Education/Inspiration
A Pro's Take on Apple Aperture 2.1
By Rick Sammon
May 1, 2008

A top ten list for digital imaging pros

    If you were to do a Web search on Aperture 2.1, Apple’s latest version of its powerful professional digital imaging application (the big brother to iPhoto), you’d find hundreds of high-tech articles outlining all of its photo management and editing features and benefits, as well as how Aperture works with other Apple applications, such as Keynote. For starters, go to http://www.apple.com/aperture and learn about the 100+ new tools and options in Aperture 2.
   
    In this article, rather than going into lots of high-tech talk, I’d like to share with you my top ten list of Aperture’s features that help me maximize my time when working (and playing) in the digital darkroom—features that also help me create dynamic images.  
   
    Before we get going, I’d like to share with you a before-and-after pair of images that illustrate the awesome power of Aperture 2.1’s image-editing capabilities.




I took the original photograph (left) during one of my workshops in Venice, Itlay. It’s a good enough RAW file, with plenty of data. But check out what happens when a few selective Aperture enhancements (crop, burn, dodge, saturate and sharpen) are combined with a little digital image editing know-how (right). Kinda cool, don’t you think!









Okay, here is my top ten list. All of the following photographs, by the way, were also taken at the same workshop with my Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III and the Canon EF 24-105mm Image Stabilization lens.


All in One Aperture. Aperture is an all-in-one digital imaging workflow and editing application. For most of my photography I can import, edit, enhance and export my Raw files without having to leave Aperture. That speeds up my workflow—and gives me more time to actually take pictures.


Aperture’s Import Speed is Awesome. I can import a memory card filled 26MB RAW files from my memory card at record-breaking speed. And for someone as hyper as I am, that’s really awesome.


Aperture’s RAW Fine-tuning is Terrific. Some people think that a RAW file is a digital negative. Not so! It’s only a digital negative after it’s processed. With Aperture’s RAW fine-tuning, I can, you guessed it, fine-tune my RAW files for optimum color, contrast and sharpness.


Aperture Offers Essential Adjustments. White Balance, Exposure, Contrast, Saturation, Levels – and one of my favorite adjustments, Highlights and Shadows – are just some of the adjustments in Aperture that help me, and can help you, create dynamic and dramatic images. And speaking of Adjustments, the recent addition of Dodge & Burn (which also features saturate, desaturate, contrast, sharpness, blur and fade), as well as Plug-in compatibility, truly make Aperture a powerful image-editing program. And last but certainly not least, the Recovery tool is awesome at recovering overexposed highlights – which even pros get on rare occasions. ☺


Full Screen Display is Fantastic. The Full Screen Display’s ability to view an image without any open panels lets me totally focus on image content.


Love that Loupe! With this cool feature, I can check my files for the finest details, as well as for dust spot. This feature is an essential tool for digital photographers.


Stacks are Sensational. I often shoot several pictures of a subject. With Stacks, which digitally stacks images together into groups, I can easily find a keeper in a sequence, as well as find the outtakes. Again, sometimes, even pros get outtakes. ☺


The Compare Feature is Cool. This may sound like a simple feature to put in a top 10 list, but I often have to edit on the road  (and in the air), and the Compare feature helps to speed up my workflow and to find an image to send to one of my book or magazine editors.


Metadata Makes it Easy to Find Photos. Hey, if you’ve ever had problems finding an image, it’s Metadata to the rescue. Just input your photo info, and you’ll be able to find your photos in a flash – complete with all important data.


 Workflow and Fun-flow. Speaking of workflow, I find that Aperture also speeds up my fun-flow. The application is fun to use, especially when you use features such as slide shows, books, light table, Web galleries, Web pages and even email.

Well, those are my top ten reasons why I use Aperture. Check out the application and I am sure you’ll come up with your own top 10 list.

Catch you later—perhaps at one my workshops!