processing software? what do you use?

[charlesml3]

There is some crazy powerful stuff you can do, if you just take the time to learn it. And it's not that hard to learn, either, really. There are TONS of free tutorials (written and video). And once you really learn the stuff and get comfortable with it, the editing becomes really very quick. VERY quick.

That's exactly right. In fact, there's a very good YouTube video posted right here in the Photography section. I've been using LR and PS for years and I still learned something new from it. There are loads of videos and tutorials on how to use LR & PS for underwater shots. Take some time and walk through them.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Capture One. Occasionally bounce into to Aperture.

 

[Daebado]

I use Cyberlink PowerDirector and PhotoDirector. Similar features to Lightroom and PS.
I believe they have now gone to a subscription-based product as well but I have an older version with no subscription required.
Very happy with the product as I continue to learn how to use it.
All the pics in my gallery were done in PhotoDirector.

 

[dkinpgh]

Photoshop+Lightroom CC (subscription).

With what I have spent on underwater photo gear, $10 per month for the CC Photo subscription just doesn't seem worth fighting. I spend a helluva lot more money every month on stuff that really does a helluva lot less for me. Heck, I got 2nd place in a dive photo contest back in June and my prize was a 3-day dive package down in NC. That right there has already paid for about 4 years worth of PS+LR....

I have been using PS+LR for a few years, but I never really dug into PS or LR to really take advantage of all they offer. In the last 6 months or so, I have gotten a lot of education on the more advanced things I can do with LR and PS and, man!! There is some crazy powerful stuff you can do, if you just take the time to learn it. And it's not that hard to learn, either, really. There are TONS of free tutorials (written and video). And once you really learn the stuff and get comfortable with it, the editing becomes really very quick. VERY quick.

Couple years late on this thread but I’m trying to get some advice on editing UW RAW pics on LR Mobile and Classic. Would like to find some presets that come close to what Dive+ provides. Or, maybe a set of presets that will do the basic cleanup before i start editing. I use a TG5 - Thanks,

 

[tursiops]

Lightroom - I'm still on the last version that wasn't by subscription - it really is a fantastic piece of software

Ditto

 

[Hoag]

I ran into a similar problem as the OP. I bought a new camera that wasn't supported by the version of Lightroom that I was using so I had to find an alternative. For a little while, I was willing to convert my images to DNGs and then continue to use Lightroom/PS, but that was more work than it was worth so I looked for alternatives.

I downloaded some of the major editing software: Capture One Express, Capture One Pro, and Luminar, and gave their 30 day free trials a workout.

I ruled out C1 Express pretty quickly. For basic editing, it was excellent, but there were things such as layers that it couldn't do, so for me, it wasn't suitable.

Then, I tried Luminar, hoping that the AI would save me a lot of work, but I found that the AI was extremely "resource intensive" and I spent a lot of time looking at the "Apple Spinning Beach Ball of Death".

Next was the full version of C1 Pro. It was arguably the best RAW processor, and it did almost everything I wanted. (It did not stitch panoramas, do exposure blending or focus stacking.) It was extremely powerful as an editor, however, I did not find it intuitive at all. I found that I could do the vast majority of the things I wanted, but I did it with all the grace and finesse of a bulldozer.

I used C1 Pro for almost a year, then I ran into a pro photographer teaching a workshop in Death Valley. He recommended ON1 Photo RAW. When I got home, I downloaded ON1 and gave it a try. I found it to be almost as good of a RAW processor as C1 and it did all of the other things (image stitching, exposure blending & focus stacking) that I didn't get with C1. I have not found anything that it could not do that the combination of LR/PS could do. It is a powerful all in one editing suite that (for me) is the most intuitive one I have used to date. Another thing I like about ON1 is that they offer significant discounts to teachers, students, active duty military, veterans, police and firefighters, with some of those groups actually getting it for free. (If you do have to pay full price, it is reasonably priced at $99.99USD.)

