TWiP #266 – Aperture or Lightroom
Hosts: Frederick Van Johnson, Derrick Story, Doug Kaye and Dan Ablan
This week on TWiP:
- Aperture vs. Lightroom (3:30)
- Facebook Copies Google+ Photo Layout (33:45)
- An Olympic Update (43:30)
This episode also features an interview with George Varanakis (53:45). Frederick chats with George about his days at Rangefinder and WPPI, how he created ‘After Capture' magazine. And also about his latest adventure with creativeLIVE.
Plus some exciting news about a new relationship between TWiP and creativeLIVE.
Derrick Story, Doug Kaye and Dan Ablan join Frederick Van Johnson to discuss these topics and more on this week's episode of TWiP.
Derrick Story: Olympus TG-1
Doug Kaye: Nikon D800/800E User's Manual (Free PDF)
Dan Ablan: Black Rapid Camera Straps
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Connect with Our Hosts & Guests:
Derrick Story: http://www.thedigitalstory.com or Twitter or Google+
Doug Kaye: http://www.dougkaye.com or http://blogarithms.com or Twitter or Google+
Dan Ablan: http://about.me/danablan or Twitter or Google+
Frederick Van Johnson: www.mediabytes.com or www.twitter.com/frederickvan or Google+
Credits:
Pre-production by: Patrick Reed
Post production by: Suzanne Llewellyn
Bandwidth provided by: Cachefly
Intro Music by Scott Cannizzaro
Photo Credit: Patrick Reed
There is a certain irony to the fact that during the interview with George Varanakis you berate people who compare gear brands, and yet the title of this episode is “Aperture or Lightroom.” Indeed, you spend a not insubstantial amount of time in virtually every show discussing these “Coke vs. Pepsi” relationships in photography: Canon vs. Nikon, Lightroom vs. Aperture, Micro 4/3 vs. DSLR, 500px vs. Flickr, stills vs. video, full frame vs. crop, print vs. digital, etc. And my personal favorites are the countless discussions you have about new offerings that end up with “but is it art?” or “but is it photography?” Of course none of these things are relevant, and you often say as much, but the contents of your show suggest otherwise. Perhaps the show wouldn’t be nearly two hours each week if you practiced what you preach and not wander into such trifles.
+1 to that. Yes we’re spoilt for choice these days, but let’s not do feature comparisons up the yin-yang in Band A vs. B mode mode. Instead show me your work. That’s what does the real talking. Of course on a podcast you can’t readily show images, but there would be many ways to link to a pic of the week or portfolio of the week. There is a place for the gear news of course, but don’t make this a show for software and hardware collectors – please keep it focused on the photographers and their vision. While I’m giving “constructive criticism”, please don’t answer the question you just asked. Put your question to your guest once, then say nothing to let them develop their answer – you have a tendency to re-phrase your question and offer suggested answers, which is frustrating for the listener. Otherwise, THANKS for these podcasts, they are really worthwhile and I learn a great deal from these – so please note my concerns are like 2% compared to my 98% enjoyment of your podcast.
Just to clarify my original post — I agree entirely with Ian’s follow up, and wanted to make sure it was clear that I also agree with the general proposition that I really love the podcast and appreciate what you all do. The comment during the interview juxtaposed with the episode title was irony that was just a bit too delicious for me to pass up. But overall, the show is awesome, and one of the best photography podcasts I’ve heard.
There was a commitment to make the show more about vision and the craft of photography rather than gear but so far there seems to have been little progress. Every time a new camera/software upgrade/Apple computer, etc., comes out you can be sure that TWIP will talk about it and Frederick will ask the panel “so you gonna buy this thing?” The reason is simple: it’s easy. It is easy to read a press release from Canon or the latest blurb on Apple’s website about their latest contribution to the photography world. It is much more difficult to talk about vision or the creative choices that a particular photographer made to convey a certain emotion in an image.
I second the idea of an “image of the week” (i.e. from Goolge+ or 500px) and just spending a few minutes on the choices that the photographer made in that image. If there is nothing great out on the web currently, pick an image from a great photographer (i.e. Avedon, Adams, Cartier-Bresson, Weston, etc.) and comment on it.
Right now the panelists don’t do much but voice their opinions about news items or gear (helpful but not really the best use of their expertise). How about having them spend a few minutes talking about actual photographs?
I would like to discuss Derrick Story’s comments regarding Aperture. Derrick has mischaracterized the motives of those of us that are disappointed that Apple has not released an Aperture 4.0 version. I do not care about the number of the release. It could be called 3.3.3 (or 1.0). What I want is a significant enhancement to the Aperture tool-set. In my opinion, version 3.3 (recently released) was far from being a significant upgrade. Aperture has fallen woefully behind the competition in the tools that it offers. There is a list of 6-10 tools that I find very useful in Lightroom that I would like to have access to, but don’t with Aperture. Aperture also needs to upgrade some of the tools that it does include (noise reduction and sharpening for example). In summary – I do not want 4.0, I want Aperture to offer the tools that I need every day so I do not have to go to the significant trouble of moving tens of thousands of images to another application to get what I need.
The basic question is “what does Aperture not allow you to do that you need to do as a photographer?” It is interesting that in the show nor in your comment did anyone discuss (in detail) the capabilities that Aperture is missing. You mention improved noise reduction and sharpening as needed upgrades, but what (specifically) are the 6-10 tools that are useful in Lightroom that Aperture does not have? Without a specific list of shortcomings or missing capabilities, Derrick’s comment makes perfect sense.
Paul, These lists are all over the internet, but here is mine. I would really like to see Aperture include the following features that are now part of LR.
1) Gradients
2) Perspective correction and Lens profiles
3) Paint-in white balance
4) More control of vignettes
5) Complex brushes (single brush controls more than 1 feature)
6) Better Noise Reduction and Sharpening
7) History list
8) Camera profiles
Since we are on the subject, Apple is too secretive. When was the last time that you heard somebody from Apple speak at a photography conference. At least, it seems that Adobe listens (and talks) to the photo community.