Hello, i'm looking for some help here, i want learn to dit photos in my mac, the ones i take with my Inspire 1, i want to know wich software is the easier one for a beginner, i heard of many people talking about Lightroom, but i have no knowledge of this.

In my cell phone (Iphone 6) i use Snapseed, but i know thats just a start in this subject!

Also, i'm willing to hear any recommendations in the settings of the camera, such as Sunny Days, Sunsets, and Nights.

Thanks in advance!

Picasa is good. Very simple to use and basic.

https://picasa.google.co.uk/

Lightroom is really more of an image management and conversion from raw software, but it will do some basic editing. It was moderately priced for purchase as a standalone application, but recently Adobe went to cloud delivery of Lightroom (and Photoshop), you now have to pay a monthly fee, I think $10, to use it from the Adobe Cloud. Since the Inspire shoots in jpg you don't need to have a raw converter, but images shot in jpg that are not well exposed or have color problems aren't as editable as raw files since the jpg format isn't as rich with image data as raw. If you have a long tonal scale, something with deep shadows and bright highlights, you will be able to recover more of those tonalities from a raw capture. But then you need a converter.

If you are on the most recent version of OSX (Yosemite), iPhoto was just released as Photos, it has some basic editing tools but will not convert the .dng files, just checked that. But it is free. Even iPhoto has some tools as well, but neither of them take you beyond basic control over value and color.

Of course Photoshop is great, but not appropriate for beginners and not cheap. There is a standalone version called Photoshop Elements, inexpensive at $69 right now, that has some of Photoshop's main image manipulation tools and may be the best value for the money. They offer a 30 day trial as well. Here is a link:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html

I've been a commercial and fine art photographer since the '80's, and have mostly used the Adobe products, so can't offer any insight into some of the other programs out there, sorry. If you go the Adobe route there are lots of tutorials for their products out there, YouTube videos, Lynda.com, etc.

Good luck...

philbard Posted at 2015-4-18 02:06
Lightroom is really more of an image management and conversion from raw software, but it will do som ...

Lightroom - basic image management and converter????
Lightroom 5 is one of the most advanced still photography editing program out there.  
It does wonders with DNG (RAW) files and has and provides an amazing workflow.
As a professional, I love LR5 for editing my still photographs.  The controls are limitless to what you can do.  Basic editor is a huge understatement!!!!

Thanks Philbard and Sky High Aerial for your time, will try all of your suggestions!

Sky High Aerial Posted at 2015-4-18 02:49
Lightroom - basic image management and converter????
Lightroom 5 is one of the most advanced still ...

Basic compared to Photoshop.  There are no adjustment layers or masking.  This means controls cannot be regionalized in the image, which is a pretty severe limitation in my mind. It is pretty good at the overall stuff, but Adobe is not going to cannibalize Photoshop sales by putting these capabilities into LR.

Glad it works for you, however...

I recently downloaded Fcpx and find that very easy to use with lots of tutorials on utube

philbard Posted at 2015-4-18 05:00
Basic compared to Photoshop.  There are no adjustment layers or masking.  This means controls canno ...

Adjustment brush works great for layering and masking in LR5.
Anyway, I totally agree that PS is about as in-depth and offers the most control.  Also one of the most complicated programs out there.  Have you ever found that there is a million ways to achieve the same result?  I found this when doing youtube tutorials lol.

Sky High Aerial Posted at 2015-4-18 05:54
Adjustment brush works great for layering and masking in LR5.
Anyway, I totally agree that PS is a ...

Yes, many ways to skin a cat in PS.  One of the beauties of the program but from time to time a bit humbling, especially when you hear about someone else's way of doing things and it is far better than yours... eek.

Interesting debate...

Philbard,

You are missing the whole purpose of this post. It is about easy photo editor for beginners. PS is not for beginners as it offers far too many options and a UI that is not beginner friendly.

OP,

If you want a great east to use photo editor and organizer then their are two options. LR5 is the best and easiest option to use as it is straight forward and very userfriendly for beginners. Your second option is CaptureOne Pro 8, a program used by many professionals for its amazing color correction and RAW image converting power. It also allows you to catalog/organize your photos and edit them to great extent. It is kind of like a blend of LR and PS in the sense that it offers many of the same capabilities of both.

Hope this helps you out.

AirborneNinja Posted at 2015-4-18 12:24
Philbard,

You are missing the whole purpose of this post. It is about easy photo editor for beginne ...

I don't think you read my first post closely enough... exactly what I DID say.