Blues Loc: Duluth, Mn

I was wondering who might be shooting in raw, and what PP program you use that is not real difficult to learn how to use.

thanks

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Lightroom, I find, is easy to use after watching a few tutorials online (the free ones). You can download the 30 day trial off of the Adobe site.
It's basically a bunch of sliders that you use to fine tune.

skooters Loc: Flagstaff, Arizona

Here is who is shooting raw:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-181789-1.html

I use LightRoom, Picasa and the one that came with camera, Digital Photo Professional

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I love Photoshop. It does however has a learning curve involved. Even though it is basically very easy to use, the learning never ends, as there are thousands of ways to do the same thing, so you will grow with it. It's almost limit less. To me there' s no better, for Raw, I truly enjoy ACR!

Blues Loc: Duluth, Mn

Thanks for the input, Cdouithitt, skooters and speters.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Lightroom is the best starting place. It makes all your edits non-destructively and you don't have to worry about layers and the more complex tools. It is very intuitive and you can learn to use it quickly. Plus, it keeps your photos organized and helps you get them ready for print or web-sharing.

For more complex editing, you can easily add photoshop (either the full version or Elements) when you're ready, and your Lightroom will keep all those photos organized right alongside your originals.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Ditto! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

ronwande Loc: Hendersonville NC

ACR = Adobe Camera Raw. Photoshop Elements 11 or 12 would be a good place to start. They are not prohibitively expensive and have the ACR processor, not quite as fully implemented as in Photoshop for ten times the price. Elements is not easy to learn but there are lots of tutorials online. I have Elements 11 and find that it can do almost all of what Photoshop CS5 can do.

I shoot raw only since I don't consider it a chore to put my photos in ACR. Frequently I can do all the adjusting that needs to be done in the RAW module. Then import into Elements and save as JPG or whatever else you might want to do with the image.

amehta Loc: Boston

I generally just use jpegs, but have been shooting "raw+jpeg" just in case. I have started using DxO Optics Pro 9 because it lets me easily adjust the main things I want to change: overall exposure, and the highlights/midtone/shadow balance. Usually the jpegs are very good, if they weren't I'd generally try the shot again. DOP lets me make the small adjustments which can make it better, sometimes. Sometimes, I'll look at the DOP result and the original jpeg, and they'll basically be the same.

The post processing program I use to do real editing is Portrait Professional, because it's really helpful with adding "digital makeup". It's great how sharp today's cameras are, and with portraits I like that for eyes because then they really sparkle, but then you see every blemish in the skin. Portrait Professional really helps with that.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right! I shoot raw, JPEG, and both together, depending on the situation. If it's just a quick snapshot of something, JPEG is fine. If I want to make it look good, there's no substitute for Nikon NEF.

wings42 Loc: San Diego, CA

Try FastStone Image Viewer for free. The name is misleading. It's actually a very capable raw image and jpg processing editor. FastStone isn't as capable as Lightroom 5 but it is FREE and 5 star rated in multiple sites, the rating I'd give it. It is much faster than Lightroom. It's the top rated CNET photo post processing download. You can read about it and download it here: http://download.cnet.com/FastStone-Image-Viewer/3000-2192_4-10324485.html . Then, when you've got your sea legs, you might consider buying and learning Lightroom.

Lightroom 5 is available for about $100, a bargain compared to the price a few years ago. Lightroom is extremely capable but there is a long and steep learning curve for it. It's a slow resource hog unless you have a top end computer with a lot of working memory. There are multiple books in print, multiple online training programs, and extensive Adobe instruction videos on how to learn and use Lightroom...hardly "not real difficult to learn how to use". Lightroom is easy compared to Photoshop, but there are university courses on learning and using Photoshop.

On a typical day of photographing birds I'll take around 250 photos if the light is decent. I cull that down to about 30 pictures with FastStone for final culling and processing in Lightroom 5. Also, I use FastStone exclusively for processing JPG file downloaded from the web. FastStone is the only PP program I use when traveling with a our old laptop. I think you'll find it invaluable for years if you use it, even after you become proficient in Lightroom.

amehta Loc: Boston

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

You can also get it directly from FastStone.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

To elaborate on skooters' mention of Picasa:

It supports most raw files and is free! Here is the download:

http://picasa.google.com

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

I use Lightroom 5. Works very well with RAW files. Not that hard to learn. Certainly easier than PS.

Bobbee

PS, OnOne, PortraitProfessional are my main ones. Plus some plugins to PS