Three suggestions. Two RAW editors which are definitely the pro-level equal to Adobe bloat-ware and one fully featured picture editing suite.
a) DARKTABLE (freeware)
b) RAWTHERAPEE (freeware)
And lastly, if you want Photoshop style adjustments etc.
c) GIMP
Steep learning curve on all three, but the top-notch end results justify the effort.
On this forum, we have gotten into the pros and cons of Adobe many times. Yes, it is maddening to have to pay for something that was once a one-time purchase, In my retirement, my main pleasures in life are travel and photography. I spend almost all of my daytime at my iMAC doing photography or something related to Photography. I spend hours watching You Tube editing videos, or for Premiere Pro, Lightroom, Photoshop, and timelapses. My wife and I travel extensively, often the trip is built around photography and creating a video and a contribution to my portfolio. I do not do this for any money, just a hobby. Drones merely add to the pleasure. Here is my website
Advanced amateur, world traveler (110 countries), love to photography wildlife, love Africa, time lapse photography
www.daledavisphotography.smugmug.com
Far be it from me to defend Adobe. But I have come to a working relationship with them. When my yearly subscription to the complete suite is coming due, I make a personal call to them and plead with them for my usual discount. I am not ashamed to say that it has worked every time. I get a generous discount on the complete Adobe suite which includes. over 40 Adobe apps (Lightroom, Photoshop, Bridge,Premiere Pro, Acrobat,and the new AI Generative app Adobe Firefly (truly amazing stuff), and all of the other apps I do not use. The advertised cost was $650.00/year, but I pay $239.88 annually at one time, (or $29.99 per month). For this, I get more than once a week, all of the Lightroom and Photoshop updates, including all of the new generative AI capabilities. If you guys haven't seen what these can do, you would be shocked. In addition, I get unlimited Adobe support for my Adobe Premiere Pro video editing, Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. This support is by very smart people who speak India accented English. In addition, by subscribing to Colin Smiths weekly videos, I get all of video instruction I need on every new update. I think most of us can afford $29.99 a month.
I need not say that the capabilities of this software are more than I will ever need or understand, but it is nice to know it it available to me.
Over the years I have tried Luminar, NIK software, and ON1 and although they have a lot to offer they do not compare to the Adobe suite.
Thankfully, I am enjoying a comfortable retirement and I can afford this. But I can understand that if money is tight, it is $239.88 yearly more that you can spend on something else.
Dale
Miami
