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Please stop derailing the thread.

...or I'll cuff you.

Just kidding. I felt compelled, and don't know why.

Additionally, I'm currently editing/uploading a few more pictures from a shoot on Monday. Less evident editing, Mastrap.

That standing in a field of flowers scenario works better for chicks than for guys.

The thing that stands out the most in both those pictures?

Her teeth. They’re too white. She ends up looking too much like Colgate ad material. Especially the first one, it almost looks like she has dentures in that one.

Apart from that, they’re both good. If you make her head a bit lighter in the first one, so it doesn’t ‘blend’ into the dark shadows behind her, you’re home safe.

You've never been to North America, right? <--

Are you suggesting this summer might be a good time to get a toothlift?

I'm off portraits for a bit:


Hey! Rule of thirds!

What's crazy about that is that she's probably the only subject whose teeth I didn't whiten. She's had incredibly bright teeth the whole time I've known her, and it's also a possibility that she's been using the infamous Crest white strips since her senior session has been coming up.

The rest of her set is in this collection on my Flickr.

Well Aperture is a RAW convertor as well. For this picture I used it to change the whitebalance (this pic was made out of 2 conversions with a different white balance), definition and especially the vignette. The vignette feature in Aperture (2.1 not 1.5) is really awesome.
For most pictures I don't even touch Photoshop anymore.

Sharpening, curves and touch-ups is what I use Photoshop for still. Everything else Aperture handles like a charm.

Aperture is the second-best app on the Mac in my opinion, second only to iTunes. It's that revolutionary. The way I work with it has nothing to do how I used to work with iView Media Pro (which is a cataloging app, nothing more).

For the wedding album I've prepared for a friend of mine, I've had to use Pixelmator only on three pictures to photoshop them: I had to flip one (took three seconds), photoshop out someone's acne (took an hour) and make a complex color correction with layers. For all others (about 200 good ones), I used Aperture. It revolutionizes the way you work with pictures if you let it to its job. It takes care of backups, it doesn't waste space with its non-destructive editing and Aperture 2 is very fast on my humble ProBook.

A friend of mine took this great shot during a trip in Tôkyô:


Now a few of my own. All of them were taken on a two-week trip to Kyôto.

At a yakitori place downtown. Yummy!


Temple after the hike through the red tori


At the Imperial Palace in the middle of Kyôto.

Oh, yeah, I see. Aperture is an editor...

I like:

• The list view (sorting options!!)
• The retouch tool ! <--- Kewl!!
• The "Enhance -> Definition" slider,
• The file modification non-destructive versioning,
• The Lift & Stamp hud.

I dislike:

• Option tab task switching is disabled in full screen modes,
• The use of a common import "library",
• The "Raw fine tuning" sub-panel,
• The Import and Export options,
• The general GUI speed (slow!),
• The general layout (all layout options) of the app.

Maybe I'm missing a how to do some of those things tho... I took just a quick run
through. It's Aperture 2.0.1

How can you possibly judge one of the most developed image cataloging and editing software packages on the market after a 'quick run through'? Seriously, how? Is this one of your examples where ignorance supposedly beats knowledge?

Aperture is about as good as it gets. (Lightroom btw also rocks, but I prefer Aperture.)

The layout, once you actually bother to explore it and start working with it, becomes totally intuitive. It accommodates your way of working and doesn't force itself onto you. Editing is non destructive and drive space efficient. The import library can be adapted to your needs, Aperture can use images from wherever you specify. Export options are many, plug-ins for web storage solutions exist. I'm at a loss to understand on how you can 'dislike' the import option.

Seriously, at least get to know the tool before criticizing it.

Lovely shot. Evocative as anything.

Upgrade to Aperture 2.1, it's speedier than Aperture 2.0.1.
There will be a whole load of plugins for Aperture soon (e. g. Noise Ninja), and Apple has included Dodge & Burn as a proof of concept.

Aperture lets you choose whether you want to manage the file structure yourself or if you want Aperture to manage your files. I find it easier to let Aperture manage my files.

Also, Aperture 2 has introduced a preview mode (press P to activate it), it then just displays previews and doesn't render all the files.

What are you talking about - one of my examples of what? Huh? Anyway to answer your question that's a huge part of my job description. Software evaluation. I'm proficient in well over 50 packages and can name their menu structures by heart. Including Lightwave 3D, Maya, XSI, Houdini, Motion, Nuke 3D, Digital Fusion (now called just Fusion), PhotoShop, Illustrator, Motion Builder, and etc. etc. An app like Aperture takes me 2 hours to memorize everything, know all the core functions, and formulate a good understanding of what it's limitations and capabilities are. In far less time I can understand if I like it or not and formulate a sound opinion on such aspects as GUI layout, customization, handling, and etc.. Being a programmer and designer myself for over 30 years I can additionally form a good guess at how good a job the programmers, and app designers did within the same short period of time. I know many people take weeks or months to get to know an app but all I can say is I'm not them. Hehehe my colleagues say watching me learn an app is like watching Jim Carry put on the Loki Mask. I give seminars all over the country at universities on how to use various applications as part of my job. Mostly 3D stuff.

That probably sounds like bragging but when you're only good at very few things you gotta take your credits when ya can and this is one of the things I'm good at - learning and evaluating apps in short order and teaching them in an academic environment.

Aperture isn't a "bad" app. Photoshop of course kicks it's arse! I don't know Lightroom other than by what's on their website. Like Aperture it seems like a narrowly focused limited function application - which as you've obviously noticed can be a good thing.


Sounds good. I'm glad you like it. It's good when someone likes the tools they use. It makes using them all the more fun! The reason I dislike the import function is the same reason I dislike it in iTunes. I hate the idea of forced HD organization by this kind of technique. I want to browse folders and sub-folders by icon and choose what to edit by click, shift-click, and control clicking. At least iTunes will allow you to turn off the auto-library-importing mechanism to some degree for play-in-place functionality. Additionally, Aperture 2.0.1 does NOT support the DNG format (.dng), the OpenEXR (.exr) format, and it doesn't handle PhotoShop Documents (.psd) correctly. The lack of DNG support is a real shame and the fact that it can't handle PSDs makes it a one-way application and limits it's uses tremendously in a professional environment.

I did. I got to know it well enough to make he statements I made at any rate. I will spend a little more time with it though and it's already earned a location on my Overflow panel. I should have tried it out allot sooner.

Now that sounds promising! A plug-in API and more speed would definitely increase my interest in it!

Seconded. Love that one.