cbtsam Loc: Monkton, MD

When I bought my first digital, a Nikon D70, I began with Photoshop and a book called Classroom in a Book to learn how to use it. I tried Lightroom, but didn't want to spend the time to learn it, so I've stuck with what I've known: Photoshop. Over time, some new features became obvious to me, and I use them. I'm not interested in learning another system, and the $10 a month has become trivial. While I don't drink coffee myself, I know plenty of folks who spend more than $10 a day on that habit. Others spend that much and more on eating lunch out each day. Me, I spend the $10 a month on one of my favorite activities.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Nope.

Dean37 Loc: Fresno, CA

I see a couple of things here, taking a photograph, and modifying a photograph using computer software. There is nothing inherently wrong with either, both take well developed skills.

Getting "photo bombed" is excellent justification for modifying a photo for anyone!

Some photographers depend upon modifying the photo later, and are not careful in setting up the photo before pressing the shutter release, nothing wrong with that either, in order to get several shots in a short time.

I myself am not a skilled photographer, and have really screwed up some barely ok photos using software, it was early '90's software, so it was not too sophisticated, I decided I would just remain a pure rank amateur, and take bad photos for myself and my family, until I started improving.

For the most part, I have fun with photography and get a lot of laughs out of my mistakes, believe me glaring mistakes.

Oh, yeah, I suffered from GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) like most do, and found my new professional film cameras (Nikon F3, F4e, and F5) took bad photos too! I haven't gone too far overboard with digital cameras, but did get a few that can use most of my old Nikkor lenses (50mm f/1.4, 35-70 f/2.8, etc). I just take the photos and enjoy them flaws and all.

At the same time, I recognize that many on this forum need the photos to be marketable to earn their living. More power to them, it is a very good and honorable profession! I hope that my bumbling around can get them to at least smile once in a while, as life should be enjoyable, too!

Have Camera

I have used Photoshop and Lightroom for many years, at this point in time I would never switch? Occasionally, I have used On1 and find it to be okay, but Photoshop is my "go too" software for photography.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I tried Affinity, On1, Capture One, Topaz Studio, Gimp, Darktable, Rawtherapee, Luminar and Photoshop Elements and I went with the one that was the easiest to learn and use.... Luminar.

u4ea

No snark intended. What didn't you like about Luminar? I am looking for the appropriate LR replacement too.
Thanks,

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

It was a version from a year or so ago. I honestly don't remember the specifics but I do remember I didn't like the interface and the way the feature set was implemented. Its not a criticism of Luminar. I just decided very quickly that it was not for me and didn't want to waste time learning it..

drc023 Loc: North Little Rock, Arkansas

Photo editing software is nothing but a tool to get a job done. I like Affinity for the simple reason that I've been a long time user of the entire line of Serif products. Before Serif indroduced Affinity there was Photo Plus, Page Plus and Draw Plus. I've got a box full of several versions of each and they all cost much more than Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher and Affinity Designer. Some folks have GAS. I have SAS (software acquisition syndrome). Therefore because I use Affinity software it seems only reasonable that everyone must agree with me and worship at the Affinity alter instead of the Adobe alter. What real difference does it really make about which camera or lens or program was used to create the latest masterpiece as long as the final output is the desired result? Having choices is certainly better than being forced to use what someone else has specified as the utopian choice.

INOV8TN

Looks like it has plenty of capabilities but doesn't run under LINUX.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

I used Serif products - and ended up with PhotoPlus X8 (the end of the line) - which I still use - really good and really intuitive - I know it so well that I would hesitate to change - even to Affinity. I wrote a tourist's pictorial travel guide with brief history of Spain using PhotoPlus X8 and PagePlus X8 a few years ago.

Carusoswi

I posted an earlier response to this thread, but it is not showing up. As a Linux/Windows user, I cannot knowledgeably comment on Affinity, but, reading through this thread, I get the impression that it is a destructive application in that it does not save your editing history of the RAW file. That's not the end of the world, it just means that, if, after editing a RAW file and converting it to a TIFF or JPG, you decide that you would like to have made some adjustments differently, you will have to re-do your editing work from scratch. Of course, often, you will not remember how to exactly duplicate all but the one (or more) adjustments you would like to tweek, so that your follow-up re-edit may differ in more ways than you wanted from from your original editing effort.

