Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Aperture provides very intuitive tools to improve the appearance of images made from RAW within Aperture. It also provides ways to interface with other photo processing programs i.e. Photo Shop to do more precise work when if needed. I'd recommend you buy the "Color Efex Pro 4" (NIK filters) plug in for Aperture. It's not very expensive. Later if you start using PhotoShop you can pay the extra money and upgrade to the version that also works from within PS.

You can do a lot with just Aperture. Aperture is much easier to learn to use than PS. NIK filters is also easy to use and very powerful.

Kentski Loc: Michigan

Thanks Dave, that's what I was hoping to hear!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

[quote=Alfresco]The sky is not falling and Aperture is still alive and well. Just because Apple isn't developing Aperture further doesn't mean they don't support it, they do. I use both iPhoto and Aperture and I'm awaiting Photo from Apple. I find iPhoto to be a quick and easy editor for most of my RAW photos but Aperture is far more powerful. Both seem to fit the bill for my needs. No need to save, copy, move or convert, just let either program do its work. Have you tried iPhoto yet, it's pretty simple and straightforward and a great place to start post processing.
Apple isn't just interested in iPhones either, I saw the 5K 27" iMac yesterday and I was very impressed. You can not see any pixels, no matter how high the magnification. It is just so clear and beautiful! Just saying.[/quote
I find that rather strange, unless you're working in a vector based program, magnifying an image should show every single pixel at a certain magnification, or there is something wrong with the resolution ( like not existing).

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

[quote=speters][quote=Alfresco]The sky is not falling and Aperture is still alive and well. Just because Apple isn't developing Aperture further doesn't mean they don't support it, they do. I use both iPhoto and Aperture and I'm awaiting Photo from Apple. I find iPhoto to be a quick and easy editor for most of my RAW photos but Aperture is far more powerful. Both seem to fit the bill for my needs. No need to save, copy, move or convert, just let either program do its work. Have you tried iPhoto yet, it's pretty simple and straightforward and a great place to start post processing.
Apple isn't just interested in iPhones either, I saw the 5K 27" iMac yesterday and I was very impressed. You can not see any pixels, no matter how high the magnification. It is just so clear and beautiful! Just saying.[/quote
I find that rather strange, unless you're working in a vector based program, magnifying an image should show every single pixel at a certain magnification, or there is something wrong with the resolution ( like not existing).[/quote]

It would appear the "Flat Earth Society" has been taken over by these "Sky is Falling" folks. Just when they seem to be gone, one of them arises and proclaims Aperture as dead, gone, and buried, and they read it on the internet! I guess Chicken Little never will be silenced. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Alfresco

Actually, the resolution is the answer, 5K! The 27" iMac next to it was a regular iMac and the pixels were visible, not so on the 5K, no matter the magnification, to see it is to believe it! Apple is alive and quite well!

bweber Loc: Newton, MA

Aperture allows you to set parameters that you can use as a default for every RAW file you open. You can always adjust away from the default adjustment. I suggest you begin with the default settings and adjust the default if you find yourself always adjusting the white balance, sharpening, etc., to the same settings.
I usually create a new folder for each shoot, although frequently it is a subfolder for a picture type such as "Landscape". I make global adjustments to exposure, white balance etc to a single picture and then apply it to all pictures with similar exposures. After I view everything I mark the ones I like with a coulee of stars and then only open the starred pictures. I fine tune the ones I want to print or display using the rest of the aperture functions, generally working in full page using the HUD. I use all of the NIK plugins to fine tune pictures with problems or to accentuate certain features. I use SilverEfex Pro for all of my Black and White work. I generally crop before I open a nik file.
Good luck.

Kentski Loc: Michigan

Thanks weber, the defaults got me pretty close. I did like to kick the definition up a little on all the shots. Great fun and learning experience. Think I may be hooked on RAW, but will have to get a larger capacity memory card for my camera soon😊