Since the demise of Aperture, I haven't been able to settle on a single photo editing/managing app for my work. The closest I've come to a groove is using a combination of Capture One and Lightroom for my pro assignments, and Photos with its wonderful editing extensions for my personal work.

You may be thinking, "Why Photos? It's just a consumer app for iPhone-toting snap shooters, right?" Well, if you haven't looked at it for a while, there's more going on there than you might realize.

Photos is wonderful for my travel, family, and creative photography. Since I use iCloud backup, I never have to worry about losing a shot. My Photos library is constantly updated on all of my devices. And there are lots of great tools for editing and sharing.

That last point is where many photographers might pause. Stay with me for a minute. My view is that the Photos workflow, which includes a few choice Editing Extensions, is robust enough for enthusiast photographers. And it's fun. Very fun.

Let's start with those Editing Extensions.

Editing Extensions

Photos is an extensible app. That means it plays nice with other software, yet maintains a consistent user interface. I take advantage of this design and depend on a handful of Editing Extensions to provide the functions that are not available in the basic Photos app. My favorite Editing Extensions are:

• Nitro - A well-rounded image editor that stays current with RAW profiles from new cameras, plus has RAW fine-tuning, great selection tools, and a wealth of editing adjustments.
• Luminar Neo - Fantastic for creative image editing, featuring a wealth of AI-powered tools, filters, and effects.
• ON1 Effects - Amazing collection of presets for landscape, portrait, and urban photography. Each effect can be customized or combined with others. Plus a great slate of adjustment filters.
• ON1 Noise AI - Powerful AI-powered noise reduction and sharpening.
• Markup - Built-in Apple extension for adding text and shapes to pictures.

Choosing an Editing Extension from within the Photos app.

Enabling an Editing Extension is easy. Download the software, then launch the Photos app. Select a picture from your library, go to Edit mode, then click on the 3 dots (...) in the upper right-hand corner. Choose the Editing Extension you want from the pop-up menu.

Your image will then be transported to the new editing environment, where you have options available via that app. Make your enhancements, then click the Save Changes button. Your improved picture will be returned to the Photos library.

You can continue editing with the Photos adjustment tools, share the image, or, if you want, revert to original. You can see the before and after versions of the picture by pressing the M key.

Editing Extensions provide you with a host of cutting-edge tools while still enjoying the benefits of the Photos workflow.

Hiding and Showing Screenshots

The good news is that every picture you take with your iPhone goes into your Photos library. But that's the bad news as well, right? If you're like me, your iPhone is a screen-capturing beast recording receipts, notifications, memes, and more. Screenshots are handy, but boy, they can sure clutter up a pretty Photos library.

Fortunately, you can tame the screenshot beast. Start by going to View > Screenshots and uncheck it. This hides screenshots from your browsing library, so all you see are your pretty pictures.

Managing screenshots in Photos.

But fear not! Your screenshots are still readily accessible. Go to the left column > Media Types > Screenshots and click. Presto! All of your screenshots are captured in one easy-to-browse gallery.

Object Recognition Searches

Here's a question for the class: Raise your hand if you love keywording your pictures. OK. I see a few hands, but not many.

I'm hands down on this one. There are better things to do with my time.

Thanks to an ever-improving object recognition engine in Photos, we can find pictures in our libraries by simply typing what we're looking for.

If I want to find a picture with an American flag in it, I go to the Search box in the upper right corner, type "flag," and hit return.

A host of flag shots will appear. I scroll through the images and pick the one I want.

Sometimes I don't get the results I'm looking for. Recently, I wanted to see the black & white pictures in my library. So I typed "black & white" in the Search box.

I was aghast by the terrible results! Then I realized that maybe I need to think more like a computer. So I tried again, this time typing "monochrome" in Search.

Bingo! All of my black & white pictures appeared.

Searching for black & white photos via the term, "monochrome."

The lesson for me was that if I don't get what I want on the first try, rethink the search term, and try again.

It's kind of fun, actually. And for me, far more enjoyable than keywording.

