Software tips for hobby photog

[Ciclismo]

Hi, I am awaiting my first Mac and one of the core reasons I need your help is that I enjoy both photography and videography as a hobby.

I use my iPhone 4S as an accompaniment to my GH2, so I will be processing JPGs and RAWs.

I've been giving software a thought, and because budget is an issue, I came up with the following list, but would appreciate advice as I am a noob:

Aperture or Darktable for database and RAW processing,
Pixelmator for 'chopping,
And FCPX for video editing.

[oldgeezer]

I'd go with Lightroom 4 over Aperture.

[firedept]

Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 & Premiere Elements 11.
Aperture
Pixelmator
Lightroom 4
FCPX

All reasonable cost. All have their own purposes. But you will need to do a little research on each of them to see which will best suit your needs. I have tried them all at one point in time and they all do excellent job. Remember that all of them have a learning curve. Easy to find help with them though with just a quick search.

In the end I went with Adobe Master Collection as it best suited my needs, but was way out of the cheap cost range.

Hope this helps.

[Jessica Lares]

I have the Creative Cloud subscription. It really is worth it. Everything for $50 a month. You get Lightroom, Photoshop, After Effects, and Premiere - Both will do you some good. Plus, they're all industry standard tools and have a lot of plugins you can add to them.

You'll find them easier to use than the others too. People write more about this stuff versus open source, and Mac OS exclusive stuff.

[SnowLeopard2008]

Good list. I'm pretty sure Aperture has some tools for cropping so maybe Pixelmator isn't needed.

I prefer Aperture over Lightroom, but that is a matter of preference.

[Ciclismo]

Originally Posted by firedept

Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 & Premiere Elements 11.
Aperture
Pixelmator
Lightroom 4
FCPX

All reasonable cost. All have their own purposes. But you will need to do a little research on each of them to see which will best suit your needs. I have tried them all at one point in time and they all do excellent job. Remember that all of them have a learning curve. Easy to find help with them though with just a quick search.

In the end I went with Adobe Master Collection as it best suited my needs, but was way out of the cheap cost range.

Hope this helps.

Wow, thanks for the list! This will definitely give me something to mull over as my iMac wont be here for another 10-18 days.

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Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

I have the Creative Cloud subscription. It really is worth it. Everything for $50 a month. You get Lightroom, Photoshop, After Effects, and Premiere - Both will do you some good. Plus, they're all industry standard tools and have a lot of plugins you can add to them.

You'll find them easier to use than the others too. People write more about this stuff versus open source, and Mac OS exclusive stuff.

Unfortunately the creative cloud subscription is more than I'm comfortable with - it costs €61,49 a month here, which is ~$82USD!

[jrobert123]

I do prefer Aperture over Lightroom and the main reasons for preferring Aperture is because of the below mentioned features:
1. It has capability for organization by project
2. It has a option for managing files
3. They had Multiple book printer options
4. It is much less dependency on Photoshop
5. Can be used for White balance using skin tones

[Apple fanboy]

I'm a real newb to photo editing but having a lot of fun with OnOne. It's standalone (as well as a plug in) which means I can save a few quid and upgrade to Lightroom when I feel I need to.

[trustever]

Mate if for you photography is just an hobby why don't you try the gimp
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

Most of the commands of photoshop are the same and you can easily follow any tutorial made for photoshop on the Gimp and is all free, if you are not happy unistall it and go for something else

[snberk103]

Originally Posted by jrobert123

I do prefer Aperture over Lightroom and the main reasons for preferring Aperture is because of the below mentioned features:

Not trying to argue with your choice... different tools for different people, but some of the features listed below actually do exist in Lightroom... so just for accuracy and for people who have not yet made up their mind...

Originally Posted by jrobert123

1. It has capability for organization by project

Lightroom uses Collections (instead of Albums) and Collections Sets to organize Collections and Smart Collections. So, yes Lr can organize by projects. As well you can save a print job and reprint that at will.

Originally Posted by jrobert123

2. It has a option for managing files

Lightroom also allows for managing files once the images are imported. You can use what Aperture calls "Referenced" images or you can have the images moved by Lightroom into it's default file structure.

Originally Posted by jrobert123

3. They had Multiple book printer options

True. By default Lr only has one book option, though others are available with plugins I believe. I keep a copy of Aperture and iPhoto around specifically for this feature. Note that Aperture and iPhoto have different options from each other, even though they are both Apple products.

Originally Posted by jrobert123

4. It is much less dependency on Photoshop

Lr has as much dependency on an external editor, Ps or otherwise as Aperture. Though it is nicely integrated with Ps should one wish to use Ps as the optional external editor.

Originally Posted by jrobert123

5. Can be used for White balance using skin tones

Yes. Lightroom does not have a way to white balance on skin tones. I hadn't realized that Aperture had this feature... the only other application I was aware of was Capture One v7... which is an even more powerful editor (though not as strong at organizing images) than either Aperture or Lightroom.

Like I said...not trying to get you to change you mind... just wanted to set the record straight for anybody who is still looking at a DAM.

Cheers