PHOTOGRAPHY EXPOSED
by John Peters A.R.P.S.
FASTSTONE
Hold-up there, before you download what I regard as one of the best, free editors, a word of warning.
WARNING **
Only download FASTSTONE from the official FASTSTONE website (faststone.org) and only download PAINT.NET from the official free PAINT.NET website if downloading PAINT.NET (see P - for PAINT.NET). AFFINITY PHOTO (SERIF) is not so much of a problem as its paid for anyway. Beware of those other companies offering FASTSTONE or PAINT.NET, they also offer a free download of other products (I call bloatware) and they design their websites so its not always clear what is being downloaded. Don't touch them with a barge pole!
FASTSTONE is one of the best, if not the best free editors. What's more, I can use it with one hand on a laptop with trackpad. I have it configured for my needs which is an important feature. FASTSTONE has a superb tutorial and help feature too, its easy to download. How many free editors have a 'HOLD DOWN TO SEE ORIGINAL IMAGE' feature for most operations? I can't praise it highly enough. Further down, I say that FASTSTONE is intuitive, what do I mean? Well, just by moving the cursor to one of the screen edges e.g. N, E, S, or West, a specific menu is displayed. I particularly make use of moving the cursor East, to display the METADATA for a photograph, see below example. FASTSTONE even displays PHOTOSHOP PSD files, a bonus if you have moved from photoshop.
The metadata is displayed by moving the cursor to the far right of the screen, quite handy. You can see from the metadata, a Nikon Coolpix (not coolpics) E995 camera with a fairly low resolution was used to copy the photograph. I feel we have become too obsessed with achieving high resolution in a photograph. Better to get a photo at low resolution than no photo at all.
For you more experienced togs, this is composite, the horses were combined with the background to add strength to the picture. There's detail in the sky using blending and the eyes and other bits have been lightened or emphasised.
What is editing? I see it as making a change to a photograph to improve or alter its appearance. It may not be 100% correct as a definition, but it will do for now. Editing is a vast subject and I will only touch on the main aspects of my editing. Editing may be called a WORKFLOW. See WORKFLOW as a sequence of editing functions. First of all, we should look at the programs I use for EDITING and why?
Remember, 95% of my EDITING is handled by FASTSTONE which is FREE to use. BEWARE, many companies say a product is free to download. That does not mean it is necessarily free to use, there is a major difference. Don't get caught out.
FASTSTONE (FREE) main editor and browser, for general editing and browsing, handles photoshop files but doesn't support layers
PAINT.NET (FREE version) When fancier editing is called for e.g. layer work, merging, blending etc.
AFFINITY PHOTO (Paid for, PHOTOSHOP replacement), for burning / dodging, specific area selection, correcting converging verticals etc.
My simple WORKFLOW or EDITING SEQUENCE is as follows:
FASTONE
-ADJUST LIGHTING/CONTRAST/SATURATION
-ADJUST COLORS/BRIGHTNESS-SHARPEN/USM
SHARPEN/PRINT OR DISPLAY DIGITAL FILE
No I'm not going to describe every option within FASTSTONE, there is an excellant tutorial that can be downloaded.
TOP TIP FASTSTONE is good, it is extremely intuitive, east to use, and tailorable. It covers 95% of my editing. I often use the cloning tool for tidy-up. Unlike some products, the cloning brush actually shows what your cloning, very important for alignment, especially if straight lines or edges are involved. Being able to control the degree of feathering when cloning is important too. Consider a donation, I did. No, I'm not sponsored by the makers of FASTSTONE, its just a very good product that is also free. With FASTSTONE covering most of my regular editing, and PAINT.NET being used if layer work or blending are required, AFFINITY for complex editing, I reckon I have all avenues covered.A lot cheaper than PHOTOSHOP!
The animal on the right looks as if its saying, "Oh no Madge, its one of these bloody photographers again."
Yes, taken with a wee compact with one of those 'twisty' screens so that when poking it under the electric fence, I could focus and actually see what I was taking. FASTSTONE has a neat 'CONVERT TO MONO' tool too. I really can't praise it enough. I spent a long time reviewing products that I could use with one hand, a laptop and trackpad. FASTSTONE, PAINT.NET and AFFINITY PHOTO are hard to beat and for me, make the perfect combination. Yes there is a learning curve, but you should consider the change, you won't look back.