Info: Software and where to get it

Software and where to get it.

Capturing images with a camera, although very satisfying in itself, is often only a single step in the process of creating a vision for your photography, the images still have to be tidied up, cropped and in many cases developed, but whereas in the analog era this all took place in the darkroom with bottles of rather dangerous looking chemicals, this process is now thankfully digital and a lot safer for it.

But what software do you need, and where is the best place to buy it?

Adobe

Here are links to the cheapest versions of Adobe products available on Amazon.de, they are usually installable with a standard choice of 4 main languages including English and German.

Lightroom is the software of choice for many, as it combines catalog management, indispensable when dealing with hundreds, if not thousands of images, but it also has a develop module with which images can be “developed”, as in a digital darkroom, either individually with the use of sliders, or by obtaining a certain predefined look with the use of presets, of which there are thousands available on the internet for download, free and legal.

Photoshop is a far more complicated beast, with which it’s possible to manipulate an image at pixel level, there’s a steep learning curve until you can use it adequately, but for certain types of image creation/manipulation it’s indispensable.

Although there’s the full version available, Photoshop Elements is quite adequate for most photographers’ needs.