Photo Editing Software

[DivingLonghorn]

I have been playing around with underwater photography and have come to realize I am still very much a novice. However, I am wanting to become more proficient and realize good photo editing software is a must (atleast for me ). I am using a Canon Powershot S50 with its matching housing and a single Inon D2000 strobe. I have used this setup in the past with a W/A lens from Inon, but I can't get rid of the vignetting, so for my upcoming trip to Cozumel, I will be shooting w/o the W/A and using the tips I have gathered from all of y'alls posts (i.e. using macro setting, adjusting aperture and shutter speed, and experiementing with the strobe position,etc). One of my main adjustments will be shooting in RAW, so I have the opportunity to do EXTENSIVE post-shot editing.

My labtop is an Apple Powerbook, with the standard iPhoto program. I am pretty sure it doesn't read RAW, so I ask you, what is a good (middle of the road in regards to expense) photo editing software for an Apple.

Thank you in advance for your help and be patient with me as I will probably have many more questions.

 

[Diver Dennis]

I think iPhoto does read Raw, I have Raw photos in mine but it has limited editing capabilities. Photoshop Elements is an excellent, inexpensive program that does a lot of the things that CS2, which I use does.

 

[ianw2]

I’d add a strong second to Adobe Photoshop Elements. V7 can be picked up for $70. Make sure you have a good photopinter, too.

PSE v7 seems to have added a lot of additional functionality. It can be overwhelming. I highly recommend going to the Digital Darkroom, here, and going through the tutorials. Bob Arlen has put together some brilliant tutorials on correcting U/W photos.

If you want to see what a rank amateur can do with photos from my first session under water with my new Olympus SP350 and PT-030 housing, check out my gallery. The photos are not terrific. I post them simply as an example of what you CAN do using PSE7 and Bob’s outstanding tutorials.

 

[DivingLonghorn]

Thanks Diver Dennis and ianw2, I will look into the Photoshop Elements and especially the Digital Darkroom.

 

[AndyT]

You could also give Adobe Lightroom a go - free Beta software here http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/ .It's a really good RAW editing program.

 

[Larry C]

Another RAW conversion program that's much easier to use than PS is Rawshooter essentials. It's a free download and extremely easy to use, with some really nice features that aren't found in PS. I use it together with PS7 and can usually save all but the most hideous examples of underwater photography. BTW, have you tried zooming slightly with the WA lens. My Sea & Sea 20mm WA for Nikonos works nicely on my SP350 with the requisite 46-58 step adaptor, but it vignettes slightly. By zooming a little, I get rid of the vignetting, and with enough zoom, I can shoot as close as about 24" with good focus.

 

[bladephotog]

I don't believe they make a Mac version of Rawshooter. Even so, I still use Photoshop as well as Rawshooter or Canon DPP.

 

[seastarr2]

The Canon Digital Photo Professional program (a CD came with my S70) worked on my Powerbook to let iPhoto store my RAW files.

 

[CompuDude]

The current versions of iPhoto can handle raw. The older iPhoto versions cannot. (Neither can the older versions of Photoshop, so perhaps that's unfair for me to complain about.) Be sure you are running iPhoto 6 (part of iLife '06) and have the current RAW update:
http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite....20061113.r4Nyq/DigitalCameraRAWPPC200601.dmg

See http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/ for more info. If you don't have iLife '06 it can be found pretty cheap. You may also be able to "borrow" a copy of iPhoto from a friend with a newer Mac. (Firewire Target mode is your friend!)

That said, you're probably best off picking up Elements, or, if you can, CS2.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

PhotoShop Elements is very good, but remember one thing; if you are serious about learning to post-process your images, you will eventually want to use the full version of PhotoShop. Right now PhotoShopCS3 is in Beta although I would wait until the full version is released.

Ultimately, you are going to outgrow any reduced or basic version of software.

The learning curve is relatively steep, but there are many opportunities to learn, from online tutorials, to CDs and DVDS to workshops.

If you should decide to move up to PhotoShop, joining the National Association of Photoshop Users is a great idea. Just their magazine alone is worth the relatively inexpensive membership.

Jeff