Best Post Processing Software

[PhotoInParadise]

this question has been beat to death, I know but I thought I would state my specific case and see if its worth changing.from Affinity Photo photo editing software.

i have a Canon 70D and a 5D Mark III. I am still in the intermediate stages of learning photography. I mostly take photographs of my two Shih Tzu. Some inside, some outside. Occassionally landscape type photos. I have a nifty fifty lens, a 24-70 f/4 and a 70-200 f/2.8.  Unfortunately one of my Shih tzu is solid black and in long coat. Beautiful but very difficult to capture much detail.  Oh and I always shoot Raw.

I sometimes manage to get everything right in camera so much post processing is not needed. But when I dont get it right and he is a dark blob, I feel that my PP, Affinity Photo does not help me at all.  And just fyi...I have a Mac (El Capitan). I am wondering if other editing software is better for pulling more detail out of dark subjects in post processing than Affinity Photo?

Also there are no tutorials for Affinity Photo and that would help. I know there is a ton for Adobe but I would sure like to avoid monthly fees and I see a stand alone version of Lightroom would not have updates.  I also dont know if it plays good with El Capitan. So please let me know if you have suggestions for PP software that does a good job pulling dark detail out of raw photos.  If your answer is, just get better with your camera, please be kind.

[cicopo]

Unless things have changed you can take lessons from Lynda DOT com by the month & one month can really be a big help when it comes to learning RAW conversion. The lessons are easy to follow & in small enough segments to get a handle on what it's trying to teach you.

[diverhank]

All other posts covered the post processing software very well so I'm going off topic a little bit...Trying to brighten dark objects in post processing has its costs...usually you end up with excessive noise in the brightened areas.

The key is to try to correctly expose the dog.  Whenever you are shooting the black Shih Tzu, try getting closer to eliminate the background which tends to fool your camera metering system to underexpose your Shih Tzu.  

Also, use your camera exposure compensation to +1 or more so the black dog is not "a black blob".  The cost is, of course,  your background will be a bit too light which you can darken in post (it's better to darken than brighten in post processing).

Or do what Waddizzle suggested and use the flash to fill in the dark fur coat.

[Waddizzle]

"Or do what Waddizzle suggested and use the flash to fill in the dark fur coat."

I think that would have been the ticket the day that shot was taken.  The flash would not need to go at full power, either.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

"Or do what Waddizzle suggested and use the flash to fill in the dark fur coat."

I think that would have been the ticket the day that shot was taken.  The flash would not need to go at full power, either.

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Remember that what we're discussing here is fill flash. The probable reason that the dog is underexposed is that the bright highlights in the background fooled the camera into thinking that the subject was brighter than it actually was. Center-weighted metering might have helped. Placing the dog closer to the camera would also have helped, because it would have made the overall scene appear darker, resulting in a stronger flash.

[PhotoInParadise]

Thanks, Robert for those camera tips.

[ebiggs1]

Unless it is a posed parlor portrait most folks don't want to use or be bothered by fill flash.  You might take Robert's suggestion on the metering mode.  But I would suggest spot metering. Place the dot on the dog's face and shoot away.

Keep in mind that it will not expose the rest of the photo correctly. You will still have to post edit it.  There is just so much DR in a camera.  When you exceed that, it's done!

You have your best solution in the PM, I sent. 

[kvbarkley]

One point that Nick Kelsh brings out in How to Photograph Your Life is to make sure that a dark pet is photographed against a light background to help him stand out.

[ScottyP]

If you shoot RAW you must process every shot. That is not a bad thing, just a thing. 

If you process every shot, it sure is good to have something easy to use, and which does batch processing, like Lightroom. 

PSE is not a beginner program, it does everything 99% of amateur photographers will ever use. The stuff PS has that PSE lacks is largely stuff most photogs won't fully use.  PSE is a great program, but I would use it as a supplement to Lightroom, not instead of Lightroom. 

If you want to sharpen the dog, or correct the dog's exposure, LR is great. If you want to graft your cat's head onto your dog's body, and place the resulting hybrid on Mars, you'd need PS or PSE. 

When your subject is white (snow, a bride's dress) or black (a tuxedo, a black animal) metering struggles. It seeks to make both grey.  You need to apply positive exposure compensation to the white to avoid grey snow, grey brides. You need to apply negative exposure compensation to the black subjects to avoid grey washed out tuxedos, animals. 

Black also benefits fits from good lighting, preferably off camera or bounced off a wall, etc. 

[ebiggs1]

"PSE is not a beginner program, ..."

Yes it is.  It is exactly who it is aimed at.

" I would use it as a supplement to Lightroom, ...."

So would I. But PSE duplicates a lot of the features of LR. Enough that most people will get along just fine with solely PSE.

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

Unless it is a posed parlor portrait most folks don't want to use or be bothered by fill flash.  You might take Robert's suggestion on the metering mode.  But I would suggest spot metering. Place the dot on the dog's face and shoot away.

Keep in mind that it will not expose the rest of the photo correctly. You will still have to post edit it.  There is just so much DR in a camera.  When you exceed that, it's done!

You have your best solution in the PM, I sent. 

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The flash not affecting the exposure of other parts of the photo is whole idea, because all you want to do in that case is light up the dog just a little bit. 

I think the onboard flash might have been perfect because it simply doesn't have the reach to light up much of anything farther away than the dog.  I would think the flash needs to be dialed down a bit, so as to not make it obvious that a flash was used.  I also use metering at the center of the frame, instead of averaging the entire scene.

Personally,  I am not a big fan of extensive post editing, in lieu of taking a better initial shot.  I would much rather have a better starting point when I'm doing a post edit, instead of performing a triage on a shot.