So.. how to best get started?

[kfvintx]

Current situation: 1) PC crapped out "forcing" me to get new iMac 2) decided to get a little more serious about hobby I've always been interested in so I bought a Nikon D80 3) never done any post processing work

Now I need help. What is good post processing software for iMac to start with, but advanced enough I can grow into as well? Keep in mind I've never worked with any so there will be learning curve with all but yet no habits or traits from one of them. I'm not ready to put out $700+ for C3, but willing to spend some $$. I've been looking at Elements, Lightroom, Aperture and Nikon Capture NX. However, I"m thoroughly confused on which does what the best. Do I need more than one? Any others to consider?

I've done some search on here but haven't found much. Maybe it's out there and I just need some help to be pointed in the right direction?

Any hints for this newbie?

Thanks in advance.

[kylebatts]

iPhoto is a good place to start. Nice little program and price is right. If you need more, I would suggest Adobe Elements as a starting point. Almost as powerful as PhotoShop but a lot less expensive. And if you would like, Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture are nice upgrades from iPhoto. Both have trial downloads so you can look at them before dropping the money on them. I would suggest using a combination of Elements and Lightroom as a strong software combination for a beginner and this leaves lots of room for growth. Good Luck...

[picman]

Thumbs-up on LightRoom. Use it for a while and you will wonder how you ever got along with out it. Elements would be an excellent "Plug-in" for LightRoom

See http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/ for LightRoom tips.

Version 2 is coming, check out this blog demoing one of the new features (I don't do weddings, but this site is an every day stop for me) http://digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/2...ightrooms.html

[gmarblestone]

I use lightroom for 80% and ps cs for the little extras i cant do in lightroom.
Lightroom is very powerful and especially in 2.0 version, but there are some things only photoshop can really do. Adobe bridge comes with cs3 i think and it is very close to lightroom 1.4. So, i would recommend cs3 with bridge...

Download the trial versions of all this stuff and see what feels right...

G

[Wykyd]

I have been using PhotoShop for 15 years and just started using LightRoom about 2 weeks ago. I rarely open PS any more. I do virtually all of my pp work in LR and the only work I do in CS3 is specialty work like removing backgrounds or swapping heads and stuff. :) I'm SO jazzed about LR that I've gotten two of my photography friends hooked on it and they are going to purchase as soon as v2 comes out... as will I.