What program do you use for post-processing?

Bigtime · #1 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 5:10 PM**

So what does everyone use to tinker with their shots once they have them on the computer?

I've been pretty amateur, and asides from the Canon program included with the T2i I've also just used the windows photo gallery program. I've only now just begun to shoot in RAW format, and I want a program that will take the most advantage of that and make it easy for someone like me that is not that savvy when it comes to all the fine processing details.

I've heard lots of great things about Adobe Lightroom, and I have a birthday coming up. Is it worth it?

Ramsayfarian · #2 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 6:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

So what does everyone use to tinker with their shots once they have them on the computer?

I've been pretty amateur, and asides from the Canon program included with the T2i I've also just used the windows photo gallery program. I've only now just begun to shoot in RAW format, and I want a program that will take the most advantage of that and make it easy for someone like me that is not that savvy when it comes to all the fine processing details.

I've heard lots of great things about Adobe Lightroom, and I have a birthday coming up. Is it worth it?

Welcome to RAW. You'll find it to be a lifesaver.
I mainly use Lightroom and will bring out Photoshop for certain things.

Lightroom is awesome. You can download a free 30 day trial and see if you like it.

There's also a ton of free tutorials arounds. Here's a good start on that:

http://www.google.ca/search?aq=0&oq=...att+kloskowski

Jimby · #3 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 6:30 PM**

I use iPhoto and sometimes Aperture but I have lots to learn about it.
This subject came up at dinner last night and the pro photographer in our group said she uses Lightroom on her MacBook, but she prefers using a thing called "film".

mersar · #4 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 6:38 PM**

Mostly just Photoshop. I've heard good things about Lightroom but never found a need to justify another program.

freeweed · #5 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 6:48 PM**

MSPAINT.exe

This way you're never ever tempted to try HDR. But you can draw crooked red arrows pointing to funny things in a picture.

Bigtime · #6 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 6:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimby

I use iPhoto and sometimes Aperture but I have lots to learn about it.
This subject came up at dinner last night and the pro photographer in our group said she uses Lightroom on her MacBook, but she prefers using a thing called "film".

What is this "film" she speaks of?

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

MSPAINT.exe

This way you're never ever tempted to try HDR. But you can draw crooked red arrows pointing to funny things in a picture.

Oh don't worry, if I do get Lightroom (and I am leaning that way right now) I will still keep well clear of HDR.

bookermorgan · #7 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 7:15 PM**

I have 'a copy' of adobe cs. But know nothing about it so I only use it to resize photos

Bigtime · #8 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 7:23 PM**

You're like me Morgan, I've only tinkered with some of the settings in the Canon utility and Windows Photo-viewer.

Does a program like Lightroom make it easier for an average joe like me to make those minute changes that can take a photo from average to great? I think of my high-ISO speed shots of The Bow and EAP last night. I see on the Lightroom page that they show this superior noise reduction capability, is it pretty much dummy proof to use it?

DizzyEdge · #9 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 8:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

MSPAINT.exe

This way you're never ever tempted to try HDR. But you can draw crooked red arrows pointing to funny things in a picture.

Hey now, I'm investing my life savings in that Sunalta project.

freeweed · #10 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 8:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Hey now, I'm investing my life savings in that Sunalta project.

Just to be clear, I was in no way disparaging anyone's pictures here. I'm making fun of myself and no one else.

(I'm a tad infamous for really shitty quality but vaguely humourous edits)

Ramsayfarian · #11 Posted **Feb 3, 2011, 8:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

You're like me Morgan, I've only tinkered with some of the settings in the Canon utility and Windows Photo-viewer.

Does a program like Lightroom make it easier for an average joe like me to make those minute changes that can take a photo from average to great? I think of my high-ISO speed shots of The Bow and EAP last night. I see on the Lightroom page that they show this superior noise reduction capability, is it pretty much dummy proof to use it?