Create a Memory Movie and Export It

When Memories first appeared in Photos, many of my photographer friends said, "Yeah, that's cute. But it's not really useful for me." Apparently, Apple didn't pay attention to those sentiments because they kept evolving Memories into something that is useful. Case in point: Memory Movies.

These one-minute gems on a topic of your choosing can be quite heart-warming, illuminating, or shocking (depending on the subject). And they can be saved and shared or embedded in other slide shows and movie presentations.

Try creating one now. Go to File > New Memory Movie. Enter a descriptive word or phrase, such as "sunsets." Photos will comb your library for interesting images on that topic, build a movie, add music, and play it for you.

Describe the memory you want, and Photos will create a movie of it.

If you prefer a different soundtrack than what Photos selected, you can choose a different one by clicking on the music note icon in the lower left corner. You can also add filters or bring in additional frames.

Then go to File > Export > Export Memory Movie to create a standalone video that can be shared or embedded in other projects.

I'm telling you... These are fabulous.

Removing Duplicates from Your Library

The only thing more boring than keywording is hunting down duplicates in your library and extinguishing them. Thank goodness Photos will do that for you.

Start by locating the Utilities folder in the left-hand column, then click on Duplicates beneath it. You'll see all of the duplicate images that Photos has identified in your library.

There are two basic types: exact copies, or pictures that appear to be the same, but have different resolutions or other variables. If you Select All (CMD-A), Photos will ask you if you want to consolidate the exact copies only or all of the images that have been identified.

Here's what I suggest. On the first pass, choose Merge Exact Copies. Those are safe, and they will greatly reduce the number of pictures in your Duplicates album. Then, I would review the remaining pairs individually and decide to either merge them or leave them alone.

Merging duplicates in a Photos library.

Photos will choose the higher quality version with the highest resolution. The lesser version will be moved to the trash, and it will be held in limbo for 30 days before final discarding. You can review your trash at any time to either save a photo or get rid of it permanently.

Tidying up your duplicates is the digital version of spring cleaning. And it feels just as good.

Final Thoughts

The not-so-hidden agenda with this article was to encourage you to take a closer look at the Photos app, especially if you haven't done so for a while. In addition to the features I've discussed here, I'm confident you'll unearth more hidden gems.

Happy hunting!

When Apple rolls out a new operating system, such as macOS Ventura, there are so many little improvements, that sometimes it takes a while to uncover all of the gems. The much-improved straighten tool in Photos is one of those. And it's terrific.

The improved Straighten tool in Photos for macOS Ventura.

Compared to what we had to work with in the Monterey edition of Photos, Ventura both improves the interface and adds vertical and horizontal adjustments. Plus the straighten command is so much easier to use. Just click on the Crop tab to reveal it.

Here's what we had in Monterey.

The Straighten tool in Photos for macOS Monterey.

First of all, the annoying "dial" is replaced by a more logical linear slider. Plus, we can correct buildings now with the vertical and horizontal sliders - a much needed tool.

iPhone photography just got a bit more versatile!

Learn More About the Power of Photos for macOS

If you use a Mac and haven't explored Photos for a while, I think you'll be surprised by its power. Take a look for yourself by visiting Photos for macOS Ventura and iPhone Essential Training.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

With Photos for macOS, you can manage, enhance, and share photos in a variety of ways. It's evolved into a powerful, but easy to use imaging application. And it's free!

In this course, I take you on a detailed exploration of how to use Photos for both the Monterey and Ventura versions, plus tips for iOS as well.

The power of Photos in macOS Ventura and on your iPhone from Photos for macOS Ventura and iPhone Essential Training by Derrick Story

I start with an exploration of the interface, then move into the new features. Noteworthy topics include how to remove duplicates from your library, different ways to use Live Text to transform your camera into a personal assistant, how to search for pictures by object type, copy images from messages to Photos, use Quick Notes with Photos, and automate common tasks with shortcuts and built-in Mac intelligence.

Also included are updates on some of the recent improvements to the importing process, with lots of useful tips for organizing and editing your pictures. (The editing tools are terrific!) Upon completing this course, you'll be working more effectively with Photos for macOS Monterey, Ventura, and iOS.