ON1 does everything I need it to do. I have not found anything that I couldn't be done in it that could be done in LR/PS. For the way my mind works, I find ON1 to be extremely intuitive. I recommend that if you are looking for photo editing software, that you at least download ON1 and take advantage of the 30 day free trial. See if it works for you.

 

[tursiops]

I ran into a similar problem as the OP. I bought a new camera that wasn't supported bt the version of Lightroom that I was using so I had to find an alternative. For a little while, I was willing to convert my images to DNGs and then continue to use Lightroom/PS, but that was more work than it was worth so I looked for alternatives.

I downloaded some of the major editing software: Capture One Express, Capture One Pro, and Luminar, and gave their 30 day free trials a workout.

I ruled out C1 Express pretty quickly. For basic editing, it was excellent, but there were tings such as layers that it couldn't do, so for me, it wasn't suitable.

Then, I tried Luminar, hoping that the AI would save me a lot of work, but it found that the AI was extremely "resource intensive" and I spent a lot of time looking at the "Apple Spinning Beach Ball of Death".

Next was the full version of C1 Pro. It was arguably the best RAW processor, and it did almost everything I wanted. (It did not stitch panoramas, do exposure blending or focus stacking.) It was extremely powerful as an editor, however, I did not find it intuitive at all. I found that I could do the vast majority of the things I wanted, but I did it with all the grace and finesse of a bulldozer.

I used C1 Pro for almost a year, then I ran into a pro photographer teaching a workshop in Death Valley. He recommended ON1 Photo RAW. When I got home, I downloaded ON1 and gave it a try. I found it to be almost as good of a RAW processor as C1 and it did all of the other things (image stitching, exposure blending & focus stacking) that I didn't get with C1. I have not found anything that it could not do that the combination of LR/PS could do. It is a powerful all in one editing suite that (for me) is the most intuitive one I have used to date. Another thing I like about ON1 is that they offer significant discounts to teachers, students, active duty military, veterans, police and firefighters, with some of those groups actually getting it for free. (If you do have to pay full price, it is reasonably priced at $99.99USD.)

ON1 does everything I need it to do. I have not found anything that I couldn't be done in it that could be done in LR/PS. For the way my mind works, I find ON1 to be extremely intuitive. I recommend that if you are looking for photo editing software, that you at least download ON1 and take advantage of the 30 day free trial. See if it works for you.

Nice post, thanks.
One of the good tings about LR is its organizing/storage ability. What do you use with ON1?

 

[Hoag]

Nice post, thanks.
One of the good tings about LR is its organizing/storage ability. What do you use with ON1?

ON1 has a cataloging function in it.

I personally don't use it, I have an external SSD that is used for nothing other than images, when I travel, I unplug it from my desktop computer and take it with me, using it on my laptop. I organize my images on it in folders that make sense to me, such as "2019 Death Valley" or "2012 Bahamas" and then sub-divide these into sub-folders for "RAW", "JPEG" and, sometimes "Final".

I could have used ON1, but I stayed with the system I had always used.

 

[tursiops]

ON1 has a cataloging function in it.

I personally don't use it, I have a drive that is used for nothing other than images, and I organize my images in folders that make sense to me, such as "2019 Death Valley" or "2012 Bahamas".

I could have used ON1, but I stayed with the system I had always used.

Hmmm. OK.
I've been using LR since forever, and am trying to make 6.14 (the last "free" one) last, but of course it is a losing battle.
I've also got almost all my images in a LR catalog, by time.
HAve you tried to transfer any previously edited LR images into ON1, or do you have to start over? that is, is there a translator for the LR metadata?

 

[Hoag]

Hmmm. OK.
I've been using LR since forever, and am trying to make 6.14 (the last "free" one) last, but of course it is a losing battle.
I've also got almost all my images in a LR catalog, by time.
HAve you tried to transfer any previously edited LR images into ON1, or do you have to start over? that is, is there a translator for the LR metadata?

Sorry, but even when I was using LR, I did not exploit their catalog. I would use it to import, but then if I wanted to go to an image, I would just go to the folder.

Here is a video that shows how to do it with a previous version of ON1. I would imagine that for the current version, it would be similar.