Photoshop Elements or 50mm 1.8?

[jaomul]

I would buy the 50mm also. It is a nice portrait lens(allowing low light shooting without flash knowledge, and good for portrait shallow dof at a reasonable cost) and specifically you mention child portraits. You could spend a little time setting up your camera to give pleasing straight out of camera shots. Download Picassa and google other downloadable free software programs. Keep an eye out on photo magazines is stores. Often they come with free programs for "last years" software for free. These are often raw enabled. I just realised you use canon. Canon DPP that came with your camera is a great free editing tool also

 

[Devinhullphoto]

Lightroom is decently cheap and great. That's my legal choice.

 

[goodguy]

I am not a complete newbie anymore but definitely not a seasoned photographer, I would get the lens.
The 50mm lens are pure pleasure.
I just bought the 50mm 1.4D (170$ on ebay) and the sharpness on this lens is simply jaw dropping amazing, taking portrait with it is pure pleasure and as an added bonus doing night photography with such fast lens and sharpness is simply a labor of love!!!
Don't miss on it, taking a photo of you child at F2.8 will give you a memory you will carry for the rest of you life with gorgeous bokeh
I know I have 2 kids which are in their teens and these years of your child is something that passes as fast as last years spring, enjoy every second you can and I think the 50mm lens is something that will help you.

As for software I use Fast Stone, its a free software and I never used any other RAW software so in a way I don't know what I am missing, the more I use this software the more I see how good and effective it is. I am sure all the other software you need to buy are better but I got to tell you this free software really is plenty good for my needs.

So to sum it up my advice is get the 50mm lens and get a free software of the net

 

[Dao]

I like Lightroom. But if I have to choose between the 50mm prime and software, I will go with the lens first then learn and use the free software.

 

[KmH]

I too recommend getting the lens and one of the free, open source image editing applications. www.photoscape.org is another that is similar to GIMP.

If you get the 50 mm lens, many new to using a 50 mm f/1.8 mm wind up having issues with focusing because a 50 mm f/1.8 lens can deliver a very shallow depth of field (DoF).
Understanding Depth of Field in Photography
People frequently post about having focus issues when using 50 mm f/1.8 (and faster) 50 mm lenses

A close point of focus distance (PoF) and a wide lens aperture combine to make DoF extremely shallow.
Most consumer grade 50 mm f/1.8 lenses do not focus sharply when used wide open or near wide open, and need to be stopped down a couple of stops to the beginning of the range of lens apertures that do deliver sharp focus.

DoF is one of the more difficult technical aspects of doing photography new photographers struggle with to understand.

Photoshop Elements is consumer grade software, and includes a consumer grade version of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).
ACR is also the image editing module in Lightroom (Develop module).

 

[Mach0]

I am not a complete newbie anymore but definitely not a seasoned photographer, I would get the lens. The 50mm lens are pure pleasure. I just bought the 50mm 1.4D (170$ on ebay) and the sharpness on this lens is simply jaw dropping amazing, taking portrait with it is pure pleasure and as an added bonus doing night photography with such fast lens and sharpness is simply a labor of love!!! Don't miss on it, taking a photo of you child at F2.8 will give you a memory you will carry for the rest of you life with gorgeous bokeh

If you think that's nice, try an 85 prime lol.

 

[Philligan]

I like Lightroom. But if I have to choose between the 50mm prime and software, I will go with the lens first then learn and use the free software.

I second this. If you bought your Canon new, you should get Canon's DPP with it - I was surprised by how much more you can do with Lightroom when I finally got it, but the stock DPP is still more than capable (and lets you shoot raw). I owned the 50mm/1.8, but took a fall off of a table and broke. I'm probably going to upgrade to the 1.4, but I'll be replacing the 50mm for sure. I like it on a crop sensor, because it sits in that "awkward" in-between focal length, and I find I can get away with more portrait-style and street photography with the same lens. The 50/1.8 was the first lens I got after buying my kit, and it was what really got me bringing my camera with me everywhere and shooting all the time.

 

[Designer]

marie1128; I agree with gavjenks. If you bought a speedlight and a book you would be set to grow in the hobby. Yes, you need to be able to edit on your computer, but some software is free.

Learn to use flash and modify it by bouncing it off some nearby white surface and your photos will be much better.

 

[raaskohx10]

Why not try Rokinon 85 mm f/1.4 (manual lens) instead of the 50 mm f/1.8? Magic lantern, many photo editing softwares and photography teaching ebooks are available for free on the internet.

 

[goodguy]

I am not a complete newbie anymore but definitely not a seasoned photographer, I would get the lens. The 50mm lens are pure pleasure. I just bought the 50mm 1.4D (170$ on ebay) and the sharpness on this lens is simply jaw dropping amazing, taking portrait with it is pure pleasure and as an added bonus doing night photography with such fast lens and sharpness is simply a labor of love!!! Don't miss on it, taking a photo of you child at F2.8 will give you a memory you will carry for the rest of you life with gorgeous bokeh

If you think that's nice, try an 85 prime lol.

Stop that!!!
Don't tease me
Yes, yes, yes I know all about the 85mm magic.
I was VERY close to buy one and was debating for about a whole week whether to buy the 85mm 1.8G or the 60mm 2.8G Macro and after a very long debate with myself I decided to go with the 60mm.
I tried both lenses and while the 85mm was sharper the 60mm was VERY close to it and I got a more usable focal length and of course the Macro capabilities.
I wouldn't have much to do with the 85mm except for portraits so I can tell you 100% in the future I will get an 85mm lens but that will be when I will own a full frame camera.

My new 50mm 1.4D is indeed not as sharp as the 85mm but..................

1.It is still astonish sharp, I couldn't believe how amazing this cheap lens is
2.I really couldn't get anything this good for the price I got it for
3.F1.4 is just a good advantage in low light, not a huge improvement over F1.8 but still better.

 

[Bulb]

I pick neither. I would save up for something even better.

If I had to pick, the 50mm f/1.8 would be it. My second favorite lens is a MF Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 and it's a fun lens to use for a day and see what you end up with. You can't zoom so it makes you think about your composition. Some of my best images were made with that lens on a 35mm camera. It might be a bit snug for you, though, because your camera has a 'crop factor' that turns it into an ~80mm.

Photoshop can easily be replaced by RawTherapee + GIMP. If you're like me then that's all you need. RawTherapee will process the RAW files (if you use RAW) and GIMP will give you all of the editing tools. If there's something that GIMP doesn't have that you really need then it may be worthwhile to invest in Photoshop.