Three Sunsets near Brenham, TX

[xpatUSA]

Isn't it irritating how quick sunsets come and go, especially at the lower latitudes? Shot these complete with Texas power lines which I never clone out. Three totally different conversions for these Foveon images:

This one is by FastStone Viewer which uses the well-known DCraw decoder:



I rather like the starkness of the dead oak tree - cliché, I know . . .

This one is by RawTherapee and shows how easy it is to get carried away with their 'HSV Equalizer' which lets you change colors of things like cars, people's faces and stuff, including clouds and skies:




Sometimes Texas sunsets are good but the one below needed a bit (!) of assistance:



4.7MP Sigma SD14 and the Sigma 17-50mm OS kit lens atop a Giottos 'Silk Road' tripod.

Anybody like the extreme editing?

[Shadowman]

Nice series, each has its own merits. I like the RawTherapee best overall, I like sky treatment on the others.

[IzzieK]

All good versions...the first and last are beautiful as they are but the effects of #3 is fabulous ... I love it...is Raw Therapee easy to use...?

[xpatUSA]

...is Raw Therapee easy to use...?

Compared to Adobe products it has a less than intuitive interface, does not have layers, masks, brushes, individual area selection editing, blending, etc. The attraction for me is that it is open-source and has millions of different options - some of which I have never used - and it's color-management is outstanding with a huge choice of camera input and saving output profiles. It's not above crashing now and then (64-bit Windows 7 version 4.2.222). Monochromistas would love it.

I hesitate to recommend it to you, but it's free so nothing lost if you give a shot.

[Geoff F]

The last one for me. I like the reduced area of black at the bottom, although I would clone out those leaves in the top right corner. If there was more of them, as in #1, I would leave them alone.

A little while ago I used an earlier form of Raw Therapee as a Raw converter and it worked well. But I always finished off with another programme for fine tweak adjustments with layers and masks etc.

At that time I was using Serif Photo Plus which was good for finishing off but I didn't like their very basic Raw converter. Now I'm using ACR so haven't tried the latest Raw Therapee version.

[IzzieK]

I asked because I am giving one of my cameras to my DIL. This will be her first DSLR and I know I will have to teach her how to convert NEF files to JPEG. Then she can go from there. Can she do that with Raw Therapee, meaning just straight conversion?

[xpatUSA]

I asked because I am giving one of my cameras to my DIL. This will be her first DSLR and I know I will have to teach her how to convert NEF files to JPEG. Then she can go from there. Can she do that with Raw Therapee, meaning just straight conversion?

If her experience prior to the DSLR was smart-phones and/or point-and-shoots, I can not recommend RawTherapee. I got Photoshop Elements for my first DSLR (Nikon D50) and even that was too much, too soon.

There will be howls of derision but, in my personal opinion, she would be better learning the camera, including shooting raw of course, and editing with something free and easy - such as FastStone Viewer (small donation expected).

One good thing about simple editor/viewers is that it's quite difficult to fix a bad shot, which would mean that learning to shoot well with the newly acquired DSLR would be quite beneficial . . .

Maybe LR otherwise - can't advise about that, never used it . . .

[Geoff F]

I asked because I am giving one of my cameras to my DIL. This will be her first DSLR and I know I will have to teach her how to convert NEF files to JPEG. Then she can go from there. Can she do that with Raw Therapee, meaning just straight conversion?

I wonder, Izzie, about starting off simply by shooting in Jpeg ?

Then moving on; Canon have their basic free DPP Raw Converter and there is a Nikon equivalent. My Fuji 'pocket camera' came with Silky Pics Raw Converter which was quite good, although possibly a little confusing in places for a beginner.

I have previously used Raw Therapee (an earlier version) and I liked it; but yes, it is a steep learning curve and you do need some knowledge right from the beginning.

[IzzieK]

If her experience prior to the DSLR was smart-phones and/or point-and-shoots, I can not recommend RawTherapee. I got Photoshop Elements for my first DSLR (Nikon D50) and even that was too much, too soon.

There will be howls of derision but, in my personal opinion, she would be better learning the camera, including shooting raw of course, and editing with something free and easy - such as FastStone Viewer (small donation expected).

One good thing about simple editor/viewers is that it's quite difficult to fix a bad shot, which would mean that learning to shoot well with the newly acquired DSLR would be quite beneficial . . .

Maybe LR otherwise - can't advise about that, never used it . . .

Thanks Ted...I am planning to give her Nik's Software but that means I will have to advice her just to use Jpgs because I have to find a simple program to translate NEF files. I intend to teach her how to shoot RAW in the second week of my stay with them but I need a simple RAW converter first...to get her going...I promised her that if she gets to know her camera first and think that she is past simple shots, I will upgrade her camera to better megapixels and some FF lens next year. Just like all beginners, her good composition is still in the "accidental" episode but she tries when I tell her the flaws of her images... you know what I mean...we all have to start somewhere...I will only be with them for two weeks and off I will be going to my own house for another two hence I do not have much time to teach her really apart from online...it will be a bit hard not showing her the mechanics of the camera. One week is not enough...

[IzzieK]

I wonder, Izzie, about starting off simply by shooting in Jpeg ?

Then moving on; Canon have their basic free DPP Raw Converter and there is a Nikon equivalent. My Fuji 'pocket camera' came with Silky Pics Raw Converter which was quite good, although possibly a little confusing in places for a beginner.

I have previously used Raw Therapee (an earlier version) and I liked it; but yes, it is a steep learning curve and you do need some knowledge right from the beginning.

That is my goal, Geoff...I told Ted about it in my response to him before I read your response. I will allow her to shoot JPeg for the first week while I teach her some basic under my watchful eye of course...but you can only teach so much in a week, so I want to move on to RAW in the second week, by then she will have an idea of how the basic of the camera works...but I will be needing a RAW converter. My son will die if his wife decided to be a real photographer....I can just imagine... so I am planning on me spending for her upgrades on FF lenses and actual camera...with more megapixels later on next year...I love my DIL. I love seeing her happy...