Since buying my new Digital Camera I’m quite keen to arrange my photos in some kind of order so that they are easier to locate. When I attach my camera to the iMac it brings up the FujiFilm software which will then import my photos to a folder in Documents. It names the folder something like 2008_0330, based on the dates so it doesn’t exactly make finding the photos very easy.

Last week I downloaded the Aperture 2 trial version. I was pleased with the way I could import my photos directly from the camera and sort them into Events. Within there I could also touch up photos and make them look their best before exporting them to Flickr. The price tag for Aperture 2 is £129 and I was seriously considering purchasing. However, I decided to wait until the trial was over before making my mind up. I then fired up iPhoto 08 a few days back which is something I hadn’t bothered with since getting my iMac last October. Before iPhoto 08 I had very briefly used iPhoto 05 on my Mac Mini. Briefly was enough as I found it very limited, but since I had Photoshop I wasn’t too bothered about using another program for editing photos.

iPhoto 08 is a world apart from 05. Like Aperture I can sort my photos into Events and it has a number of touch-up tools, again very similar to Aperture. For my needs iPhoto 08 is absolutely perfect and best part is it’s all free with the Mac. I purchased FlickrExport for iPhoto (£12) a couple of days ago which means I can upload directly to Flickr from iPhoto. I am in the process of sorting my photos into Events, although I will only be adding ones taken with my new Fuji S5700 as they are the nicest ones ;)

So, the iLife package has come in very useful, once again…even if it has taken me 5 months to discover it(!)