Photo editing software??

[Tbob]

Hey there everybody,
    So I'm sort of wanting to get a little more into photography and think I probably need a photo editing program at this point. Not sure if it makes a difference, but I use a Canon T3i for most of my picture taking and also a little Sony point and shoot for backpacking trips. Not looking for anything to fancy, expensive or super complex to learn and use.. Anyone have any good suggestions? Thanks to all you experts in advance!

[Johnb317]

Don't say whether your Mac or PC 

Checkout -
Photoshop Elements is a good all around application
or
Lightroom 6
If Mac also check out Aperture- I hear people like it.

I prefer shooting RAW as it gives me more range if I need to play with the photo..

[Tbob]

Shoot. Good point! I have a MacBook pro.

[Firedogg]

check the disks that came with your Canon, it should already have the Canon DPP program for editing your pictures. It will process your RAW and jpeg images. That will be your least expensive option.

 But if you are looking for more I also second Photoshop Elements I also suggest it. It has 90% of the tools in it that are available in the full blown program. Your other option is the 9$ a month subcription service for Creative Cloud that gives you both Lightroom and Photoshop, it updates any new changes to the programs as you go.

[Bean Counter]

For a beginner, your t3i should last you a year or two before you outgrow it. That's if you really lean into it, shoot a lot, take risks, and learn from your mistakes. Canon's aforementioned RAW converter is good for the basics of exposure, shadows, and highlights. Be sure you're shooting in RAW ("*.CR2") so you'll have the full range of editing leeway that JPG loses out to.   You should start with that if you're looking to go low budget and don't yet know what you want.

I'm stupid and lazy so and am resisting Photoshop/Elements for as long as possible. Eventually I'll probably cave in and use it as needed. You'll find that a lot of pros like to avoid Photoshop as much as possible. "Get it right in camera" is an often heard quote from people who know what they're doing, as opposed the "Did you 'Photoshop' that?" question that a layman might innocently ask. I tried PS/Elements out and found it cumbersome and frustrating. I use Lightroom 5 and will probably upgrade to 6 when I can find it on sale. I find it intuitive, simple, and effective. You can get it for 30 days for free. I would suggest starting with DPP to get some practice balancing out the histogram.

I shot a wedding recently and as you can imagine, a shot like this has nothing to do with 'photoshop,' and everything to do with directing/forcing the light and composition/posing just right. This doesn't look much different from how it was in camera other than a little sharpening, contrast, and vignetting. 30 seconds to edit.

[Bob33]

Photoshop Elements is a great tool for the price.

[Magnum_Willys]

nice pic bean counter !

[Bean Counter]

Thanks Magnum! The clients loved it 

[Tbob]

Thanks for all the info guys!! Gives me a great place to start! And Bean, dude.... That is a really amazing picture! I bet the couple was super stoked!

[Tbob]

Well I read some reviews online and noticed Photoshop Elements 13 got some crappy reviews. Most were about install issues.. Well I took your guys's advice and decided to purchase it on Amazon the other day. Cost me $80.00 and I just got it today.(I also ordered Raging Roosevelts by the ASP guys).  I had ZERO issues installing it on my MacBook pro. I imported all my pix into the organizer and will spend a little time using the organizer and get them into seperate albums. Beats trying to find them all on the big list of pics.. Can't wait to start learning how to use it. Looks like there's a few different modes for beginners and experts alike. Can't wait! Thanks for the suggestions and I look forward to posting a few pictures (post editing).

[popeshawnpaul]

There is Lightroom, then there is everything else.  Every pro can't be wrong...

[Wazukie]

I use Lightroom, but I think I'm still on version 3    Bean hit it right on the head.  Get it right in the camera.  In my opinion, the most important thing in any style of photography is composition.  Can't fix that no matter what editing software you use.

[Carl]

Lightroom for me for years.

Carl

[popeshawnpaul]

I use Lightroom, but I think I'm still on version 3    Bean hit it right on the head.  Get it right in the camera.  In my opinion, the most important thing in any style of photography is composition.  Can't fix that no matter what editing software you use.

$hit in, $hit out...  That being said, even the best photos in RAW need processing.  Lightroom excels in volume and is much improved since version 3.

[Wazukie]

I use Lightroom, but I think I'm still on version 3    Bean hit it right on the head.  Get it right in the camera.  In my opinion, the most important thing in any style of photography is composition.  Can't fix that no matter what editing software you use.

$hit in, $hit out...  That being said, even the best photos in RAW need processing.  Lightroom excels in volume and is much improved since version 3.

Ya, I bet it has,but I'm just a poor missionary 

[Bean Counter]

LR usually goes on sale several times a year. I bought it for $70 but have seen it for as low as $50 on a one day deal. In LR5 Adobe added the valuable clone stamp tool, and in LR6 we now have HDR and photo stitching. I plan to download a 30 day trial of 6 here as soon as I can get caught up on my work flow. Gotta ditch the itchy trigger finger and stop shooting 2,000+ images per gig