New Computer Build...Need PP Software Advice

I've just completed my first computer build and am now considering my options on post-processing software. I'm new to digital photography and RAW processing, so my understanding of the various options is very limited. Currently I am shooting with a Canon 50D in RAW, which I acquired in Jan. of this year.

I have accumulated a huge number of photos thus far...about 9-10,000 (yes I know that I need to delete some). Currently I'm using Windows folders to organize my photos, and it works okay, but it would be great to have a better way to organize them.

In addition, I would like to be able to basic adjustments to the photos, WB, contrast, exposure, sharpening, NR, etc. I am using DPP currently, but am frustrated by it's limitations (some of which belong to me :rolleyes. I think that LR2 would probably serve the majority of my needs, but am wondering if I need to invest in CS4 as well.

I would also like to be able to remove distractions from the background and also learn how to correct exposure in different parts of the picture...if this is possible. For example, I've noticed that in most of my photos which include the sky that in order for the foreground to be properly exposed, the sky is completely blown out.

I've read as much as I can on the subject and realize that there is a lot of information out there already. LR2 is more of an organizational tool, whereas CS4 is better for "pixel level" adjustments. But in real world usage, I'm not exactly sure what this means. What would CS4 do for me that LR2 would not?

Finally, since my wife is in college, I qualify for steep educational discounts and want to take advantage of them while I can. LR2 is $99 and CS4 Extended is $199. Which should I buy...do I need both? I realize that CS4 is going to be way too powerful for me right now, but if I'll need it later, I'd rather buy it now with the discount.

Well, for the organisational side of things, as well as the majority of the picture manipulation, I think that Lightroom will suffice. For the little bits that LR can't do, you can probably get away with Photoshop Elements 7. I believe you can get that quite cheap with the educational discounts.

Heh! Your last sentence, to me, gives it away -- you can get both LR2 and CS4 combined fot $300, whereas the retail for the two is close to $1k. How can you beat that? If you continue with serious photography, you will find that Lightroom meets possibly most of your needs but Photoshop has some very powerful tools at your disposal.

If not for the heavy discount, I'd say Lightroom and Elements would be a very good starting place, but the bargain on CS4 is, to me, a lot to miss and later regret.

BTW, Lightroom is much more than an organizer. It packs the Adobe state-of-the-art Raw processor that you also find in the CS4 Camera Raw utility, plus a pretty seamless interface that lets you move from task to task without dealing with the three separate window/interfaces and countless dialogs of CS4. The simplicity and productivity of Lightroom is the main reason why so many users are doing so much of their workflow there. And, it incorporates CS4 nicely into its workflow either through the Edit facility or through things like Exporting to a CS4 action droplet where you can take a batch of images in LR and Export them with an action to execute in CS4 automatically.

I agree with Tony, at the college discount price of $300 combined don't even think about Elements, go for the LR CS4E combo meal.

And I say that as, until two weeks ago, a satisfied user of Elements for the past 2 years. Elements is great, the catalog function works and most of the really important photographic PS commands are there. And if I had to pay retail I wouldn't even consider LR at $300, let alone CS4E, I'd go with Elements and be done with it. (Newegg is having a one day sale on Elements today, $50 until supplies are gone.) But I took advantage of the academic discount and bought LR and CS4E two weeks ago. LR is a great step up for Raw editing, it is intuitive, easy to use and powerful. I've already gone back and redone some of my RAW files that I did in Elements ACR, difference is noticeable.

And why CS4E? I decided that there are so many books and videos and blogs out there that deal with CS that it was worth it to get the full version to grow in to.

I keep mentioning CS4E and not CS4 because I couldn't find CS4 with the academic discount, as far as I could tell Adobe only sells CS4E discounted.

I agree with these guys on LR2. If it were me, I'd buy it first and get intimately acquainted with it. For most of what it sounds like you want to do, Lightroom is a good fit. With a new powerful machine, the adjustment brush in LR2 will work great for making half-to-full stop adjustments (among other things) in specific areas of your images. It also has a graduated filter feature that can help bring down a moderately blown-out sky. Obviously, it doesn't take the place of a real graduated filter and it can't recover details that are truly lost in highlights, but I've found that it makes subtle changes look great. To me if you're off +/- a half stop, it's a very handy feature. LR2 also gives good control of highlight/shadow detail, WB, contrast, exposure. I use it moderately for sharpening, NR. CS4 and plugins are going to be a heavier hitter there, IMO, but I will still use LR2 for 90% of my post work.

That said, while LR2 has a type of spot healing tool, I only really use it for quick repair of skin blemishes or for very tiny corrections. To do a good job of cloning out 'distractions' from the background, CS4 is great. But even before you try CS4, I would probably download GIMP for FREE as an alternative. Google it. I just downloaded it and started comparing it to PS recently and it may be that between LR2 and GIMP you have all you need. Plus you have nothing to lose with GIMP. If it doesn't suit you, then pick up CS4. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Right now I'm leaning towards purchasing LR2 and learning how to use it first before making the CS4 investment. Although, I think that I will eventually end up with CS4.