Good morning and Happy Monday!
I hope all of you had a great weekend and are entering into the workweek feeling rested and refreshed.
Or maybe you feel a little more like this?
(Source)
Our weekend was a good one despite the fact that the Sister Hazel concert we were really looking forward to was postponed until June due to rain on Saturday night. At least we have something fun on the horizon now, right?
Breakfast
Fact: A cup of coffee makes any Monday a little more manageable!
I sipped on my coffee while I ate a bowl of cold and creamy overnight oats that I prepped after dinner last night.
I topped my oats with chiptole maple almonds from my latest NatureBox. (<—Affiliate link!)
The almonds added a little kick of spice and sweetness to the oats. A perfect Monday morning pick-me-up.
Photo Editing Software
I’m hoping for some advice from my photographer friends out there. I am thinking it may be time for me to invest in a quality photo editing software program and I am considering Lightroom or Photoshop Elements. (I’m also very open to other suggestions!)
Up until now, I’ve been using Picasa which is fabulous (and free!), but I feel like it can be a little limiting. I’d love to be able to amp up my photos a little more and would love to hear your advice. I don’t have a huge passion for photography, so I am looking for something user friendly but still awesome. Quite the criteria, huh? Please let me know what you think!
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Hi! I’m a design student in university and would recommend photoshop! It definately makes you invest time to learn all the functions but it does an amazing job. It also works well with raw photos depending on what type of camera you have. Happy Monday!
Thank you for the recommendation, Alex! If I decide to go the Photoshop route, I may look into taking a class of some sort.
Julie, Check out Ed2go, they have photoshop classes online. I’m going to start one through Eastern Florida State College next month!
http://www.ed2go.com/SearchResults.aspx?Term=adobe&ac=False
take this from a photographer, you don’t need photoshop, elements will do everything you need! and is a lot cheaper!
that oatmeal looks so good!! i just had lunch at work (i’m in belgium) and i’m still hungry, hate when that happens!
I’ve heard that Elements is a great (and more affordable option) from quite a few people. I know I’d probably never use all the fancy things photoshop has because I’m just not that skilled! Thanks for your insight!
Picmonkey.com is the best! Super easy to use and there is a free version. I use the paid version because it is super cheap and worth the money. You will love it!
Luckily my Monday doesn’t look too shabby. It’s the end of my week that’s packed this week, so today I’ll be working to make that a little more manageable 😉
I would also recommend photoshop! I’ve taken many photojournalism classes with my journalism minor and nothing compares to photoshop! There is a lot to learn in regards to it, so a class would be extremely helpful.
Haha! That image of the baby makes me laugh. That’s pretty much how I was feeling last night as I was thinking about starting a new (and eventful!) week.
I have a photography business on the side, and for the past 3 years I’ve used Photoshop, and Bridge. I’ve tried Lightroom in the past, but wasn’t a big fan! All my stuff is here, http://www.sarahingleblog.com/, if you have any questions!! If you can scour up a college email or ID you might be able to get a Student Version and get a discount! Elements might be good though if you’re just looking for something very basic, but the capabilities of Photoshop are so awesome that you may as well go ahead and go the whole way! And I **think** with the new Adobe Cloud, you will have access to more than one program, and not JUST photoshop…I think…seriously though, I LOVE to chat photography!!
Thank you so much! I will definitely check out your blog!
At home I use Photoscape which is very user friendly and can do anything I’ve ever needed. It is also free which is a major bonus. At work I use Photoshop CC which is honestly a huge pain. I find any version Photoshop is not something that can be self taught. The program is just way too big and has way too many options. I’d recommend some sort of class if you go that route. Good luck!
That picture describes exactly how I feel haha. Hmmmm Chipotle Maple Almonds. That sounds interesting, but super good!! It’s like the best of both worlds!
Lightroom is easier…but if you’re going down the photoshop route you should go the whole hog!
I too am looking to improve my photography skills so will be curious to read what everyone writes.
Bummer about the Sister Hazel concert – I was looking forward to hearing about it 🙂
GIMP is awesome for photo retouching and it’s free. http://www.gimp.org/
I like GIMP too.
Zoner is a fraction of the price of Lightroom and it does almost exactly the same as Lightroom..
