Help!..Which program is best for me?

[grumpy31]

I just stumbled onto this amazing site and hope it can solve my dilemma!..

I'm an amateur photographer and have no illusions of fame or fortune whatsoever!.. but, I'd really love to enhance my photographs to where I just might get a bit excited just looking at them. BUT, that has not happened yet!..

Well, maybe thats not quite true.....some of my "Macro" flower shots might be a "cut above"...my opinion of course....

Okay....I'm currently studying Photoshop elements 8 and being the slow learner that I am, its really taking me a long time to get where I want to go with that program.

So, today, I luckily found this terrific site that just might be my key to "valhalla"....I hope, I hope, I hope.....

So my question is:....I love the "Monet and Cezzanne" painting look and would love to know how I can achieve that..doing that with Photoshop Elements is going to take a ton of time, and at my very very late age in life, I really don't have that much time left to study a program that will take up whats left of my existence..

I have seen some of the "Painterly" look done in the "auto" mode and I can say that it does look somewhat "mechanical" to me. So, here I am, stuck with the dilemma of total "ignorance" as to what program would make this old guy happy.

I'd also must add that I use an Apple iMac for my photo editing which limits my choices of programs.

Okay, it was good talking to all of you and hope you read my story and point me in the right direction!.

Baci..........grumpy31

[lkroll]

Check DAP out; it can do a pretty good job with these styles. Also, with some fanagling, you can use Impressionist filter.

http://www.mediachance.com/dap/index.html (not free, but it was worth it for me and still use it for some renders).

http://asnailpace.com/blog/impressionist-plug-in/ (Steve, aka Trimoon) hosts this plugin. It use to be part of Office 2000 Professional, but was abandoned by Microsoft long ago).

[grumpy31]

To: Ikroll.....

Yes, I just checked out DAP as you had suggested and was totally blown away by what I saw!..I'd buy it in a heartbeat, but its not compatible with a Mac. I've also emailed them to ask them if they plan on letting Mac's in on the glory of this most amazing program.
Thanks so much for this great advice.....so, now I wait!.....

[amica999]

First off, let me welcome you to our little community here at RetouchPro. I found this place to be a goldmine for tipps, advise and friends :-) Hope you feel at home soon.

Some people here are getting some stunning results with PhotoSketcher, but there is no MAC version either. You may want to have a look at Topas Labs, as a starting point.

[palms]

Take a look at Topaz simplify ( there is a trial download )

http://www.topazlabs.com/simplify/#6

take a look at some texture work here is just one group at flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/372457@N22/

go through some of the threads here and see what you like, there is a glut of information and a lot of friendly helpful people

google for some pse8 tutorials ( there are quite a few out there)

and just practice and learn, it is a great hobby and keeps one out of mischief ( well mostly) age is no barrier here

Palms

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by grumpy31

I use an Apple iMac for my photo editing which limits my choices of programs.

Baci..........grumpy31

Welcome to RetouchPRO Hope you enjoy your stay here and make lots of friends. Poke around, ask questions, offer help, have fun!

Don't limit yourself... I think either of the following programs let you use PC programs on your MAC

VMware Fusion

Parallels Desktop 5

Others here could probably provide more comprehensive information... (either verification or denial) ..