which provide more "photographic" type control of the editing programs and adds speed to the process as well.

skieur

 

[Garbz]

Not quite in my opinion. Lightroom is an image adjustment based program. Has all the features to work on entire images that would be needed really bar creating something artsy. Full control over curves brightness saturation to the finest detail, cropping etc. The only thing that doesn't fit into the program is red-eye reduction.

This is where photoshop comes in, a pixel based program. Now we're in the realm of cloning out parts of the image, selecting the sky and changing it's colour.

I don't think they are really comparable for features, ease of use, etc as they are two fundamentally different programs for very different purposes. Realistically my workflow for the best images uses both programs at once.