It's pretty easy to learn and I've had it save more than a few shots there were either underexposed or I didn't use the correct white balance. As it is non-destructive editing it's virtually dummy proof. You can roll back any changes at any time.

I haven't used LR3 but I've heard the noise reduction is pretty good.

I still strive to get every thing right in camera, but I look at PP as a tool there to be used if needed.

defaultuser · #12 Posted **Feb 4, 2011, 12:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

You're like me Morgan, I've only tinkered with some of the settings in the Canon utility and Windows Photo-viewer.

Does a program like Lightroom make it easier for an average joe like me to make those minute changes that can take a photo from average to great?

I don't think this is possible.

Quote:

I think of my high-ISO speed shots of The Bow and EAP last night. I see on the Lightroom page that they show this superior noise reduction capability, is it pretty much dummy proof to use it?

Yes, Lightroom has nice presets that make it easy to do minor changes.

devonb · #13 Posted **Feb 4, 2011, 2:56 AM**

Was going to say the same thing.

I use photoshop, but it's pricey. I get it cheap for being a teacher: $200 instead of $1200.

floobie · #14 Posted **Feb 4, 2011, 4:59 PM**

While the only decent camera I have is an old film SLR (Canon A-1), I've been playing with my friend's digital SLR lately (a shiny new Nikon D3100), and I've been using Photoshop to handle the conversion from RAW. It does a really nice job of it. Loads of tweakable parameters, corrections for loads of different kinds of lenses. Basically, if there's any particular detail you want brought out, you can do it, provided the photo itself is of good quality to begin with. Garbage in, garbage out still applies.

I just happen to have CS5, though. I needed it for an ongoing web design job, and Illustrator has come very much in handy for school. It definitely isn't cheap, even with the education discount I got.

I've heard good things about Lightroom, but I haven't tried it myself. As far as I know, it's like iPhoto or the Windows Live thing in that it basically takes you through the complete workflow (import, processing, organization), just with more features in between. I've been using Photoshop to convert from RAW and generally massage images I'm particularly happy with, and iPhoto to actually organize them. If you have a Mac, you can also try Aperture. Same deal as Lightroom really, and only about 90 bucks in the app store. Some people seem to love it, others seem to prefer Lightroom.

It sounds like, for your needs, Lightroom would be a great place to start. And you can pick up Photoshop later if you ever find Lightroom deficient in any way.

Bigtime · #15 Posted **Feb 4, 2011, 5:44 PM**

Thanks for all the input everyone, I'm definitely leaning towards getting Lightroom now. Seems like it has enough features that I am looking for, without being overly complicated for someone like me.

Surrealplaces · #16 Posted **Feb 5, 2011, 7:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Thanks for all the input everyone, I'm definitely leaning towards getting Lightroom now. Seems like it has enough features that I am looking for, without being overly complicated for someone like me.

Lightroom is cool

SmokWawelski · #17 Posted **Feb 6, 2011, 2:07 PM**

Can anyone suggest a good dummy proof easy to use program to edit videos? I just bought a little Nikon point and shoot with ability to record up to 29 minutes in HD 1080p

Thanks in advance to all

devonb · #18 Posted **Feb 6, 2011, 8:41 PM**

If you have a Mac, imovie would be all you need.

I've also used Adobe Elements and it would work too. It's about $100.

SmokWawelski · #19 Posted **Feb 7, 2011, 1:47 AM**

Thanks

I looked at the Adobe Element as well as Nero both about the same price

I guess it's trial and error

Bigtime · #20 Posted **Mar 10, 2011, 10:07 PM**

So I got my copy of Lightroom, and have enjoyed using it so far.

A quick question, when exporting the edited photos there is an option for 'quality' that is set to a default of 60. Can anyone explain what exactly this is controlling? And should I be using a different setting on it?

I've also noticed when I look at the exif data on my flickr page for photos I've edited in lightroom that the compression reads "JPEG (old version)" versus my other photos not shot in RAW that just read "JPEG". Any idea what it means?