mediumcool
Active member
I suppose I am a tad unusual, as I did not begin using computers to serve my photography; rather it was to learn typesetting (I was about forty and ’twas the early ’90s). I had been long interested in type and typesetting, and Macworld magazine was—at that time—a marvel of information (stories by Jim Heid and others accelerated my appreciation and knowledge muchly); the PC was nowhere near adequate for serious work. I had asked a friend who used an Amiga what was the best way to get immersed in the world of fonts and typesetting, and he recommended the before-the-return-of-Steve-Jobs Macintosh. I couldn’t afford a Mac for a while, so used an LC3 at South Australia’s State Library until I got a decently-paying project (the LC3 had a *feature* which provided 16-bit colour if the screen resolution was reduced to 640 x 400 pixels, a major step up from 8-bit!). I was in heaven when I bought an LC475 for just under $3000au in 1994. This has since returned to me after the second owner upgraded—maybe I could make a clock out of it?As somebody who only enjoys taking the photograph and has little knowledge, patience or tools to post process (CS2 in a cupboard is as up-to-date as I get:grin, mediumcool's post does inspire me:thumbup:.
Depending on your computer platform, there can be plenty of options for RAW processing (I don’t use Windows, so I don’t follow apps in that space). For basic image editing I prefer Pixelmator (Mac-only) over Photoshop (it hasn’t been a proper Mac program for years!) but subscribe to Ps because it does some things that Pm never will. If I wasn’t doing work that earns money (not often enough!) I would buy Iridient Developer (Mac-only), though it is nowhere as near as fast as C1 is for me. The new Mac-only Affinity Photo seems to be a good buy at under $50us; I will be looking to replacing Pm with it.However, as I find it almost impossible even to decide on something as simple as a new camera bag, choosing a raw processor would be nigh on impossible for me :banghead:.
We live in exciting times; the tools, from camera to computer to software are getting better, and there is more choice.