The lessons are divided into easy to digest short movies that average between 2-4 minutes. You can work along with the techniques by using the included example Photos library. The entire course runs just 1 hour 37 minutes.

If you use a Mac and haven't explored Photos for a while, I think you'll be surprised by its power. Take a look for yourself by visiting Photos for macOS Ventura and iPhone Essential Training.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

Curious about Live Text? Want to know more about using your iPhone camera as a personal assistant? I explain all of this, and lots more, in my latest LinkedIn Learning title, Photos for macOS Monterey and iPhone Essential Training.

With the free Photos for macOS software from Apple, you can manage, enhance, and share photos in a variety of ways. In this course, photographer, author, and educator Derrick Story takes you on a detailed exploration of Photos for macOS.

Derrick walks you through the improved importing process and gives you some useful tips on organizing and editing your pictures directly in Photos. Plus, he shows you where to find more tips and techniques for working with Photos for macOS.

There are lots of other goodies in this training as well, such as importing one Photos library into another (new in Monterey), enhanced object recognition for search, and more.

If you enjoy iPhone photography and want to get the most out of your smartphone, then take a look at Photos for macOS Monterey and iPhone Essential Training. I think you will find it both entertaining and helpful.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

I truly enjoy using the iPhone 12 Pro Max with the HEIC file format for my everyday pictures. The results are terrific, and the file sizes are compact.

But when I want to have a little extra fun with those images, I've been firing up ON1 Effects 2021 that works as both a standalone app and as an Editing Extension for Photos for macOS. Effects has a wide variety of adjustments that work great with HEIC files (Jpegs and RAWs as well), and the workflow couldn't be easier.

Effects is also an excellent plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Capture One Pro. The steps are similar as these.

Basic Steps to Using Effects as a Photos Editing Extension

Here are the basic steps that I use to add a little punch to my everyday pictures.

Step 1 - Go to Edit mode in Photos for macOS and choose ON1 Effects from the Extensions dropdown menu.

Step 2 - Once you're in Effects, experiment with the Presets on the left side of the interface.

Step 3 - Further enhance your image by tapping a variety of adjustments. ON1 calls them Filters.

Step 4 - Collapse the pallet on the left side to get a better look at your image before sending back to Photos. Click the Done button when satisfied with your work.

Step 5 - Back in Photos. Exit the editing interface by clicking on the yellow Done button.

More You Can Do with Effects

There are many different ways to approach ON1 Effects. It works as a standalone app. You can use it as an editing extension for Photos, as shown here. And it's a very nice plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Capture One Pro 21.

I usually start with browsing presets to get a feel for where I might want to go with an image. For my infrared photography, I create my own presets as starting points. These include the red/blue channel swaps and other adjustments that I commonly use.

Beyond that, local adjustments are available, as are gradient masks and more. There's really no limit to what you can do with your pictures in this app.

Creating a Totally Non-Destructive Workflow with Effects and Photos

When you send an image from Apple Photos to Effects, any settings you apply will be saved with the image, so that you can send the image back to Effects with your edits intact, as long as you do not subsequently edit that image inside Photos.

To re-edit an image processed inside Effects, click on the image in Photos and follow the same steps above. When your image is opened inside Effects, you will see all of the changes you made in your previous session.

Keep in mind however, once you make any editing changes to your image inside Photos, your Effects edits will be "baked in" to the image. You can send the image again to Effects, but your original settings won't be visible.

If you wish to keep your original Effects edits, duplicate the image inside Photos (Image > Duplicate), which will create a new virtual copy of the file. You can then edit one of the versions in Photos, using the other one to preserve your Effects edits.

Downloading a Free Trial or Purchasing ON1 Effects 2021

You can try ON1 Effects 2021 free for 14 days. If you decide to purchase, you can buy for $69.95. Save 15% off that price by using coupon code: THEDIGITALSTORY.

Bottom Line

I started using ON1 Effects for my infrared photography because of its excellent Channel Mixer, LUTs, and presets. But I've discovered that it's useful for all of my photography. It's a robust tool for both my Photos and Capture One Pro workflows. And it's a great way to get the most out of my iPhone shots as well.

