editing software

[blitz]

I don't want to go to the expense of photoshop and to tell the truth I don't want to be a photo manipulator, is there a relatively cheap package made for photographers not computer/graphic design students?

Oh and I have a Nikon D300s

Blythe

[dullbird]

I love lightroom 5 cost 175 bux and worth every penny if you ask me....

you can use it just a little or a lot what ever takes your fancy.

If you look in the anything goes picture thread on the last page you will see two shots that I took and then played with gives you a small idea of some of the things you can do..if you want to.

and apart from that it has a really good easy workflow and makes life easy for cataloguing your photos

[Designosaur]

Plus one for lightroom.

But be aware that it is a RAW converter and image management program with some nice colour adjustment tools. It's perfect if you are working on one image at a time.

If down the track you start to need to do more heavy duty manipulation such as combining images and extensive retouching, that is where programs like photoshop are necessary. There is an open source program called gimp (gimp.org) but at the moment it only does bits per channel images. To maintain all the image quality your camera is recording, 16bits per channel is better, people seem to be happy with photoline PhotoLine: Image Processing (http://pl32.com/index.php) ( I use photoshop but work pays for that ).

One really good thing about lightroom is that it does non-desctuctive editing. If at any stage you don't like the changes you have made to an image you can return to the state where you imported it. You can even take snapshots showing different processing for the same image.

Bernie

[blitz]

Is lightroom able to do HDR?

[Designosaur]

At the moment I think you need to merge the images in something else. Process Your HDR Images in Lightroom | Lightroom Secrets (http://lightroomsecrets.com/2012/07/process-your-hdr-images-in-lightroom/)

B

[FeatherWeightDriver]

Try the GIMP ;)

No not that one, this one: GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program (http://www.gimp.org/)


Introduction to GIMP

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.
GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just about anything. The advanced scripting interface allows everything from the simplest task to the most complex image manipulation procedures to be easily scripted.
GIMP is written and developed under X11 on UNIX (http://www.gimp.org/unix/) platforms. But basically the same code also runs on MS Windows (http://www.gimp.org/windows/) and Mac OS X (http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/).

[zkdaz]

Depends on what you want to do with the photos.

GIMP (above) is like photoshop, extremely powerful but takes a lot of learning to get the best out of it. GIMP can "do HDR" but it is more of a manual process like it was in photoshop a few versions back.

IrfanView is also freeware but much more basic. It can do colour adjustments, brightness, contrast, etc, but not merging images together or adjusting one part of the photo while leaving the rest unchanged.

Lightroom is a partner program to photoshop, it is designed for making the same changes to lots of images quickly but it lacks the advanced features of photoshop.

Adobe's product for 'amateur' use is Photoshop Elements, it will do everything 99% of photographers want. And it is very user friendly, ie common tasks are automated and simplified. It is often bundled with new cameras and sometimes it has been cheaper to buy a cheap point and shoot camera with it than buy it directly.

HDR is difficult to do well, if you are interested "Stuck in Customs" is a good website to get you started.

Actually all photo editing is hard to do well, ie not look like it has been edited. Whichever program you choose, expect to spend a while learning the fine line between sharp and little halos start to appear. But it is very satisfying when you get it right and have your pictures on the wall.

Dan

[mowog]

There is also PhotoShop Elements which is pretty good value. It will do most things a hobby photographer wants.

And another Vote for LightRoom but you will still need another package like PhotoShop

[Chucaro]

I have Nikon cameras including the 300s and I am very happy with Nikon Capture NX2.

[WhiteD3]

I see CS6 student version is <$200 at Office Works at the moment.

[Rok_Dr]

I like lightroom using V5 ATM.

Be careful of Adobe student versions. They require proof of enrolment before the software can be activated.

Cheers

Steve

[dullbird]

you cant do HDR in Lightroom but you can get many many plugins for Lightroom and one of them is so you can export to photomatix....and work on the photo in there..

you can also get plugins so you can send your image to the likes of photoshop and then send it back when your done....

I would highly recommend you have a look at the video tutorials for Lightroom 5 (on the adobe website) gives you an idea of what the program can do and I learnt so much from them

[MLD]

I too endorse Lightroom. It will do 99% of what most amateur photographers need and 95% of what professional photographers need, leaving aside the extreme photograph manipulation that is the forte of photoshop.

Your brand of PC may influence your decision. If Microsoft OS you have the full gambit of choice. If Mac you are limited to a few programs that have features of desire. For the Mac users, i've used Lightroom and Aperture. Lightroom V2 is more advanced than the current Aperture on Mac. The algorithm used by lightroom to auto rectify a photo is far more advanced than Aperture. i also dislike the manner Aperture stores photos in a library that can't be accessed outside the program. It also is limiting in the way you can export photos. In the Mac world the price difference between Lightroom and Aperture doesn't justify the compromise.

my 2 bobs worth

MLD

[clive22]

Depends what you want to do.


I use Photoshop elements which is pretty good for most hobby stuff and easier to use than Photoshop

I've haven'y used Lightroom, but isn't it more for essentials like contrast, brightness, tones, etc whereas Photoshop is more about manipulations/graphics art. i.e. Their side by side programs

You can download old Photoshop legally from Adobe for nix, I know I did. But use elements as it does pretty much everything I need

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=cs2_downloads&loc=en


Clive

[Designosaur]

I've haven'y used Lightroom, but isn't it more for essentials like contrast, brightness, tones, etc whereas Photoshop is more about manipulations/graphics art. i.e. Their side by side programs



Hi Clive, the real power of lightroom is in it's ability to import, raw convert manage, colour adjust, stylise, tag, rate, find, retrieve and export lots and lots of images. I have 25K images in my current catalogue, it is not phased by much bigger catalogues than this. It really has good memory usage and caching!

A by product of digital is that you WILL end up with lots and lots of images and you really should have some way of keeping them a little bit organised. If you are on a mac and only shooting for personal use, iphoto may do all this for you, otherwise at least have a look at lightroom! there is a free 30day trial version for download.

Photoshop is a different beast altogether, but blitz in the original post did not want to do extensive manipulation so probably doesn't need to go there unless they get out of control with the hdr :p.

Bernie

[blitz]

Sooo I ended up getting Adobe photoshop elements 11 - probably more powerful than I need but will see how it goes.

Thanks for the input everyone - I had intended to buy lightroom but ended up getting the other instead. Now to start experimenting