Software

[sdgmusic]

I currently use iPhoto, but it's not good enough for me. Aperture won't run on my iBook, and I find photoshop difficult to use (I have a copy of photoshop). Any suggestions?

 

[Alpha]

Seriously....suck it up and learn PS. It will most definitely pay off.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Lightroom?

 

[Don Simon]

I agree if you have a copy of PS it will pay to stick with it and do a bit of reading. I still don't understand it that well and probably only use a tiny fraction of its potential, but working out the basics like use of layers has definitely been worth it.

 

[The_Traveler]

I currently use iPhoto, but it's not good enough for me. Aperture won't run on my iBook, and I find photoshop difficult to use (I have a copy of photoshop). Any suggestions?

Any software that is powerful enough is difficult.
If its easy, it's not powerful enough for what you will eventially want as an advanced photographer.

 

[taracor]

I use GIMP. GIMP is wonderful. Open sourced is alway the way to go. I installed GIMP and never thought about buying PS again.

 

[sdgmusic]

I just got a demo of lightroom. I like it!

 

[The_Traveler]

Lightroom is great but, except for healing brush, can't really do pixel level changes.

 

[Funky]

phhh ps is god, i had this conversation with a photographer that shoots portraits and he said lightroom was better and more "powerful" but honestly if you can edit every pixle individualy and the 1000's of other things you can do with ps, it reigns supreme.

 

[sdgmusic]

I don't mean to offend anyone but if you need to edit every single pixel then are you really a good photographer? In my opinion you don't need that option because you're picture shouldn't suck to begin with.

 

[Garbz]

Photoshop is a waste unless you want to get creative. I find what sdgmusic says true to an extent. If you NEED photoshop to make a good photo you may be approaching photography from the wrong angle. Coming from film I touch my photos as little as possible, and I also use lightroom for the minor fixes like adjustments of curves simple BW conversions and minor colour touchups.

Lightroom is simply one of the most powerful RAW converters / basic picture wide touchup package I have ever seen.

That being said I also take photos of scenes intentionally that look just plain boring that turn into some of my best works with the intent on HEAVILY editing in photoshop, and this kind of editing really requires learning the detailed ins and outs of a software package.

 

[Don Simon]

I don't mean to offend anyone but if you need to edit every single pixel then are you really a good photographer? In my opinion you don't need that option because you're picture shouldn't suck to begin with.

If you NEED photoshop to make a good photo you may be approaching photography from the wrong angle.

Hmm I can't really agree... it's not so much needing PS to create a good image, but because PS helps get the best out of it. IMO you could extend those arguments to the stage of saying you shouldn't be shooting RAW, or that you should simply shoot negative film and let a lab handle everything after the exposure. PS to me isn't about rescuing images that "suck", it's useful even on a basic level like the use of layers for sharpening for prints. As for the point about editing on a pixel level... well being a good photographer isn't going to stop the occasional bit of dust that needs removing. And more importantly, dodging and burning... not traditionally something done only by poor photographers approaching it from the wrong angle

 

[DblArrow]

I have found PaintShop Pro XI to do all that is necessary and more. (even down to the pixel level) Can't compare it to Photoshop, but for the price I have not found a need to compare.

 

[Layton]

was using Aperture but it is just to much of a system hog. I moved to Lightroom and though I do not think it is as good an application as Aperture it runs twice as fast on my macbook.

I also use gimp on my pc which runs ubuntu linux.

 

[sabbath999]

Download a free demo of Nikon's Capture NX.

I use it for everything that doesn't require pixel by pixel editing.

It does things in 10 seconds that take an hour and 10 masks in Photoshop, and you can learn it in about a minute.

If you ever "burned & dodged" in a darkroom, it's just like that. Just exactly like that. If not, no biggie. It's dead easy, works with Nikon RAW (NEF) files, JPG's and TIFF's.