Software Recomendations
The Top Five Questions
20/01/12 14:44
The Top Five Questions
The top five questions, new photographers ask: (At least the top five questions that I get asked regularly by new photographers).
1) What camera should I buy to make me a professional photographer?
2) What is the best lens to buy to make me a professional photographer?
3) What computer and monitor should I buy to make me a professional photographer?
4) What software should I buy to make me a professional photographer?
5) What printer should I buy to make me a professional photographer?
The Answers:
1) The camera does not matter.
The camera really does not matter. This image was shot with a Samsung Galaxy S2 cell phone.
2) The lens does not matter.
The lens does not matter. This image was taken using the still image capture feature on a consumer grade camcorder.
3) The computer does not matter.
I use a desktop Mac but I have friends that use Windows Machines and, while I don’t like using it, Windows is a modern operating system and as such is more than capable of photo processing.
4) The software does not matter.
As of this writing I use Apple Aperture 3, Adobe Photoshop CS5, Nik Efects Plug-ins for Aperture and Photoshop, and onOne software plug-ins. I recommend the following apps for new photographers: Pixelmator 2 (~$30 USD) http://www.pixelmator.com as an affordable Photoshop alternative, iPhoto (Free with any new Mac) for workflow management, and Snapseed (~$20 on the Apple App Store) http://www.snapseed.com/ as a tool for color correction, sharpening, and special effects.
5) The home printer does not matter. You can’t print high quality images as well or as inexpensively as having a professional print service* print them for you.
I use Bay Photo for almost all of my processing.
mpix is also a great professional print service.
Many Costco locations offer same day professional print services*.
There are tons of people out there buying high end printers, ink, and paper, and I know that these solutions are right for many full time photographers that need prints the same day. Nevertheless, for most people a professional printing service* is the only real option. Sure it takes a few days to get the prints, but you don’t have to worry about supplies, and if they mess up a print they don’t charge you for the mess-up. For same day printing, many Costco locations offer professional print services*, you must have a calibrated monitor and a fast Internet connection but the prices are reasonable and the product is much better than the product that most people can afford to print at home, see the Costco Photo Center for details on downloading printer calibration files, prices, and pickup locations.
What does matter?
The things that matter most in photography are composition and exposure. With these two things, a photographer can take almost any camera and create art, news, and/or memories. Composition and exposure are not mastered overnight and require lots of practice. In future posts I will discuss composition and exposure in depth and in my next post I will write about the one piece of equipment that does matter and that no digital photographer should be without. In fact I will go so far as to say it is a requirement for great pictures. Stay tuned to find out what it is and why you need it. Until then, get out there and start shooting and as always --
Enjoy.
*Professional print services - For the purposes of this discussion a professional print service is defined as a service offering commercial grade paper, inks/pigments, provides calibrated printer files to the end user and makes no changes to the file submitted by the customer. Many professional print services also provide consumer services such as color correction and photo retouching. It should be noted that local box stores, drug stores, and most one hour photo locations are not professional print services and as such, the quality of their prints varies greatly. These discount retailers rely on automated color correction, cropping, and contrast controls. The papers and ink/pigments used in these locations, while adequate for snap shots, is not of the same quality as premium services. Remember that these local one-hour photo locations are concerned with costs and volume and not with overall quality. In most cases, “good enough” is all they strive for in producing prints.
The top five questions, new photographers ask: (At least the top five questions that I get asked regularly by new photographers).
1) What camera should I buy to make me a professional photographer?
2) What is the best lens to buy to make me a professional photographer?
3) What computer and monitor should I buy to make me a professional photographer?
4) What software should I buy to make me a professional photographer?
5) What printer should I buy to make me a professional photographer?
The Answers:
1) The camera does not matter.
The camera really does not matter. This image was shot with a Samsung Galaxy S2 cell phone.
2) The lens does not matter.
The lens does not matter. This image was taken using the still image capture feature on a consumer grade camcorder.
3) The computer does not matter.
I use a desktop Mac but I have friends that use Windows Machines and, while I don’t like using it, Windows is a modern operating system and as such is more than capable of photo processing.
4) The software does not matter.
As of this writing I use Apple Aperture 3, Adobe Photoshop CS5, Nik Efects Plug-ins for Aperture and Photoshop, and onOne software plug-ins. I recommend the following apps for new photographers: Pixelmator 2 (~$30 USD) http://www.pixelmator.com as an affordable Photoshop alternative, iPhoto (Free with any new Mac) for workflow management, and Snapseed (~$20 on the Apple App Store) http://www.snapseed.com/ as a tool for color correction, sharpening, and special effects.
5) The home printer does not matter. You can’t print high quality images as well or as inexpensively as having a professional print service* print them for you.
I use Bay Photo for almost all of my processing.
mpix is also a great professional print service.
Many Costco locations offer same day professional print services*.
There are tons of people out there buying high end printers, ink, and paper, and I know that these solutions are right for many full time photographers that need prints the same day. Nevertheless, for most people a professional printing service* is the only real option. Sure it takes a few days to get the prints, but you don’t have to worry about supplies, and if they mess up a print they don’t charge you for the mess-up. For same day printing, many Costco locations offer professional print services*, you must have a calibrated monitor and a fast Internet connection but the prices are reasonable and the product is much better than the product that most people can afford to print at home, see the Costco Photo Center for details on downloading printer calibration files, prices, and pickup locations.
What does matter?
The things that matter most in photography are composition and exposure. With these two things, a photographer can take almost any camera and create art, news, and/or memories. Composition and exposure are not mastered overnight and require lots of practice. In future posts I will discuss composition and exposure in depth and in my next post I will write about the one piece of equipment that does matter and that no digital photographer should be without. In fact I will go so far as to say it is a requirement for great pictures. Stay tuned to find out what it is and why you need it. Until then, get out there and start shooting and as always --
Enjoy.
*Professional print services - For the purposes of this discussion a professional print service is defined as a service offering commercial grade paper, inks/pigments, provides calibrated printer files to the end user and makes no changes to the file submitted by the customer. Many professional print services also provide consumer services such as color correction and photo retouching. It should be noted that local box stores, drug stores, and most one hour photo locations are not professional print services and as such, the quality of their prints varies greatly. These discount retailers rely on automated color correction, cropping, and contrast controls. The papers and ink/pigments used in these locations, while adequate for snap shots, is not of the same quality as premium services. Remember that these local one-hour photo locations are concerned with costs and volume and not with overall quality. In most cases, “good enough” is all they strive for in producing prints.