First steps in the digital darkroom?

Deke in Ak

After much hesitation (price shock) I pulled the trigger and got a Nikon D200. I already have an assortment of D lenses to use. I also got an SB400 flash to use for a little fill and have an SB26 flash.

Computerwise, I have a MacBook with 2 gig ram and Aperture and I intend to add a desktop Mac in the near future, all with the intent for using this stuff primarily for digital work.

Now what I am asking is what other software etc do I need? I would like to do some image manipulation as well as cropping. What about B&W, I shoot B&W film in medium and large formats, but the projects that I intend to do don't always allow me to carry all the stuff I would like to, hence I am hoping to produce some fine quality B&W images with this new gear.

Please keep in mind that I am an absolute Noob with digital photography.

Thanks Much, Dennis

Deke in Ak

Did I say something wrong?
I was only hoping that someone would point me in the right direction software-wise to make a success of digital photography.

I really don't know about editing. Do I need(?) Photoshop or Elements or????? What software would make life easier?

Thanks, Dennis

gmonkeh

Well first thing you need to learn is proper exposure. All the Photoshops in the world won't help you if you don't have a good image to begin with.

And please, please, don't ever get in the "I'll fix it in post" mindset.

Also remember to keep your shutter speeds above the focal length you're using (handheld), and you'll have consistently sharp images.

As for your question, Adobe Lightroom seems to be a good choice if you don't plan to do any advanced retouching stuff.


Alex

EDIT: Sorry I didn't catch that you said you we're a noob with "digital" photography but not Photography itself. My bad.......

If you're fairly new to the digital darkroom, you might want to try out Lightroom.

wxwax

Deke,

Photoshop can do an awful lot. And some of the basics are relatively easy to learn. But overall, the program has a steeeep learning curve.

My suggestion would be to start with Photoshop Elements. Get a feel for the interface, how photo software works. Then, as you need to, move to Photoshop itself.

DavidTO

wxwax wrote:

Deke,

Photoshop can do an awful lot. And some of the basics are relatively easy to learn. But overall, the program has a steeeep learning curve.

My suggestion would be to start with Photoshop Elements. Get a feel for the interface, how photo software works. Then, as you need to, move to Photoshop itself.

rutt

Dgrin is a good place to find help getting started with post processing your digital photographs.

If are coming from a real darkroom background and know Ansel Adams' darkroom techniques, you may want to check out LightZones which follows these ideas in a more higher level interface than Photoshop's.
There is a free trial, so you can download and play.

Learning Photoshop, though, won't be time wasted. It's a huge program and offers limitless possibilities to achieve your goals. It's very daunting at first. But it's the common language of digital post processing and there is far more in the way of books and tutorials and other resources than for any other program. I also believe it can take you the furthest of any other alternative. You can get a flavor for things that people do with it by looking at the dgrin tutorials.. Hint, start with the Photoshop 101 sections, in order.

HiSPL

I would take a long look at Lightroom. If you just want to "develop" the images that you take, Lightroom will do it for you.

If you want to create collages, swap heads, put an ocean in the middle of the desert, etc, you would need Photoshop. Photoshop elements is a good way to test the editing waters though.




Lightroom is quite easy to use, plus you'll have the benefit of
letting it organize and backup all your files. It is quite powerful for the price....

Deke in Ak

Thanks. I will look at Elements and Lightroom and the other programs suggested.

Another question is, I have Aperture on a Mac and am wondering how to interface the programs, etc. Are there conflicts I have to be aware of?

Thanks, Dennis

W.W. Webster

HiSPL wrote:

I would take a long look at Lightroom.

It shouldn't take too long!

Deke in Ak wrote:

Another question is, I have Aperture on a Mac and am wondering how to interface the programs, etc.

On the basis of my experience, I'd give Aperture the flick. With Lightroom, it's redundant.

colourbox

Deke in Ak wrote:

Now what I am asking is what other software etc do I need? I would like to do some image manipulation as well as cropping. What about B&W, I shoot B&W film in medium and large formats, but the projects that I intend to do don't always allow me to carry all the stuff I would like to, hence I am hoping to produce some fine quality B&W images with this new gear.

All of that can be done with what you already have, a MacBook with Aperture. Take that combo as far as you can, and get Photoshop when you are ready to take on more.

The better you can set the right exposure, lighting, and focus in camera, the longer you can wait before buying any form of Photoshop. It might be a good idea to wait until Adobe makes Photoshop Elements 5 a Universal application, though it's so cheap you could go for version 4 if you needed to actually edit some pixels.

You will need Photoshop eventually, to use the advanced image processing tutorials on this site. It sounds like that's going to be some ways off for you, so keep it simple and start with the Aperture you have before spending more money.

(I am a Lightroom + Photoshop user, but Aperture is powerful too.)