ADOBE PHOTOSHOP IS EXPENSIVE. A single license for a single machine can set you back over US$600.

Intriguing then, that one of the major competitors in the image manipulation market should not come at a fraction of the price, but rather absolutely free!

Gimp is a part of the GNU project, meaning that it is distributed free of charge to anyone who would like to use it. Furthermore, the source code is open to anyone, this means that unlike programs like Photoshop and Microsoft Windows, you are free to make changes to the way the program operates, to the code that underlies the program, should you have the need to do so and the skill to manage.

As with most open source software, there is more than one version of Gimp currently in circulation. The latest stable release is version 2.4.5, with the development version 2.5 also available for download. You are well advised to stick to the stable version unless you are a programmer or an experienced Beta tester.

Bring out the Gimp

Enough about the idea, how does the software actually compare?

Well, Gimp is a decent package. It offers support for many features available on much more expensive packages. You can, for instance, create layered images, you’ll have access to a number of filters and can even manipulate RAW images using the UFRaw plugin.

The Clone tool is there, so is the Healing tool, and quite impressively, there is even a perspective controlled cloning tool. It offers the usual painting tools, including including, brushes, a pencil, airbrushes, colour fills and sampling tools. Full alpha channel support is available, so is transparencies and layering. Transforming tools include rotation, which allows rotation of the image to any angle, scale and shear. There is also support for Bezier curves.

The layout, to windows users at least, will feel a little awkward. When you start up, there is no program window as such, only the toolbox. From the toolbox, via the File menu, you can open images, which then open in a separate window, and which also appears as separate programs in the Windows Taskbar. This layout will feel a little more familiar to Mac and Unix users.
The layout, however, as with all things in open source software, can be modified using plugins. There are also plugins for additional filters and for reading unusual file formats. You can even create your own plugins.

Gimp – Final Verdict

Gimp is a good piece of software. It is hugely extendable and highly functional. The layout is slightly awkward to use and the documentation could be better, but the program is very powerful and offers many features for which you will pay a premium on other packages.

There are however some notably absent features, such as an easy way to remove red eye, dodging and burning tools and support for adjustment layers.

But obviously, at the price, it can’t be beat.

There's been a massive debate about whether the camera maketh the man raging across the web. For those who have missed it, here's what started it.

Ken Rockwell wrote an article claiming that the camera doesn't matter, and that a good photographer can take excellent images with the most basic of picture taking equipment, such as a disposable point-and-shoot.

Then the website Luminous Landscape printed this loaded response, claiming that the camera is the cornerstone of good photography, and that to get good images you need the best possible gear.

Now, these two gentlemen are excellent columnist, and they doubtlessly know a great deal about photography. I normally value their opinions and I have often referenced them on this site, but on this particular occasion, I do feel that they have both absolutely missed the point.

Both have taken radically extreme points of view, and as is invariable the case with radical extremism, it divides the world into black and white and ignores the infinite ocean of colors in between.

The Luminous Landscape piece beautifully illustrates the fact that you cannot take a picture without a camera and a lens, but it completely ignores the obvious. It makes no mention that the camera cannot take an image without a photographer.

The camera is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a means to an end. It is a piece of equipment used by photographers to capture what they see and to communicate their inner thoughts by the way they see and interpret the world around them.

As it was so eloquently put in our own forums, the word image derives from the same stem as the word imagination, and the imagination is indeed the birthplace of nearly every image worth taking.

To get a good picture, the photographer needs to first 'see' that picture, he needs to be able to visualize exactly what he wants, and then plan how he intends to get it.

Sure, we have all taken the accidental masterpiece, where we fired the shutter unintentionally and were blessed by a perfect composition, but this is by far the exception, not the rule.

Think of Michelangelo for a moment, who would start with massive block of granite, and after imagining what he wants from it, set about with a hammer and a chisel to turn it into the statue of David.

Without first imagining it, he would never be able to create that unique beacon of perfection.

But neither would he be able to create it without that simple hammer and chisel.

And sure, he might be able to mold a much better sculpture with a dull chisel and a broken hammer than I ever could with the best tools in the world, you can be sure that he would always use the best equipment that he could lay his hands on.

And why is that? It is because, as a master of his art, he would know that the best possible equipment which is best suited to the job at hand will allow him to operate at the peak of his ability.

It is just the same with photography.

A master will of course be able to get more from a point-and-shoot than a novice would from a Hasselblad, but if the master wants to perform at the peak of his ability, he will pick the perfect tool for the job. If a large format camera is called for, he'll use one, if a 50mm lens is required, it will be to hand, if a red filter is needed, you can bet your favorite lens cap he'll slip it on before he takes the shot.

So, in conclusion, I offer these two thoughts: to become a master of photography, you have to master both the art of seeing, and the craft of handling and knowing the equipment; and just as we cannot take pictures without our cameras, our cameras cannot take pictures without us.

Life's hierarchies are strange things, aren't they?

Those we revere and those we despise and how we distinguish between the two.

But often the most revealing is not the place we give to specific professions in society but rather how those at the very top of a specific pile relate to those at the bottom of another.

Take the lowly photographer for instance: Hardly the most respected of individuals in a newspaper office, yet take him to a political party conference and the masters of the known universe are literally gushing to get his attention, fawning and flattering, complementing on pictures past and camera present, taking an unnaturally keen interest in the intricacies of his duties, checking to see whether the light is right and the background is good, even offering bribes in the form of alcohol laced beverages in return for being shown at their most caring best.

In my previous life as a paparazzi photographer in London's West-End I was often spurned and abused by members of the general public who saw me as a peeping-Tom scumbag who goes around invading people's privacy.

