Having only recently gotten into DSLR photography, I'm very green when it comes to post-processing, and the different software options available. My buddy (FM member) turned me on to the site and forum, and I'd like to hear what you guys have to say. What are some good software options to start with? I am familiar with photoshop, but there are a lot of other tools out there.
Disclaimer: I'm a PC user, and I know there are a lot of programs that are multi-platform, but it could be limiting. I'll leave it to your expert guidance
A noob familiar with photoshop ?! That's a rare thing.
I'd recommend that you try Lightroom because ...
(a) it will do most of whatever you are likely to need
(b) it's almost impossible to ruin a photo because the "edits" are non-destructive (i.e. the master photo remains unchanged)
(c) it has excellent image management tools for selection, sorting, categorizing, etc.
Alan321 wrote:
A noob familiar with photoshop ?! That's a rare thing.
I'd recommend that you try Lightroom because ...
(a) it will do most of whatever you are likely to need
(b) it's almost impossible to ruin a photo because the "edits" are non-destructive (i.e. the master photo remains unchanged)
(c) it has excellent image management tools for selection, sorting, categorizing, etc.
I know I've made a few suggestions before but you can't go wrong with anything listed here. Lightroom and Capture One are good basic development tools. They don't replace photoshop for major work, but handle volume much better (especially LR). You might also want to consider Capture NX. It's Nikon's processing software suite and it does a very good job with Nikon files. If you're going to shoot raw, NX2 will reproduce the same look as you see on the back of the camera's LCD (since that's a jpg that's been processed by the camera).
IIRC, most of these suites have a free trial. Once you get your camera, download and try them all. Shoot raw and don't use "auto" and with a little practice, you'll be producing some nice picts.
