This past March I posted about switching from Adobe Lightroom for photo management to Alien Skin Exposure x3 and while missing a few Lightroom features I’ve been overall happy with my decision to switch.
A few days ago Alien Skin released a major update, Exposure X4 with noticeably faster performance (always nice) as well as addressing most of the function gaps I’d missed from Lightroom with X3. Since upgrading to X4 I’ve spent time experimenting/learning the new tools and the initial impressions are good.
Exposure has a lighter footprint on my Apple MacBook laptop and I’ve found my need (a subjective term) for external editors or plugins seems reduced since switching. However, I understand the “mileage” of others may vary.
Side Note: Also last March I switched from Adobe Photoshop to Affinity Photo. That switch has been seamless and I’ve found Affinity Photo to be a very capable package although I don’t seem to have to use it as much as I did Photoshop.
What I find about technology, be it software or hardware, is that it is all converging towards the same look-and-feel, same functionality and same quality of results. What natural selection has done with plants and animals, human selection is doing with technology. What I find amusing is the people who vehemently argue for one brand over another when the results of whatever product they are arguing over are pretty much indistinguishable. Of course, it may simply be a case of me showing my ignorance and not being enough of a tech-connoisseur to grasp the finer points :)
Anyway, it’s good to see this convergence of functions in editing softwares. If I ever want to get off the subscription train, at least I know there are alternatives.
A beautiful shot of a beautiful place by the way. I’m imagining a small houseboat anchored off the shore and me sitting on the roof eating olives and drinking a nice Pino Gris.
Cedric, I understand your views about converging technology and in many ways, I don’t disagree. However, consider the analogy of shoes. They all have the same basic function, almost all have the same basic design principles and components within related shoe categories yet when you try them on they don’t all feel the same. Some will feel like you’re walking on clouds while others with extremely similar specs will hurt your feet. I’ve experienced this same scenario with software products. Some fit better then others and the difference may not be in the specs. Did that make any sense at all? :-)
Thanks on the image…I’d like to join you on that houseboat roof where I’m sure through conversation we could find the answers for most of the world’s problems. LOL! I don’t believe I appreciated Northern Spain as much as I should have during our visit four years ago. I’d like to return and spend some serious time photographing its unique “flavor.”
Firstly, I would very much enjoy your company on the houseboat roof (or anywhere else for that matter) so if I ever find myself in that situation I will be sure to let you know. It would be fun to see what we come up with to solve the world’s problems :)
And I totally get your analogy and you are quite correct. It is I who failed to be clear. The convergence I was referring to was solely with regards to the end result of whatever product we wish to talk about, even shoes. What I was suggesting is that it is becoming impossible to discern a photograph that was shot with camera brand A from one shot with camera brand B just as it is equally impossible to tell whether a photo was edited with software A or software B. As you say, all that can be said about different brands of most things these days is that one brand feels more comfortable than the others. And comfort can sometimes be nothing more than applying a little perseverance with a small dose of patience. It’s when I hear passionate claims like, for example, a recent one I overheard: “The new Nikon is a Sony killer”, that I have to giggle a bit. It just seems a little over the top :)
Sorry I missed your initial point…more on me than you. I agree with your point. Also, the capabilities of software or hardware are so high now as to not be in any way a limiting factor in a final product. The limiting factor is simply ourselves and in truth, it always has been. Still, product advertising and “fanboy” ravings continue. I find it interesting to hear the term Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used to promote some photo editing software now. I guess it’s just a matter of time before they eliminate even our own individualities, limitations and capabilities. ;-)
When I finally upgrade my laptop my inclination is to move to Alien Skins and Affinity Photo. My primary reason will be moving away from a monthly cost of LR. One of the beauties of our blogs is following the comments and see how we can misunderstand a comment and through more dialogue come to a better understanding. You two give a great example in this thread.
Alien Skin has a 30-day trial of Exposure X4 on their site ( https://www.alienskin.com/trial/ ) Check the requirements it might even run on your current laptop. Thanks, Monte. :-)
I have always been tempted to try out Exposure. I always liked some of their film based features.
I don’t think I would ever be able to move away from Lightroom however. It is so integrated into how I manage my website galleries and business aspects.
So that said, the reason why I probably haven’t tried it out is that I have too many hammers in my tool chest right now.
Mark, if I had your photography/image business and galleries, with all the associated links, interactions and processing needs, my decision would have been to stay with Lightroom. I’m doing all my computer work on a four-year-old 13″ MacBook Pro purchased before we started RV’ing so Lightroom and Photoshop seemed overkill. Also, as my image library grew Lightroom became slower and slower. I wasn’t sure about the switch at first but Alien Skin has been rapidly improving Exposure. With the recent X4 version they even added a Lightroom import feature (too late for my use.) ;-)