Miyajima – Back with Aperture

I have been using Aperture 2 since its release and have been extremely pleased with its power and speed at cataloging and adjusting my images. When Lightroom 3 Beta came along I heard a lot of hype, mostly from those with connections with Adobe, and thought I would give it a try. Now, as I have said in earlier posts, it is a nice piece of software, and I have only tapped the surface of what the software can do, however I started to think to myself; Why am I changing from Aperture. What am I getting?

Each of these software packages are amazing and are backed by two of the best software companies out there; Apple and Adobe. Each of the packages have their advantages and their disadvantages, But the question remained, why was I bothering to look at Lightroom 3? I believe now, that it was just hype and talk. A lot of people have been unhappy with Aperture for the simple reason that it has not been updated in over a year. People on the internet have been threatening Apple from the safety of their mother’s basements that they will walk away from Aperture if an update is not presented to them immediately. Now, I like to play with new software, hey, I tried Lightroom 3 Beta for crying out loud and thats not even stable! But is there a reason to walk away from a program that WORKS?

Aperture is by far the best application for cataloguing your images, and it is fine for the amount of adjustments I want to do to my images. For the couple of times that I have needed more power, I send the image to Photoshop or Pixelmator, just like Lightroom users do. What I missed most from my time working in Lightroom 3, was the beautiful, not in your face, user interface that most of the professional apps Apple creates. Aperture is uncluttered and it looks elegant. Images open up in true full screen mode, unlike Lightroom 3, and the speed! Oh, Aperture is beautiful. I can swish through tens of thousands of pics in seconds, in Lightroom 3, it would grind to a halt. I also like the Photobooks that can be designed and printed right from the Aperture application, something that Lightroom does not offer.

So to cut it short, I am just happy being back in Aperture 2 and will stick here until the urge comes along to try out Aperture 3 (I hope). But, I will not be sucked into hype and I won’t be unhappy with a perfectly running application, simple because it has not had a major version update in a year. I am happy to sit here and dig deeper into what Aperture has to offer.

I have added a couple of photos of Miyajima to this post. Again from wonderful Japan, Miyajima is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I had the fortune to visit here numerous times during my time in Japan in 2007.

Following is a little info about Miyajima in both Japanese and English:

宮島は広島湾からフェリーで約10分ほどの所にあります。島の名前は「神社のある島」という意味で、日本三景の一つです。厳島神社は満潮時、大鳥居が海上に浮かび、特に日没時は見事な眺めです。神がまつられる島内では、鹿や猿が自由に歩き回り、葬送や出産は禁じられています。
Translation:
Miyajima is just a ten minute ferry ride from the shores of Hiroshima. It’s name  means “Shrine Island” and is one of Japan’s three most scenic viewing locations. The Itsukushima Shrine and the large wooden torii stand in the ocean during high tide and make for a spectacular view especially at sunset. Deer and monkeys freely walk around this island and it is said that no person may die or be born on the island.