12-24-2025, 04:02 PM
I'm a hobbyist photographer looking to move beyond basic phone edits and invest in a proper desktop photo editing software, but I'm overwhelmed by the options. I primarily shoot landscapes and portraits with my mirrorless camera and want something powerful for color correction, detail enhancement, and maybe some light retouching, but I don't need the full complexity of a professional retoucher's toolkit. For others who have made a similar jump, what software did you find offered the best balance of advanced features and a relatively intuitive learning curve? I'm considering the subscription models of the major players versus a one-time purchase of a lesser-known program, and I'm curious about real-world performance differences for organizing large libraries and non-destructive editing.