I retouch all my pictures with it.. It’s amazing..
Awesome!! I’ll look into it for sure.
lol that baby picture is hilarious!
You’ve made me want overnight oats now even if it is midnight here!
If you’ve got the money to spend as others have said photo shop. Otherwise a free alternative to photoshop is one called Canva.
What kind of camera do you use?
I’m all for free, so I’m a huge fan of PicMonkey! I’ve never tried any real computer programs though for photo editing, picmonkey is as advanced as I’ve gotten!
I am a big fan of photoshop. It does take some getting used to but once you get it down it can open up so many doors when it comes to editing!
A couple folks have mentioned PicMonkey already, but I’ll throw another vote out there. I.Love.PicMonkey. I don’t use it that often to warrant the paid version, but I’ve been thinking about upgrading just to support the company ;0) Plus, the business has a great personality and their blog is super helpful to follow. Good luck!
Oh my goodness-that baby pic def describes how I am feeling!! haha!
I’ve tried a few differenot editing softwares and found Aperture is the best for having lots of advanced features along with some “press and go” buttons that auto enhance lighting or color, etc. The auto features were easy to find and use and I liked that the advanced features were either easy to figure out when I played with them or there were great online tutorials I could Google. It does take a bit of playing to get the hang of but you won’t need a class and it’s no where near as complicated as photo shop (which I gave up on!)
I highly recommend Lightroom! I have a photography business and I use it constantly. It is extremely user friendly and enables you to do a lot of editing without feeling overwhelmed with options.
User friendly = Key for me!
Have you tried pixlr.com ? It has what I consider more editing options than you might need if you’re looking to lightly edit or add fun effects to your pics! I use the “express” mode. You can also do collages in there!
Coffee does make everything better! I’m on my second cup this morning. ABC family had a Harry Potter marathon on last night that didn’t end until midnight! I have no self control.
Lightroom is good if you have a large amount of photos that are in similar lighting situations and you want to apply the same effects to a set of photos. Photoshop s good if you are editing them one by one. I personally love photoshop and but I hear great things about lightroom I would guess photoshop would be a great fit for what you are using it for(judging from your blog content). You can also try both for free for 30 days at adobe.com. 🙂
I use Photoshop and love it. I need to invest in a good camera though. Any recommendations?
I’ve used Paint Shop Pro 9 for years and it’s never let me down. 🙂
My sister has a photography business on the side, and she uses Lightroom. Her pictures always look absolutely stunning and there are so many editing tools – I even watched her lighten someone’s teeth! lol
Ha! Love that baby at the top of your post. I feel the same way after my best friend’s bachelorette party this weekend in Chicago. P.S. we went to Howl at the Moon and it was a hit! Your bachelorette party posts were SO helpful to me when planning this party weekend!
Honestly, if you’re not super concerned about making your photos looks wildly professional, I’d really recommend Picmonkey over Photoshop. Photoshop is great if you want to have obsessive creative control over what you do, but Picmonkey accomplishes a lot of the same things in a very, very user-friendly format. I’ve spent a fair amount of time using the Adobe Creative Suite software, and it is NOT intuitive at all (though once you one element’s quirks [InDesign, for me], it’s pretty easy to figure out the rest of the suite). Picmonkey also has a Royale option that will allow you to do a lot more than the free version for substantially less than Photoshop. I’d at least check out Picmonkey for a few weeks before jumping into something more professional (unless, of course, professional is ultimately the direction you want to go).
Lightroom is fantastic, and I highly recommend it! It takes a little bit of getting used to, but once you get over the hump, it’s SO easy to use.
I kinda feel like that picture about Monday today! Anyways, I use Photoshop and I love it. It’s so customizable and you can delve into it as much or little as you want. It’s fairly easy to learn for the basics and you can go from there!
A cup of coffee makes monday a LOT more manageable, what I would do without that addiction I do not know 😉
Love that picture. Just this morning when we were waiting for the bus, and my oldest was complaining of a headache and my youngest was moaning she needed a tissue I said “yep, it must be Monday!”