It has always seemed to me that certain applications develop a following which tends to amplify their value (LR/PS one of the majors, used by the pros, industry standard, etc.) that seems to drown out objective evaluation of alternative applications. IMHO, Affinity seems to be one of those. Personally, I care little about what some or most claim to be the best editing alternatives. I am no maven, but I have always been curious about various photo editing applications. I am a longtime user of PS (less a longtime user of LR), and consider myself more than "fluent" with PS/LR, Lightzone, Sagelight (now defunct, but at one time very promising), Capture One, and darktable/GIMP.

I maintain working copies of all of the above applications, and, while I concede that PS/LR remain the most polished of the above applications, they may not represent the best solutions when used in a RAW file processing workflow. LR's cataloging is perhaps the best at that task, but falls short in local RAW file adjustment capability. You won't surpass PS's capabilities in editing Tiff/JPG files (although GIMP will not leave you wanting), but, these days, making adjustments to the RAW data is preferable and relegates applications such as PS or GIMP second to all but the most stringent of adjustments.

For my money, darktable, a free, open source application, offers the most powerful RAW file editing options, followed very closely (and with a much simpler GUI) by Capture One. Lightzone is (IMHO) very simple, while at the same time, very powerful in offering localized adjustments of the RAW file.

IMO, it matters less that you use the very "best" in available applications than that you truly master whatever application you choose to squeeze out the best that application has to offer you in editing your photos, whether you accomplish most of those adjustments by working on the RAW file (preferred) or if you simply convert your RAW file for use in an application like PS or GIMP to finish the job.

Of the applications I have mentioned, Lightzone and darktable/Gimp are free, open source, and multi-platform applications that will run on Linux, MAC, or Windows. LR/PS charges users based upon a subscription model and runs on MAC or Windows. I have Sagelight, which runs on Windows, but hardly use it any longer since it is an orphaned application. Capture One offers both a subscription and one-time purchase option, and I run it on Windows and, via Wine, in Linux.

I cannot comment on Affinity, as I have never used it.

I do believe that, if you are a novice to editing, capable RAW file editors are the way forward. Pick one that allows you to make most adjustments (especially, localized adjustments where you can tweak, for example, only the over-exposed areas of a photograph) using the RAW data before converting to TIFF or JPG.

OTOH, if you are an accomplished user of applications such as LR/PS, at the end of the day, your efforts are as likely to result in results as excellent or better than those using the aforementioned class of applications. As a novice, if you invest the time, your efforts within this workflow will also produce excellent results.

It's the end result that matters, and most all of the mentioned applications allow you the opportunity to achieve excellent results. I do lament that free/open source applications are often criticized as offering less capability (not true) or steeper, less unsupported learning curves (also not true) or denigrated by virtue that they are free of charge (the old "you get what you pay for" expression, also not true). You will not find a better RAW editor than darktable, and its learning curve is no steeper than LR. GIMP has developed as a very mature TIFF/JPG editor, and, like DT, its learning curve, while different than PS, is no steeper. Abundant tutorials will have you up and running in both aps in no time.

In closing, I wish the OP only the best of experiences on his/her journey in developing post-processing skills, no matter which ap(s) he/she chooses.

I apologize for the length of this post. Happy shooting/processing.

Respectfully,

Caruso

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

While you and I differ in the tools we use, (I use DXO PhotoLab Elite on Windows 10), I agree with your overall assessment.

Carusoswi

Happy to receive an objective reply. I wholeheartedly embrace what I infer as your statement that use of different tools does not make us adversaries. We are fortunate that (and I am blessed to live in an age when) the myriad of different software tools allows each of us myriad tools by which to achieve our ultimate objectives. I have often perused the DXO sites, just have never pulled the trigger on their offerings. I would be especially interested in their lens corrections opportunities. We each have the opportunity to do everything, but we cannot do it all.

I appreciate your response.

Caruso

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

If we are civil to each other there is no need to be adversaries. After all, we are just talking about post processing software. There are many paths to the same destination. While some may be "better" or easier than others, its important to keep one's focus on the results. Whatever works for you is fine with me.

u4ea

Thanks mwsilvers!