Hey Guys,

After intermittent posting, of which not much was actually on topic, I think it is about time for a useful post, this one will be about software that you can use on your computer to aid in your photography, whether they be organising software, editing or otherwise. I’ll start with a list summary, and then talk about them.

Organising Software

These are the two you should be thinking about, any others are not really worth the effort, and won’t be as efficient, nor as useful. I recommend them both, and the only deciding factor is whether you’ll be on a Mac or not.

Editing Software

***Ooh, New, Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros? Very nice, just added when I went to add the link to aperture, literally seconds ago. How exciting. Check them out: here***

Anyway, those are the main competitors in this field, you will find others, even free ones, but I’m only really here to discuss the main competitors, and what they can do for you.

Now on to more detail, of course. I have been using Photoshop personally. I started with elements, and recently have jumped up to CS2. They are in my opinion the best. But that’s personal preference, and of course there may be reasons for you to choose your own stuff. But here comes my view on the software listed above.

iPhoto

Here comes my view on what I think is the best option for organising photographs on your computer. To start with, it has a very intuitive layout, and it looks beautiful. There are such features as, Full-Screen editing and, Floating Palette editing.

Really it has to be seen to be believed. I feel it is amazing, I used to use it on an iBook G4, and it was like lightning, I can’t imagine what it’s like on the new C2D MacBook Pros. Please check it out, and if you are a Mac user, I don’t need to ask, as I’m sure you already use it!

Here are some useful links to iPhoto stuff:

• Apple’s Page on iPhoto - Here
• iPhoto.6.The.Missing.Manual - Here

Picasa

Now, for you windows users, there is something quite spectacular available to use. And it’s free. It is called Picasa, and it’s made by the amazing, Google. You will grow to love Picasa 2, and all of its features if you use it.

It has a very iPhoto-esque interface, with a list of folders down the left, and icons for all the pictures on the right. It contains excellent editing functions, that are quick and easy. For example, brightness, contrast, straightening, rotating etc etc. Many many more.

It makes sense, you should have this no matter what, it will keep your whole computer’s contents of photographs organised, and ready for anything.

Furthermore, Picasa has a link to Picasa web albums, which is a way of storing photos online for sharing, a tad like Flickr, although, still new and not too well known yet. This allows for you to share your pictures with friends and family across the world. Very similar to iPhoto, (Apple’s), .Mac system. (Although, Free).

In conclusion, Picasa is very good, advanced, yet simple, easy to use for everyone. I highly recommend this, and it is an excellent windoze alternative to iPhoto.

Photoshop CS2

The most well known, and well respected program for photo editing. Firstly, you’ll find, that because of its heritage, it is very smooth. There are very few problems, which is a surprisingly noticeable thing. The functions just work.

Photoshop CS2 has possibly the widest functionality of the software group. You can do almost anything to an image, from simple colour correction, all the way through to extreme editing that can change the whole meaning of the image.

I’d just like to remind you at this point that this post is not meant to be a review, but more of an overview, this meaning, I’m not going to go into immense detail as to what you can do with the software, but more, what it is suitable for, and who it is suitable for.

This software is immense, highly recommended, and most probably aimed at the professional, or serious amateur. I recommend it, I use it now, and it’s awesome.

Photoshop Elements

This is literally a stripped down version of CS2, as I’ve already said. Ideal for the less demanding user that most certainly doesn’t want to spend the money of CS2.

The features are basically parallel with CS2, what you can do to an image in CS2, you can more than likely do with Elements. The main difference is that it is not a collection of software.

CS2 stands for, Creative Suite 2. Suite, because, it has many pieces of software bundled with it, not just Photoshop. Elements is just photoshop, but that is all you really need, particularly if you pair it with Picasa.

I recommend this highly. It is ideal for the creative amateur, which, after all is what this site is aimed at!

Aperture

No, I’m afraid to say that I am not in a position to give my views on Aperture as I have not used it. It was not welcomed wholeheartedly by the Macintosh community, but particularly now, it is a very well known and respected piece of software.

I can point you in the way of some very good reviews and overviews of Aperture.

Here you will find a whole host of links for Aperture 1.5

So, I hope you have found some vague sense in my ramblings, and from what I have written I will draw you this conclusion:

If you are Pro/Serious Amateur: Photoshop CS2

If you are Amateur, less serious: Photoshop Elements

If you’re an everyday user for fun: Picasa/iPhoto

Hope you’re well,

Charlie -