I have recently been planning and executing several photography sessions. They have ranged from infant photography to outdoor flash photography with adults. It is a lot of fun, for me, to do, plan, and practice the technical photography stuff. However, the editing image stuff is not so much fun. It can seemingly eat up many hours of work while anchoring me to a chair in front of a computer.

There are many things to learn and master regarding the making of an image. The camera, the lighting, the flash, the posing, the “bedside manner” while working with the subjects. And, each of the topics I just listed has numerous subtopics. Take the subject “camera”, under that subject you can have numerous subtopics. For example; white balance,
raw vs. jpeg, focal points, depth of field, exposure, tripod vs. no tripod, etc.. So, there is a lot to know and master before you get to the subject of post-processing.

Having an undefined workflow is like having a backache or a wound you have to keep a band-aid on all the time. It is always an underlying distraction and keeps you from freedom of movement and freedom of productive activity.

I have gone through a lot of software over the years. It seems that just when I settled on a software that I liked, the company would quit updating it or it became a subscription service. So, during the process of developing a digital image workflow I felt I had to consider the following:

1. Subscription vs. non-subscription

 I did not want software that required a subscription. There are arguments for both positions, but for now, I wanted to avoid a subscription.

2.  A flexible licensing agreement.

 I wanted software that would allow me to run a copy on my desktop and a copy on my laptop while I traveled without requiring me to purchase a separate license for each machine. I made the mistake of purchasing ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 before verifying there licensing agreement. They require a separate license for each machine. I did not want to make that mistake again.

3. Hardware requirements

 I wanted software that ran without bogging down my computers. I did not want to have to purchase new computers to run my software.

With these general requirements in place, I began downloading and testing various software packages. I settled on the following software:

1. Photo Mechanic

 I have been using Photo Mechanic for many years and I continue to do so. In fact, it is the only piece of software that I have used consistently. Other pieces of software have come and gone, but I continue to use Photo Mechanic because of its ease of use, speed, and its ongoing development.

  IF I was not using the Photo Mechanic keyword and its IPTC editing features, I would probably consider using FastRawViewer. It is fast, and easy to use, however, it does not have the keywording and IPTC editing features that I use in PM.

Raw Editor

I have gone through more of these editors than I want to think about. Lightroom, Aftershot Pro, Nikon, etc.. For now, and hopefully for a long time into the future, I am using DXO Photo Lab 3.

 DXO Photo Lab 3 does not run as fast as After Shot Pro, but it requires much less effort for me to get a decent raw conversion. It also has U-point technology which, I do use fairly often, which enables local adjustments to be accomplished much easier than After Shot Pro.

Pixel Pushing Editor

I have recently purchased Affinity Photo as my go-to app when I need the ability to mask and create composites. It works really well on my laptop and on my desktop. Previously I had been using GIMP which was working well for me. However, GIMP can have some lag time when I am doing a lot of brushwork and it does not have adjustment layers. Affinity Photo works much faster on my computers and I have gotten addicted to using adjustment layers. It is a nice piece of software.

Before purchasing Affinity Photo, I purchased Corel Paint Shop Pro 2019. It is a nice piece of software also, but Affinity Photo is much faster on my current line up of computers.