Can’t help with the photography issue…my “expertise” is limited to quick and dirty edits using the Windows Live Photo Gallery software on my computer. Fortunately, my Nikon is smarter than I am so the shots turn out decently enough for my purposes. 🙂
I would recommend Pixlr Editor (free online). It has a photoshop “feel” to it and for a free program, you can do a lot with it! Good luck!
I think you’re going to get tons of different answers on this since it’s personal preference. I have used Photoshop and Lightroom for a few years now and there’s still things I can learn on them. Both programs do take some time, but are simple once you get the hang of them.
Adobe is going toward having people use their Creative Cloud system, where the programs are web-based (vs having to install with a CD) and you pay a monthly fee depending upon what programs you have. I don’t use the Cloud itself (file storage and sharing), but I do use Photoshop with this newer service and like it. I want to say it is around $25/mo.
I haven’t added Lightroom to my Cloud account yet because I am not ready to upgrade, but I have a feeling I will soon. This program is more for processing RAW files & converting them into JPG, so I don’t think you need it unless you take your photos in RAW format. Photographers use Lightroom to adjust exposure, color-balance, contrast, etc. If you’re taking photos in JPG, then Photoshop (or Elements) will be just fine for you.
I would suggest starting with Elements, and if you like it and use it a lot then upgrade to Photoshop.
The promise of coffee is the only thing that gets me out of bed.
I have used Photoshop and really love the capabilities and ease of the program. However, I tend to use Picmonkey quite often because it’s quick and easy.
What a great idea to add spiced almonds into overnight oats, sounds like a delicious extra kick!
I am a landscape and fine art photographer. I use both Photoshop (CS5) and Lightroom. I would suggest getting Lightroom. It’s fast, easy, and I think very intuitive. Plus, there are some fantastic presets you can get (or create) that really make for fantastic images. There are a lot of online tutorials (for both) you can find from photographer’s websites too…
Since I work shift work in an ER, I woke up this morning thinking it was Friday, when indeed it was Monday. At least I’m off!
photoshop for sure, i’m a big fan of the whole adobe suite.
I researched Lightroom vs Elements right before Christmas and ended up asking for Elements since it seems to be the better choice for what I want to do (which is mainly editing pictures for blog posts and such). Sadly, even though I now have Elements, I have yet to find the time to learn much about it. But so far it has been great.
And I have to admit, in the past I always used PicMonkey since I didn’t have software, so now I continue to use it because I do love it. The collage feature is fantastic.
Let us know what you end up choosing!
I’m a graphic designer so I figured I would chime in here. The choice is your really depending on your main goals. Lightroom is great photo editing. I use Photoshop often as I use the Design Premium Creative Suite 6 that does not come with Lightroom. Photoshop is great for photo editing but maybe a bit more incolved. However, it would also work well for the workouts and supersets you like to create using PicMonkey. Lightroom is great for workflows, etc. I would also Google to find out there’s tons of references if you type in “Lightroom vs. Photoshop” Make sure you try to decipher the biased reviews. Most photographers though, prefer Lightroom from my research. Personally, I prefer Photoshop for its many additional uses.
http://photographylife.com/photoshop-vs-lightroom
Hmm. Your breakfast was far more healthier than mine. I got up, got dressed, ran some errands in the rain (in my new white pants that got filthy… stupid), and dropped into Panera Bread for the F I R S T time ever. OMG I’m definitely going back there.
Those oats look awesome! I’m ready for overnight oats now that it’s getting warmer out!
I’ve used both Photoshop and Lightroom (my husband is a professional photographer) and I’d have to say that Lightroom is a lot more user friendly. I found it quicker to not only figure out but time-wise it’s a lot quicker for basic photo editing. I use it all the time to edit my photos!
Photoshop elements has a 30 day trial you could download to see if you like it or not. I’m currently using the trial but it’s a little confusing for me.
We have just recently purchased Elements and hope to learn as much as we can with the program. Good luck with your search!
I saw a couple of recommendations earlier for Pixlr and I definitely recommend it too! At the moment, a lot of it is too complicated for me to figure out so I’m just using it to resize my photos and then using PicMonkey for collages, adding text and the like. But a lot of Pixlr tools look pretty similar to Photoshop tools and it’s free online too so that might be a great place to start playing around and experimenting!