Product Links and Comments

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You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

There are many features in Photos for Mac and iOS that I like, but until now, Filters was not one of them. My complaint was that there weren't many to choose from, and they often didn't look that great when applied full force. That's changed.

Tapping Filters in Photos for iOS

The Filters in Photos for both iOS and macOS Big Sur are now adjustable. And that's a whole new ballgame. For example, I applied Vivid Warm to this historic building in Santa Rosa, CA. At full force, the filter was just too strong and was not the effect that I was looking for.

In the past, this was the "take it or leave it" choice I faced. So I often left it. But now, once I tap on a specific filter, a slider appears next to it that allows me to adjust the intensity of the effect.

Adjusting the intensity of the applied filter.

For this image, 25 percent was the look I wanted. And that is a completely different result than 100 percent.

Adjustable Filters is just one of the refinements in Photos for macOS Big Sur and iOS. At last, I can actually use this feature of the software... and like it!

How to Watch Photos for macOS Catalina and iPadOS

Learn more about Photos for the Mac and iPad by checking out my course on LinkedIn Learning and on lynda.com. This course is perfect for Mac and iPad based photographers who shoot with iPhone, Mirrorless, and DSLR cameras. It covers both photography and movies. And if I say so myself, it's a lot of fun.

I'm currently working on an updated title that covers the latest iPhones, Big Sur, and more. Stay tuned for its release date.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

One of my favorite discoveries with the iPhone 12 Pro is the ability to change the depth of field while editing in Photos for iOS for my Portrait captures. It's truly amazing and very easy.

Depth of field adjusted to f/2.0 in Photos for iOS after the shot was captured in Portrait mode on an iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Depth of field changed to f/16 in Photos for iOS after the shot was captured in Portrait mode on an iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The steps are easy. First, capture your picture in Portrait mode with the iPhone. View the image in Photos for iOS on the iPhone or iPad. Go to Edit mode and tap on the "f" in the upper left corner. When it highlights, a Depth Scale should appear on the right side of the interface. Choose the depth you want for the picture. The background will change before your very eyes.

Now you have complete control over the softness of the background.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

Only the latest iPhones (and top of the line models at that) can take advantage of Apple's new ProRAW format. But earlier models capture RAW quite well, and by following a few simple steps, can yield beautiful results.

I photographed this fall vineyard scene shooting RAW+Jpeg with an iPhone X using the Halide app. Thanks to the smarts of the iPhone, the Jpeg version looks good despite the strong backlighting from the sky.

Unmodified JPEG captured with an iPhone X using Halide.

But I wanted to get a bit more out of this image, so I decided to spend a couple minutes working with the RAW file. Here is the workflow that I use and recommend. I use Luminar 4 as an Editing Extension for Photos for macOS. Earlier versions of Luminar work well, as do other editing extensions.

• Open the image in Photos for macOS on a Mac.
• Go to Edit mode.
• Go to Image > Use RAW as Original (this switches you to the RAW file from the JPEG).
• Click on the 3 dots in the top toolbar and choose Luminar (or your favorite Editing Extension).
• Enhance the RAW file to your taste in Luminar and click Save Changes.
• Add any finishing touches back in Photos for macOS.

RAW version of vineyard edited in Luminar 4 and Photos for macOS. Images by Derrick Story.

The aspect of the image that I really appreciate being able to adjust in RAW is the sky. I can prevent blown-out highlights with the clouds and bring back some blue in the midtowns.That's far more difficult, if not impossible, with a JPEG version.

If you use iCloud with Photos, then the finished RAW file will be available on all of your Apple devices, including the iPhone that originally captured it. It's a good workflow for those times that you don't have one of your other cameras with you.

How to Watch Photos for macOS Catalina and iPadOS

Learn everything you need to know about Photos for the Mac and iPad by checking out my latest course on LinkedIn Learning and on lynda.com. This course is perfect for Mac and iPad based photographers who shoot with iPhone, Mirrorless, and DSLR cameras. It covers both photography and movies. And if I say so myself, it's a lot of fun.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

Gentlemen Coders has released RAW Power 3.0 for macOS and iOS. It's a comprehensive update with much to unpack over the coming weeks, but the focus today is how it brings Star Ratings to Photos for both the Mac and iOS versions of the app.

