I'm playing with the Olympus camera that AndyS loaned me and doing post editing too!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

Here's a set of photos I did tonight. The differences are small, but present nonetheless. I still have much to learn, and baby steps are how I do that!

The Bear, Before



The Bear, After

[SheltieLover]

1. Very nicely done, Peggy

The after pix is so much more clearly defined.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Thanks so much, my dear SheltieLover! ♥

You did spot it! I could have done more, but it was late and I needed to go to bed.

[SheltieLover]

5. Yw, Peggy!

Ty for sharing with us!

[IcyPeas]

2. May I ask... what photo editor do you use?

And the sharpness looks better on bear 2.

[mitch96]

3. Same here, Lightroom? Olympus software? Gimp?....

I'm taking a beginners photoshop class next month so I'm interested..I tried to learn Gimp on my own but it was WAY out of my comprehension....and I thought I was "tech savvy"...
m

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Of course! I'm using Paint Shop Pro.

I've gotten pretty comfortable with it, although there are many applications that I haven't tried yet.

And you're right--the bear #2 is sharper.

[AndyS]

7. If I may;

I use PSP and introduced Peggy to it. I use it because 1. I can own it, no subscription. 2. It's relatively inexpensive at about $80.

It and Lightroom are full featured and as intuitive as any, which is not very. However both have many many tutorials on youtube.

GIMP is free but written by software engineers for software engineers. It does everything others do but isn't as user friendly.

My .02 worth.

[HappyCynic]

12. occasionally check HumbleBundle

It's a good idea to occasionally check HumbleBundle (https://www.humblebundle.com/bundles). In the past, they've had bundles where you can get several Corel products for a much lower price. The last bundle with Corel stuff was almost exactly one year ago and had PaintShop Pro, AfterShot, Corel CAD, Corel Painter, and some other stuff for under $40. Of course, there's no telling if/when a particular software package is going to be in a bundle so if you need it right away, you'll have to depend on luck. They add new bundles every week or so and each bundle stays available for around 10-20 days.

[ManiacJoe]

17. Corel's PSP is good software.

I have been a user of it since long before Corel bought it.

In come cases the PSP user interface is better than the matching Photoshop UI.

PSP uses most (all?) of the same plug-ins Photoshop uses, although sometimes needing to be easily scripted.

[HappyCynic]

15. Corel Software on sale

HumbleBundle just put up a Corel software bundle that includes:
Paint Shop Pro
AfterShot
Painter
And a bunch of other stuff

Paint Shop Pro and AfterShot are included in the $32 dollar bundle
To get everything, it's $39

So, if you're looking for a Photoshop alternative and Corel's offerings are appealing, it's a good time to grab it. (The bundle will be there for 20 days.)

https://www.humblebundle.com/software/create-with-visual-impact-software?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_1_layout_type_threes_tile_index_2_c_createwithvisualimpact_softwarebundle

[George McGovern]

8. Yes, nice "after" shot! Peggy - which Olympus camera/lens are you using? Thanks!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. Thank you so much, dear George!

The camera is an Olympus OM-D E-M5II. The lens is also Olympus 12--50 mm.

I also have an Olympus 75--300mm zoom. And I forget what you call it, but there's a button on the camera body, which, when pushed, gives a much longer zoom. I've used it several times and it's astonishing how much it magnifies. Plus there's a truly remarkable image stabilization feature.

I'm really enjoying all of this!

[George McGovern]

10. Wonderful!

I shot Nikons for more than 35 years, but as I aged my full-frame digital Nikons became too darned heavy. And often left dust specks on images. Tried Olympus. Excellent dust resistance. Excellent everything! I'm glad AndyS "turned you on" to Olympus!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. I'm glad he did that too!

Some days I am overwhelmed with all the new details, but it turns out that the cameras do very similar things, but with different names and in different places on the camera.

And then I find myself learning.

[Gato Moteado]

13. oh nooooooo.....they're pulling you away from nikon!!!!!!

hahahaha....actually, i shoot nikon, sony and lumix. i really like the micro 4/3 platform for several reasons.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. Good to see you, my dear Gato Moteado!

It's very different from the Nikon, for me, anyway, but the big draw is what you can do with a mirrorless camera!

[Grumpy Old Guy]

16. Nice job dear Peggy!

The head of the bear is noticeably sharper without any added noise. Perfect.