The house that Jack built

Manipulating an image after the shot (or "in post") can make some purists shudder.  "Wait!" they exclaim. "It isn't real!". This is true. But neither is your image in the first place. It is merely a representation of something. And sometimes that representation needs some help depicting the essence of the reality.

Most gentle tweaking(contrast, highlights, hue) can be done in lightroom-like post-production organizational software. Heavier editing needs a dedicated solution. For me that is GIMP. It works. Not as slick as some Photo$hop type programs, but it gets the job done.

Typical use will involve selecting a photo from the group that needs some work. Sometimes it just cropping or adding a filter. Sharpening is sometimes required.

Here is a recent shot of Bridalveil fall that received some editing via GIMP. Many photoshop tutorial will translate closely to the GIMP interface. Sometimes it takes a moment of hunting or googling to find the method. But often you will find a favorite method/workflow and will use the same for many situations.  I find myself exclusively using curves to adjust colors.

Go try it out.

Adding a layer

Color curves are a requirement for a serious editing software

Combine layers

Nice export options

Canon 7D
Tamron  28-200mm@28mm
Post: 
Autostitch
Darktable 
GIMP
Alienskin Exposure X