Recommendation for a noob

[Designer]

OK, I'll check out the specs on Aperture3 and see what the capabilities are to compare. Sleeping is so inconvenient to getting everything done I want to do. lol

If you have a Mac, and wish to use Aperture, you should know that Apple is discontinuing support for Aperture.

 

[FritzG]

Windows user so no worries on that side of things. Right now I am on information overload now though. lol

More research needed for myself but I made a "home-made" speedlight (aka mini strobe light I had laying around) and flashbender (aka several pages of printer paper taped to strobe) and yeah, that's the ticket to pictures I expect vs. what I was getting. Sheesh, less than two days on this site and already learned what it probably would have taken a couple of hundred bucks and a few weeks long course to learn. Big THANK YOU to all thread responders!

 

[jovince3000]

As for the lens, I saw your list, and if I may, I would like to recommend some thing that might interest you.

There is the 24-105mm f/4 is usm lens that is an extremely versatile lens, and since you are running on a cropped sensor, that actually make it a 38- 168mm lens (correct me if I'm wrong) which make it a very nice candid lens to photograph moving kids from a little distance. (this is my walk-around lens and I couldn't recommend it more. Amazing piece of glass)

If you're able to get a bit closer, I couldn't recommend more the 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM.
This is just a fantastic portrait lens.

Both of them may be a bit on the expensive side, as they are professional quality lens, but you can rent them for very cheap at your nearest camera store and on Borrowlenses site.

The lens you mentioned are good, but may be a bit hard to use, even more so if you plan on using a priority / manual mode, as the aperture of the lenses are variable depending on the focal length of your lenses. Not exactly the most intuitive thing for someone who's starting out.

Btw, Canon software is "okay" but not "great". if you plan on being serious about photography, I'm personally using lightroom, I do not know any free alternative that was worth the effort.

 

[FritzG]

Holy collecting bottle deposits! That's what I would have to do to afford these lens at this time anyway.

I loathe Adobe products and the overall insistence of big companies on a "subscription" model of software. I prefer owning something no one can take away from me for not continuing to give them money. I do see that they have a perpetual license desktop version for $150 but I think until I actually know what I am doing, I will play around with the Canon software, Raw Therapee and Lightzone a look. If and when I have a clue, I will revisit a paid app. I read some good things about AfterShot 2 but it doesn;t seem to support our camera (T3i) so it might not be an option. I liked the reviews and especially the price (as low as $26 on sale at some points and only $54 now). If my shooting and editing skills increase to a level where I understand that the problem is the hardware/software and not me, then I will make the investments. I usually assume I am the problem first.

What a rabbit hole I jumped into. smh lol

 

[jovince3000]

Holy collecting bottle deposits! That's what I would have to do to afford these lens at this time anyway.

That's why I proposed the rent alternative

As for adobe, Jared Pollen, a youtuber photographer had a great opinion on that. If you're a photographer, you need a way to process your images. Being it film or digital. 10$ a month is cheap, and you're way better off having a worldwide recognized software that you know has great processing capabilities than a no-name-may-be-ok software that you eventually get better at image processing and you start seeing the software limitation. Then you have to get (for example) lightroom anyway, and you got yourself a new learning curve to adapt to a new software.

Now that's just my opinion, do what you want with it. I personally pay the 10$ a month and for that, I also get regulars upgrades and sometime, even new features.
it's 120 a year subscription based (more or less) and 150+ for the "buy it once" kind of thing. But then, as a photographer, you see the new version's feature and you're like "OHHHH, I WANT THAT, THAT WOULD MAKE MY LIFE SO MUCH EASIER" and you buy it anyway and you end up having paid 30$ too much. You can also cancel subscription anytime you want.

 

[FritzG]

I will definitely rent before I buy. I definitely want to know what I am getting before I plunk down that kind of coin for sure. lol



I am never one to dismiss someone's else's (well thought out) opinion. However, my experience with many software products is that the rate of change far outpaces my ability to keep up with and/or utilize them as a hobby. Were I a professional needing to keep up with the latest developments that my competition is employing, then yes. In that scenario, I could live with the subscription model.

