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02/18/2007 10:09:34 AM · #1 |
Photography is simply a hobby of mine, I take thousands of pictures each year mostly of my family but some scenery as well. A month ago I bought I the new Canon Rebel XT as I was told its for those amateur phototraphers...I just needed an upgrade from my Kodak.
I have been looking into backgrounds and lighting to invest into a home studio vice paying picture people or glamour shots hundreds of dollars to capture posed scenes. I have the standard photo editing on my pc but want something more! I once had my pictures taken and it was done in a sepia color with only red roses prominent. I believe that is called filtering. I need help though ensuring I purchase the correct software. I read up on Adobe CS2 Premier but again I wasn't sure if it was everything I needed and wanted. Any help would be great!! I'm also looking for good home studio advice!!
Thank you. |
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02/18/2007 10:24:54 AM · #2 |
Originally posted by mamacita_91580:
I just needed an upgrade from my Kodak. |
Hehe... that's where it starts. All I wanted was an "upgrade" to my current camera and suddenly I have lenses, I have strobes, I have backgrounds, I have more equipment than room to store it.
Originally posted by mamacita_91580:
I once had my pictures taken and it was done in a sepia color with only red roses prominent. I believe that is called filtering. |
Around here, you'll generally find it called "selective desaturation" (or selective desat for short).
Originally posted by mamacita_91580:
I read up on Adobe CS2 Premier but again I wasn't sure if it was everything I needed and wanted. |
I think you'll find most photographers on this site will recommend PhotoShop CS2 (CS3 is coming out soon). It's a heckuva program, but it has a heckuva price and a heckuva learning curve too. If you're just starting out, you might want to play with Adobe PhotoShop Elements (I think they are on version 4 now). It has a lot of the power of PS but does a lot of hand-holding for you to get the results you want. But if you want the king of the road, the real PhotoShop is the way to go.
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02/18/2007 10:42:20 AM · #3 |
Most of the Canon cameras come with PS Elements. If you're finding that it doesn't do enough then PS CS2 may be the next step up.
However, there are so many options out there and depends on your budget and what you want to do with your images.
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02/18/2007 10:43:11 AM · #4 |
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02/18/2007 10:56:43 AM · #5 |
| I agree that for someone just starting out and not planning to become a pro, that Adobe Elements is the best choice. The latest version is Elements 5, and can be purchased for $100.00 or less. It can do about 80% of what CS2 can do at a lot less cost. Pick up a good book on how to use the program. I would recommend any of the Scott Kelby books on Elements. |
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02/18/2007 11:01:39 AM · #6 |
| what about MS Digital Image Pro 9.0? That is what I am looking at... |
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02/18/2007 11:06:43 AM · #7 |
PSElements is a pretty good value. It performs most of the basic tasks of CS2 or at least enough of them that a beginner or hack like me needs. You can get it for well under $100 US retail. I got the latest version PSE5.0 for xmas and I think my wife only paid ~$50 US after a small rebate. You can still find PSE4.0 on some retail shelves even cheaper. The difference between 4.0 and 5.0 may not be significant for a beginner but 5.0 has added features such as curves adjustment.
Either PSE4.0 or PSE5.0 would be a good starting point.
BTW... One of the previous posts mentioned that it comes with most Canon cameras. I don't know if that's true anymore. I know I didn't get it with my XTI last fall. Maybe I just got ripped-off :-)
Message edited by author 2007-02-18 11:10:19. |
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02/18/2007 11:09:26 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by Baxter:
I would recommend any of the Scott Kelby books on Elements. |
Another good 5.0 book is "Photoshop Elements 5 The Missing Manual" by Barabara Brundage (O'Reilly Press)
I also agree that the Kelby books are good as well. |
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02/18/2007 11:29:19 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by irisheyes:
what about MS Digital Image Pro 9.0? That is what I am looking at... |
I've used MS Digital Image Pro (v. 10 though) and I'd recommend it. The main drawback with v. 10 and lower is that it doesn't include RAW file support; but otherwise it's a great little program at a very reasonable cost. It's very intuitive, and a super program for beginning PP'ers.
Although I have CS2 now, I still use the Digital Image Library program that (usually) comes with it for storing and organizing photos.
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02/18/2007 11:31:16 AM · #10 |
| Thanks...I will look at 10. We can get a killer deal on MS products so I can get that for around $20. No deal on Adobe though. |
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02/19/2007 08:13:22 AM · #11 |
Will the PSE 5 allow selective desaturation?
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02/19/2007 08:17:26 AM · #12 |
| I will throw out the recommendation that I have in the past. You can spend $75-100 on PSE 5 or purchase a version of PSE 2 on ebay for under $20 shipped. I have played a bit with 3 and 4 and a bit on PS5 but I go back to Elements 2.0. It works great for what I need it to do and my results have been somewhat ribbon worthy at times. |
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02/19/2007 12:13:32 PM · #13 |
I did this one in Ulead's Photo Impact. It goes for under $100 and is available in download form.
//i129.photobucket.com/albums/p202/horrorpopgirl/LightningRS.jpg
Message edited by L2 - Changed large image to link. |
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