6 Months Since Aperture (& iPhotos) Death

[skaeight]

Joeseph has made his announcement. He's basically going to have a site and podcast devoted to the topic of this thread - all of the Photo Apps and which one you should use:

https://thephotosexpert.com/tips/2015/2/13/future-photos-expert-photoappsexpert#.VN6NcUKlmZN

This bit is interesting and sounds familiar:

One thing I’m very excited about is showing how to transition to Lightroom, as I know this will be a very common need. I’ve been using Lightroom for a couple of months now, and I can certainly see what people have been talking about. Asset management (DAM) leaves a lot to be desired, but the editing tools are fantastic. I don’t think the folks at Adobe would mind me saying that I have developed a nice relationship with them since the announcement of Aperture’s demise, and they are eager to hear my feedback as an Aperture transition-er. That’s not to say that Lightroom is my final destination — I absolutely will also consider the other offerings and share my thoughts with you all. But again this is why I need more writers. I can’t do it all, or at least I can’t do it all at once

 

[OreoCookie]

But those are just editors. I haven't seen anyone jump into the DAM field lately.

Yes, but the point is that there are some companies out there which are moving into the field of software which Adobe dominates. And if you have a decent image editor, then this could also serve as a basis for another DAM solution. There seems to be quite a bit of discontent amongst the creative community because of Adobe's move to a subscription model, and of course, the prices. Affinity's competitor to Illustrator seems quite good, for instance. Now that Aperture is dead, there is also space left for a Lightroom competitor.

 

[skaeight]

Oh and this weeks TWiP is a must listen for everyone who has been active in this thread:

TWiP 399 – Apple’s Photos App Revealed

http://thisweekinphoto.com/twip-399-apples-photos-app-revealed/

They actually float the idea of there being a void in this market. I wonder if Affinity is knocking this idea around. They seem to be building the Core Image based CC suite.

 

[OreoCookie]

They actually float the idea of there being a void in this market. I wonder if Affinity is knocking this idea around. They seem to be building the Core Image based CC suite.

Yup, and they seem to be making (surprisingly) big jumps, it took Pixelmator years to get to where it is.

 

[maflynn]

Yup, and they seem to be making (surprisingly) big jumps, it took Pixelmator years to get to where it is.

I remember when it first came out, and people were incredulous at how someone could release such a software that was devoid of a so much features. They've come a long way, you have to tip your hat on their determination and producing a great product.

 

[robgendreau]

Yes, but the point is that there are some companies out there which are moving into the field of software which Adobe dominates. And if you have a decent image editor, then this could also serve as a basis for another DAM solution. There seems to be quite a bit of discontent amongst the creative community because of Adobe's move to a subscription model, and of course, the prices. Affinity's competitor to Illustrator seems quite good, for instance. Now that Aperture is dead, there is also space left for a Lightroom competitor.

If I had a decent image editor, I'd make it work with LR, the 800 lb gorilla, than against it. For example, I'd buy Capture One for raw processing, but not for the DAM (I can't remember which one they bought and incorporated). Or just use a photo browser, which is perfectly adequate when you know you are gonna make an export copy anyway. No need to save adjustment info in a database. And I'd question the amount of discontent: remember that for Adobe, individual subs probably pale in comparison to all those institutional licenses on both Mac and PC platforms. This is what Affinity has chosen to do.

And people need to perhaps reassess their need for a parametric image editor like LR or Aperture. Maybe a browser would work for them just as well. Consider Photo Mechanic; if you work involves speed and moving stuff around, it's far better than LR. The non destructive imaging benefits don't necessarily accrue to those who pass photos around a lot, or who rarely do a lot of work on individual versions of images, or who don't need to do a lot of batch adjustments.

 

[OreoCookie]

If I had a decent image editor, I'd make it work with LR, the 800 lb gorilla, than against it.

There is plenty of space for a competitor, some people don't like LR's UI (the idea of modules is evil), others are not willing to pay for a subscription (which will eventually be the only way to get Lightroom. I think the worst that can happen to anyone is a mono culture. A media browser is definitely not enough for me, and the DAM features were what kept me with Aperture.

I remember when it first came out, and people were incredulous at how someone could release such a software that was devoid of a so much features.

I think they've marketed it the right way, though, it was clear that (at least initially) they did not want to be a Photoshop competitor. What got them over the top for me was native 16 bit support in their image manipulation engine.

 

[maflynn]

Joeseph has made his announcement. He's basically going to have a site and podcast devoted to the topic of this thread - all of the Photo Apps and which one you should use:

https://thephotosexpert.com/tips/2015/2/13/future-photos-expert-photoappsexpert#.VN6NcUKlmZN

This bit is interesting and sounds familiar:

Looks like instead of staking his future on apple, he's decided to make his site more generic (for better or worse)

PhotoApps.Expert will be a resource for any photography app on any platform; Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and anything else worth talking about. We will focus on the needs of the photographer, not the needs of a corporation. From the hobbyist who never ventures beyond their iPhone and a few cool apps to the working professional who needs to figure out the best way to ingest six cards and a TB of data, organize, edit and deliver to the client, this site will cover it all. That’s a huge goal and people smarter than me have failed at expanding businesses that widely. Not to mention that I have a growing photography business of my own to nurture. But I myself need to figure out where to go, and I intend to take you all along with me on that adventure.

I'll have to bookmark it and see how things transform on the site.

 

[robgendreau]

Looks like instead of staking his future on apple, he's decided to make his site more generic (for better or worse)

I'll have to bookmark it and see how things transform on the site.

If he hadn't spent so much of his time extolling the virtues of Aperture and saying Photos was the worthy successor he might have more credibility. Now he's just another ex Aperture expert slash Everything Else rookie. But maybe he can turn that to his advantage.

 

[VirtualRain]

If he hadn't spent so much of his time extolling the virtues of Aperture and saying Photos was the worthy successor he might have more credibility. Now he's just another ex Aperture expert slash Everything Else rookie. But maybe he can turn that to his advantage.

Agreed. I'm not sure how you can be an expert at every DAM out there. He's going to have to specialize to offer any significant value.

 

[colorspace]

Anyone that had bit into the Apple and swallowed the whole story of expandability does deserve to loose quite a bit of street cred... but on the other hand I think that, at least for me, having a (hopefully real) agnostic can be quite useful, especially in times like this when all the big play'as have either gone out of business or have fairly flawed products.

If he hadn't spent so much of his time extolling the virtues of Aperture and saying Photos was the worthy successor he might have more credibility. Now he's just another ex Aperture expert slash Everything Else rookie. But maybe he can turn that to his advantage.

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Not sure that was even true in the early days when you consider the feature set/$ -- even then it wasn't a bad product in comparison to say the old Photoshop Elements application

I remember when it first came out, and people were incredulous at how someone could release such a software that was devoid of a so much features. They've come a long way, you have to tip your hat on their determination and producing a great product.

 

[OreoCookie]

Agreed. I'm not sure how you can be an expert at every DAM out there. He's going to have to specialize to offer any significant value.

On the other hand, many of the concepts and ideas are very similar, so his experience is not for naught. In camera terms, he's switching from one brand to another, and while he doesn't know the obscure bits of the menus inside and out, he can still go out and shoot photos.