The comparison I always use for the average user is my own basic computing hardware and software. I purchased a refurbished computer about 3 years ago to replace one I had purchased 7 years ago (because I needed more horsepower for an application I wanted to use). Both with perpetual OS and Office productivity software licenses. For what I have used them for, I have only needed to upgrade my video card and hard disk on either of them and they are still both perfectly functional (including for HD video editing). Had I been forced to pay for a subscription, I would have had to pay for functionality that I neither need or use to the tune of 10 "software" years. Windows 7 still works great for me and Linux is free! *hahaha*

The scenario can be different with task specific software but honestly, many times, features and functionality that a software introduces in a version upgrade may not apply to specific needs for at least a couple of years (at least in my experience) unless the package is bad to start with. Last but not least, I am just that kind of guy. Corporations already dictate enough of my life so I choose to support open source and smaller outfits that are more customer focused vs. profit focused. At the point of diminishing returns, I don't insist on following illogical ideology and have no problem changing my mind. Up until now, that has always served me well.

I will be sure to admit if it was not the best course of action once I get into it this summer. I have a feeling I will be posting to this forum ... a lot.

Thank you!

 

[Designer]

I have a feeling I will be posting to this forum ... a lot.

Oh, good! Say... Has anyone mentioned that for every ten posts you buy a round of drinks? I see that you're nearly at 10 posts now. I like cheap red wine and Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

 

[jovince3000]

And then he never posted again.

That was nice knowing you, fritz!

More seriously though, if you don,t feel like what I say suit your need or opinion, that's totally fine, don't worry about it. If you have a different opinion that's fine as long as it suit YOU. If the opinion given seems to suit your own situation, then that's for the better, but if it's not, there's nothing to be ashame of to say that you're looking for something different .

also, Designer, I will be taking some of your 942 late drinks.

 

[FritzG]

I'll send you a picture of those drinks ... does that count??

 

[Designer]

I'll send you a picture of those drinks ... does that count??

Absolutely!

 

[sashbar]

I will definitely rent before I buy. I definitely want to know what I am getting before I plunk down that kind of coin for sure. lol

You do not have to. Most editing soft have one or two months free trial. You can try them all and make your mind whether to buy one to stick to the free stuff like LightZone etc.

 

[jovince3000]

I will definitely rent before I buy. I definitely want to know what I am getting before I plunk down that kind of coin for sure. lol

You do not have to. Most editing soft have one or two months free trial. You can try them all and make your mind whether to buy one to stick to the free stuff like LightZone etc.

I think he was talking about the lens I recommended in a previous post.

 

[beagle100]

I have captured raw files but never really tried working with them. Is something like Paint.NET enough to learn with or do you really need a full blown image editing package to do anything with those? Also, is the software that came with the T3i any good? Another thing to learn. Well, what is life without learning anyway? Merely existing and boring as hell I think. lol

yes, Canon DPP will get you started with RAW files but whether you need better image editing software depends on how much you want to process the photo and your budget

 

[FritzG]

I think he was talking about the lens I recommended in a previous post.

That is correct. The lens, not the apps. By the way, I did take a look at a few apps (including paid) and I don't know nearly enough about this stuff to actually use any of those programs yet. I am getting a better understanding now though. Like histograms as a tool to know how badly I messed it up ... also, white balance and "the white card" thingy to set a custom profile and avoid those yellow-ish pictures.

Still hasn't improved my picture taking but at least I am understanding the equipment and my own deficiencies. Yes, I know, everyone starts a novice and beauty is in the eye of the beholder ... yadda yadda yadda. I want to take pictures the way my brain sees them.

That said, I now shoot exclusively in RAW so I can retain the ability to work on the files once I learn how. Also, I learned how to export them to JPG should I actually want to share or print one.

Beagle100 - If I am ever good enough to not need to process too much, it will be a happy day for me since pics will be coming out as I want them straightaway.

Last but not least, Designer ... I have yet to take a proper picture of that drink for you but will you accept this for now?

 

[Designer]

Of course! Thanks!

No-varietal red! One of my very favorites! You should have!