XtremeCamera

When it comes to building and maintaining a good workflow many photographers choose Apple’s OS X and a Mac. There are many reasons why the Mac makes sense, and if you’re looking to maximize your own workflow this article is for you, Mac user or not.

The Creative Mind

Photography, as an art, takes a working knowledge of the basics of photography, from proper use of aperture settings to shutter speed, from knowing what a high ISO will do to learning the nuances of different lenses and how they will affect the end result of your photos. But knowledge alone doesn’t cut it. Good photographers are creative people, visual people, and people that are able to use hardware and software to create beautiful works of art. And let’s face it, creative people tend to use Macs.

Mac OS X is a creative mind’s dream come true. There is no need to read complex users manuals in order to use OS X. I’ve seen people who were exposed to a Mac’s UI for the first time and without any instruction they were exploring the Mac and being productive in minutes. Somehow I don’t see first time Windows users being able to do that.

Film To Digital – When The Mac Really Matters

I’ve been using my cameras for three decades now, and before I purchased my first computer (a Mac of course) I had absolutely no interest in owning a computer. Back then computers were for people who are much more analytical than I ever was or will be. In fact, it wasn’t until I switched to digital dSLR’s that a computer became a necessary component.

Without a computer you simply cannot be a digitally based photographer. Without a computer the images you shoot and write to a memory card stay on the memory card.*

Moving from film based cameras to digitally based cameras has for the most part been completed a few years back. Most camera companies don’t even produce film cameras any more. If you own a good digital camera, if you spend time on your hobby or career of photography, then unless you still shoot film you own a computer.

The Windows legacy

Since photography experienced a recent paradigm switch a majority of photographers had already incorporated a computer into their lives. Because PC’s with Windows are by far the PC of choice, chances are photographers that have switched from film to digital kept their Windows based PC. It is my position that photographers that stayed with Windows when they made the switch have been ill served by that decision.

Windows has always been, and will continue to be, clumsy when compared to Mac OS X. That’s not to say that there aren’t many photographers doing just fine with XP or Vista, only that if these XP/Vista users could spend a day with a Mac, Apple’s Aperture software, Adobe’s Photoshop or Elements, and even the terrific Adobe Lightroom, they would experience a much more natural workflow. The overall experience with the Mac would be more conducive to the creative process.

But Software is Software!

I know that many happy XP/Vista users are going to say that Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop or Elements is the same whether you’re using OS X or XP/Vista. After all, the UI is mostly identical, if you know Lightroom on Vista you know Lightroom on the Mac. That’s true, they would be correct. However, workflow is more than hooking up your camera to your computer and importing, managing, and editing your photos with software.

For the hobbyist that doesn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on software you cannot beat Mac OS X. Apple ships software with every Mac that makes working with digital photos easy, fun, and productive. OS X recognizes 99.99% of all digital cameras without having to install 3rd party drivers.

The moment you attach your digital camera to a Mac running OS X you are presented with a creative and well thought out workflow. By default OS X launches iPhoto, that amazing piece of software built into every Mac, imports all your photos at the click of a button, and then organizes your photos into ‘events’, all photos taken on a specific day is an ‘event’ (this can be customized as well), and iPhoto essentially creates a new photo album for each event.

From there the photographer can order prints, create a hardcover/softcover book, email photos in several sizes, create cards, crop, rotate, enhance, and much more.

For serious dSLR users that need more than iPhoto can deliver (and iPhoto delivers a lot) there is Apple’s Aperture software that does everything iPhoto can do (including creating books or ordering prints) but with much more power and control. Despite the added extras and strengths of Aperture, the software is nearly as easy to use as iPhoto.

Stability and then some!

Mac using photographers also have the added feature of stability and security. OS X simply does not crash unless something is seriously wrong, which is extremely rare. Apple’s iPhoto and Aperture doesn’t suddenly shut down like XP/Vista photo software. If you are spending a lot of time in Aperture editing your photos that nagging worry that XP/Vista have about their work being lost unless they are constantly hitting the ‘save’ function simply isn’t a concern. OS X just works.

Where it really counts

Many happy XP/Vista users (yes there are a few) just haven’t experienced the joy of using a Mac. The beautiful interface, the simple but elegant workflow, and the sheer power of 64-bit processing and optimized code of the Operating System offer an experience that cannot be matched by XP/Vista.

Spending the time to create art with a digital camera shouldn’t be erased by struggling with the technology that has become equally important. With serious photography the camera is half the equation, the computer and its software/operating system is the other half. Why spend the money on an expensive dSLR and use an inferior computer in your post production?

Apple is the computer of choice for the creative mind, and it has been for years. While most of the digital photographers are stuck using a PC with Windows because it’s the computer they owned before the switch away from film, I’m betting that the vast majority of digital photographers would welcome a Mac and OS X if they were offered one.

I know some photographers that would rather spend their disposible income on new glass (read: lenses) rather than a new computer, and if you had to make a choice between that sweet new lens or a new iMac, it wouldn’t be easy. However, I’ll bet that if you’ve never used a Mac and someone set you down in front of one for a couple of hours and then told you that you could have a new lens or the iMac you would choose the iMac.

The Mac and OS X are the perfect tools for the digital photographer. Anything less is, well, less. Ask any Mac user that also shoots digital photos as a hobby or a career.

Steven McBride
Photographer/Mac User
Operations Admin

*Now, of course, that’s not to say that if you use a point n shoot digital camera you have to own a computer. You don’t. You can bring your memory card to photo processing centers and they’ll print them out for you. Naturally, this article isn’t about that type of photographer, but rather the photographer that is serious about creating photographs.