Thursday 29 January 2009

Pork, Apple and BlackBerry


I am writing this on the train back from a great week spent with Manda in and around Manchester. As I type, a man sat in the seat ahead of me is checking web-based details on his iPhone; just behind and to my left, a Dell laptop is working hard for its owner. On my fold-down table I have my trusty ASUS Eee PC and BlackBerry. If proof were needed that we are working to ever-increasing time constraints in the workplace and that mobile technology is the key to our productivity, then look no further than Coach A of the 14:15 Virgin train to London Euston!

Last weekend, Manda and I took a relatively short trip to Chester, where a Mac seminar was being held at MCC Computer Store. As regular readers (and those following my Mac journey) will know, I've decided that this is my 'Mac Year', the year when I finally bite the bullet and jump ship from PC to Apple. Don't get me started, but if you want some back-history, check out this post.

Here's a (very) quick video update, from outside the shop:



Anyway, the seminar was all about Apple's 'Aperture' software – which I was well aware of, but hadn't bothered to investigate further up until now, given that it is obviously not available for PCs. I have to say, on first impressions at least, it looks like a great workflow tool, and a definite consideration as an alternative to Lightroom (which I have never really got on with – it seems far too slow, and older software appears to handle my files in at least a third of the time).

So, the plot thickens as they say. I suppose my next question is just which Mac I should be looking at; the current favourite is the iMac... but it's still early days just yet, and I'm still very impressionable at this stage. Answers and suggestions from those in the know, please.


(Oh, and as for the pork reference in the title of this post... Food on the go can be quite tasty really, judging by the pork-stuffing-apple sauce baguette I had on the train upcountry. And I do like my food!)

2 comments:

Pete Tiley / Bike rider. said...

Great read and I am following your decision making with interest. I concur on the software, though I am not sure which I now prefer. I did love LR but did not dig aperture as much, but other photographers bang on about how it integrates nicely into the mac workflow. I am currently working with CS4 Camera Raw and quite liking that for vanilla processing. I suspect that ideally, you need them all as ironically, I still use NX2 as my straightening software.

Pete.

Giles said...

I think you could be right with the 'needing' them all approach, Pete.

It it vary rare that 'one camera, one lens' does the job, so why should post production be any different when try to achieve different effects? Surely, the best approach is to take the elements we need specifically for our own tailored, individual workflows.