Post Processing Software for a Non-professional

[runnergirl]

Hey everyone. I was hoping someone could help me with understanding different options for post-processing. I am a beginner - I got a DSLR last year and have really learned a lot about using it. My pictures are not great but they are definitely getting better and I am understanding the elements of photography more and more. One thing that I have most learned is that post-processing can make good photos look great, but I have to take good photos to start with. So basically - this post is not a question on how to make mediocre photos look like enhanced mediocre photos. I'm trying to do the best I can with my actual camera and maybe touchups later.

I have a mac and use iPhoto for cropping and sometimes brightening the exposure on my photos. In general this works for my purposes but there are some things I am hoping to do. Below is a picture I took of my son a few weeks ago. I really like the photo, (even though the white balance was a little off) and the only editing that has been done to it is that I cropped it and increased the exposure slightly in iPhoto. The only thing I wish I could do is really smooth the skin. When I ordered a print of this picture, it was really obvious to me that all the little capillaries are visible and detract from the main focus of the photo, which I think is his eyes. My friend has photoshop (and she is a photographer - much better than me) but when I look at her baby's pictures the most drastic difference I see is that the skin is so smooth in the pics she has edited with Photoshop. The only feature on iPhoto that smooths skin is the "denoise" slider, which seems to make photos very pixelated.

For someone that has a business, photoshop seems like a great investment. However, since I just want to improve my final outcomes with my photography for personal use and for sharing with family members, spending $700 on photoshop is out of my range. Also I would be worried about investing in photoshop since it probably has such a huge learning curve - I would love to someday know how to use it, but I don't think I have the time and money to devote to it now. A lot of the cheaper programs seem to do basically what iPhoto does (organize, crop, increase exposure/saturation/etc.).

Any suggestions of what software might be worthwhile? Thanks!

 

[ph0enix]

Gimp is free:
GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program

...and so is Picasa:
http://picasa.google.com/

 

[Light Guru]

Photoshop Elements its available in the Mac App Store.

 

[KmH]

There are many free image editing applications available, GIMP and Photoscape being just 2.

Corel also makes image editing software - PaintShop Pro X5

Adobe has a consumer grade version of Photoshop called Elements. Elements 11 ($50) was recently released - Adobe Photoshop Elements 11

FWIW, Adobe also sells full featured Student Editions versions of some of their software. K-12 and Higher Ed students at accredited schools usually qualify to buy Student Editions.
Adobe Photoshop Extended CS6 Student and Teacher Edition for Mac [Download]
Only Photoshop CS 6 Extended ($999 MSRP) is offered in a student version, not the regular CS 6.

But the regular CS 6 professional version can be had for less than $700 ($520) - Adobe Photoshop CS6

Plus, once someone registers their CS 6 (including student editions), they will qualify for upgrade pricing (usually $199 for regular Photoshop) with future releases.

 

[oldhippy]

I just downloaded the 30 day free trial of Photoshop Elements..and have to say OMG..That is increadable..And I've only had it 24 hours..
You can also trial Elements Premium.. this way I cn wee which program I want to purchase...just sayin...Ed

 

[runnergirl]

Thanks for all the input. I was reading something about photoshop elements and it seemed like some people said it does kind of what iPhoto does - maybe the people posting didn't know how to use it? Does photoshop elements have more functionality for things like smoothing skin and maybe stamping out a background element that isn't supposed to be there?

 

[snowbear]

Apple's Aperture, is about $80 and is similar to Adobe Lightroom. They usually have a 30-day trial available for download.

 

[oldhippy]

Thanks for all the input. I was reading something about photoshop elements and it seemed like some people said it does kind of what iPhoto does - maybe the people posting didn't know how to use it? Does photoshop elements have more functionality for things like smoothing skin and maybe stamping out a background element that isn't supposed to be there?

Being a 73 year old noob..I can only tell you what I have tried..It will blur background..remove sticks in the yard..or soften blemishes..and about a hundred thing I still get to try

 

[PlanetStarbucks]

Photoshop is definitely a go to program when you need post processing. Yes, it is daunting to someone who has never used it. But the good news is that being one of the most popular editors around there is a TON of online support and tutorials. Adobe has a lot of stuff on their website and others have created pages upon pages of how to do things in PS. For example:

Post-Processing | Phototuts+

Consider trying out Aperature. I've never used it hands on, but from what I've seen it seems to be pretty intuitive from the perspective of a photographer. I'm a Lightroom man myself, but it's not the easiest program to wrap your head around.

 

[KmH]

View attachment 26952

Goal #1 is to get it as close to right in the camera as possible.
This shot has an orangeish color cast because of a conflict between the white balance setting of the camera, and the color temperature of the main light source.
An orangeish color cast is usually caused by the camera's white balance being set to sunlight when using a tungsten/incandescent light source. It also appears you used some window light.
Using multiple light sources having different light color temperatures is known as 'mixed lighting' and color casts caused by mixed lighting cannot be fully corrected.

I see what looks to be 6 light sources (lamps) reflected in the babies left eye.
I did a quick and dirty edit using Photoshop CS5 Camera Raw and CS5 to illustrate the strong color cast:

 

[charlieclimber]

Try Serif PhotoPlus X4. You can get this bundled with MoviePlus X5 for only $20 at frys.com. PhotoPlus has everything you will need, including RAW file editing.

 

[unpopular]

There is Photoline, that's what I use, for something like 60€. It's as powerful as photoshop in many ways, but it's not the easiest software to use.

 

[unpopular]

BTW- baby skin is super hard to work with.

 

[runnergirl]

Thanks for all the great comments, especially Kmh. I never really realized how much this picture was affected by competing light sources. I looked back at some that I took outside on a cloudy day and no other lights around - his skin looks much better and the only thing I had done to this is crop it and boost the saturation to make the leaves and his eyes brighter (I would have attached the unedited image but I'm not at my computer).! You can see his pillow under the leaves and I do wish I could stamp that out, but I think by getting better lighting there's less editing that I wish I could do.



Kmh: for the indoor photo with too many different light sources, what should I have done? Left all the lights off and just used my external flash? Turned off just the lights closest to him? Or found another room altogether? Thanks!

 

[jowensphoto]

I think that second photo has potential, but there's a bit of "floating head" effect. If we were able to see his neck and a hint of chest/shoulders, it would help. It's important to balance comfort of the baby with your pose, so I understand why he's all bundled up! Try using a basket or apple crate to have him in, so he's not right on the ground and doesn't need to be quite so wrapped up.

I used GIMP for years before converting to PS. Lots of tutorials for this type of editing.