Here we are in 2021 and nature photographers now have many amazing choices for the best photo editing software for nature photography.
Artificial Intelligence or AI seems to be baked into many of the more recent photo editing software entrants, such as Skylum’s Luminar and Topaz Studio. Is this a real benefit for editing your nature photos, or just good marketing? Does “automatic” editing replace the need for an artistic eye, and your creative vision?
Is Adobe Photoshop still the industry standard photo editing software for nature photographers? And what about Lightroom? What does it have to offer compared to the rest of the photo editing software lineup?
I’ll explore each one of these, and many of the popular nature photo editing plugins including NIK, as well as the most popular RAW image processing software for nature photography in this section of Nature Photography Central.
I’ll also take on the whole Artificial Intellegence (AI) systems built into new photo editing software to see just how smart it is and if you should be using it for your nature photo editing.
Adobe is in all practical cases THE industry standard. The main distinction between the Adobe editing software and many of the others is whether you prefer always up to date software thanks to a monthly subscription, or do you prefer to pay once and “own” the software and don’t mind paying in the future for updates. I also review free online photo editing software as well. There are a few surprises!
Here’s the list of paid or subscription photo editing software that works best for me as a nature photographer. I’m sure you’ll find each has benefits and drawbacks but I’ll share with you how I used each and which is the best photo editing software for which types of photos. The list is in no special order. For the free online photo editing software check out this link.
Adobe Photoshop for Nature Photos
Adobe Lightroom for Nature Photos
Skylum Luminar for Nature Photos
Topaz Studio for Nature Photos
NIK Plugins for Nature Photos
Affinity Photo the Photoshop alternative for Nature Photos