Photos displaying the rating albums created by RAW Power.

The rating system is easy to use, and is ingenious in its design. If you're running macOS Catalina, the RAW Power app allows you to use your Photos library in real time. This even works if you have the Photos app open. Within RAW Power you can tap all the powerful tools to enhance your images and have those improvements saved directly to your iCloud Photos library. But now, you can also rate and tag those pictures, and they too will be saved to iCloud and acknowledged in the Photos apps.

RAW Power 3 tapping my Photos library.

RAW Power creates Star Rating Albums that are displayed both in RAW Power, and in the Photos app. RAW Power uses Aperture style keyboard shortcuts for the ratings allowing you to move quickly through the images. What's really cool, even if you're running Photos on macOS Mojave, which doesn't allow the library sharing as in Catalina, the Star Rating Albums still appear in the app if they were added in RAW Power running on a Catalina machine using the same Photos library. The overall approach is both clever and works great.

This update, over a year in the making, includes tons of other stuff as well. Here's a brief overview.

RAW Power 3.0 for Mac and iOS creates the first real option for serious photographers in the Apple ecosystem. RAW Power 3.0 is now the first and only third-party app to include full support for Apple Photos libraries on Mac and iOS, allowing photographers to rate and edit their images anywhere and any time. New features introduced today include flexible storage options, synchronized ratings and flagging for Photo libraries, support for Files.app on iOS, advanced auto enhance, LUT support and one-tap integration with the popular Halide camera app on iOS. RAW Power 3.0, developed by Nik Bhatt, a former Apple engineer who led the iPhoto and Aperture teams, is available for download today on the Mac and iOS App Stores.

The new RAW Power app for iOS introduces the much-requested ability to manage photos either in Photos or in Files.app. Now, photographers can easily work on their collections of images in either or both environments and switch seamlessly between them. Users can import images from an SD card into RAW Power using the Files app. Additionally, the new Copy to RAW Power Share Extension makes it easy to import images from other apps into the Files storage for RAW Power.

I'll be covering more of the features in upcoming posts. But after my initial testing on both macOS and iOS, I can comfortably say that this elevates the Photos/iCloud environment to a high level for serious photographers.

RAW Power 3.0 runs on macOS Catalina and Mojave and is available for $39.99 or as a free upgrade for existing users of RAW Power for Mac 2.0. (It does not support the iCloud Library sharing on Mojave, however.) RAW Power for iOS 3.0 is available for $9.99 or as a free upgrade for current RAW Power for iOS customers. RAW Power for iOS 3.0 runs on iOS 12 and 13, but does not support iPhone 5s, 6 or 6 Plus, or iPad mini 3 or earlier.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

iPadOS has changed a lot of things for photographers who use Apple tools. Now we have a robust Photos app on the iPad, including tools for editing videos that we don't have on the Mac. I'm serious. Take a look at this short movie to see what I'm talking about.

Why it's better to edit video on an iPad than your Mac from Photos for macOS Catalina Essential Training by Derrick Story

Sure we have lots of video editing options for both platforms. But in this case, that's not the point. If you're an iPhone-toting photographer connected to iCloud, then when you record video with your smartphone, it's right there in the ecosystem waiting for you.

You don't have to transfer it to another app or platform; just open Photos for iPadOS, click on your movie, then adjust exposure, white balance, crop, straighten, and even apply filters. The adjustments are non-destructive and the completed work is available on all your devices via iCloud. It's really slick.

How to Watch Photos for macOS Catalina and iPadOS

This is just one of the many cool topics that I cover in my latest course on LinkedIn Learning and on lynda.com. Photos for macOS Catalina and iPadOS is perfect for Mac and iPad based photographers who shoot with iPhone, Mirrorless, and DSLR cameras. It covers both photography and movies. And if I say so myself, it's a lot of fun.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.