Of course, the sad fact, of which Joe-Public is blissfully unaware, is that the very person who tipped me off is the one now hiding in the hotel room far above.

You see, celebrity needs publicity. Those in the limelight breathe exposure. Without it their fame would wither and die as sure as a lilly without water.

So there I was, at the Conservative conference, waiting for the arrival of the new but slightly tardy leader of the party. With me, a little girl holding a bunch of flowers as big as her head.

A party representative walks up to me and says: "As Mr Cameron is running a bit late, he will not be posing for pictures."

And I think to myself: "Just you try and stop him."

There are two types of professional photographers in the world.

Those who take their camera on holiday with them, and those who don’t.

I fall firmly in the first category.

That’s not to say that I don’t get bored with the daily slog of taking pictures that others want me to take, but rather than seeing a holiday as an opportunity to get away from my camera, I see it as a chance to get back to basics and shoot the things I love.

No surprise, then, that my camera was the first thing I packed when I planned a trip to Sri Lanka. In went the tripod, the 35mm film body, an array of lenses, and the filters I still carry out of habit.

And as I stated in a previous blog entry, I was really planning on keeping my camera in the plane with me, relegating the wife to the hold, but the airline staff wanted to hear none of this idea, and parted me from my camera.

Woe be me.

The F90x, which has never been know as Nikon’s most reliable body, did not like the turbulence, and though it appeared to be in one piece, suffered internal damage, leaving me without an SLR.

Fortunately the wife has forgiven me for threatening to put her in the hold, and agreed to let me use her Fuji Compact camera (which I feel is only fair, as I was the one who bought it for her).

Anyway, to cut a long story short, all the pictures on my trip was taken with this piece of kit, and though it is a capable little camera, the lack of manual functions left me feeling rather restrictive.

But because I could not take all the pictures I want in exactly the way I want, I was forced to think about my images more. It made me plan, and it made me visualize. And to be honest, the entire experience was extremely liberating.

Ah, the life of a photojournalist...

One hour to the next, you'll never know what the day will bring. From ghost hunters to the unveiling of a brand new sikh temple (pic), you see it all.

Your diary can change in an instant. You'll have it all worked out, the route, the appointments, the plan for the day, and then in a moment, a fire at county hall, and the whole schedule is forgotten.

Great!

No, really, who wants to plan their days weeks in advance? Where's the romance and adventure in that?

Of course, just because your diary is ruled by your day is no excuse for not keeping one, quite the opposite in fact. Because events can change at any moment, it is all the more imperative to keep track of what you need to do and what you can't reschedule. Without it, it is almost impossible to prioritise.

But that's only half the story...

See, just turning up when events unfold will only take you so far. Once you're there, what you need to do is capture the mood of what's in front of you. It's no good treating a fatal road accident the same way you do a 115th birthday party.

The trick is to communicate the essence of the story to the readers, and to do this you have to both understand the story and have consideration for the angle the journalist will approach it from

And that's the hard part.

Often, especially with breaking stories, you will not even have spoken to the journalist. You will have to assess the scene as soon as you arrive, cover a variety of angles and return to the office for a hero's welcome... hopefully.

Professional photography is about more than just taking pictures.

Sure, getting good quality, sellable pictures are important, but there is another side to making it as a pro.

I am, of course, referring to the dark arts of the boardroom.

As any successful snapper can tell you, you either spend many ours paining over numbers and spreadsheets, or you get someone else to do it for you, because if you don’t, the bank will be round to collect your camera, and that’s as sure as taxes.

The most important aspect of the business of photography is identifying the market. If you can’t find anyone to pay you for your picture, then as pretty as it may be, it won’t pay your rent.

Luckily, from stock libraries to newspapers to website and postcard vendors, there are a million and one ways to make people pay you for what you love. Not forgetting, of course, the myriad types of commissioned shoots, like portraits and weddings and product advertising.

But whether before you take the picture or after, and no matter if you are a freelance news photographer or an aspiring model portfolio creator, at some point you will have to sit down and do the sums: how much does it cost and how long will it take; what are your overheads and how much do you need to live; transportation and batteries need to be reckoned and you can’t forget about the wear and tear on your equipment or the fact that your kit will need to be insured.

Then there is the craft of promoting yourself. You’ll need a website and a business card, perhaps even a letterhead to portray that ultra professional image. You may need an advertising strategy, a slogan and a company name.

To be a professional photographer, you’ll need to be that rare thing, the jack of all trades, the master of ONE.

Photography is not a job, it’s a way of life.

Think about it. How many times have you gone on holiday without your camera? How many dinner parties do you go to where you are not asked to take the host’s camera and take a picture of the assembled guests.

Not that I’m complaining, I love what I do, and the day I stop feeling like taking my camera out when looking at a sunset on a beautiful beech is the day they can dig a hole and plant my bones.

That said, as a professional, it is often hard to retain the joy that you had when you first started. The risk is that you will lose the excitement and joy that comes with communicating through pictures as you start to communicate the messages of others, rather than your own.

It need not be like that though.

With a little bit of effort and the minimum of thought, it is easy to stay in love with photography.

I regularly set myself photographic challenges and goals. For instance, once in a while I try to go shoot a subject that I never get to do professionally and of which I have very little experience. This forces me to move out of my comfort zone and often helps me to sharpen my skills.

For instance, as a photojournalist, my photographic work mostly takes place on location, working with available light, so when I want to throw myself a curveball, I book a day in a studio, which is a different world altogether.

Then there is the question of inspiration.

Professional photographers spend a lot of time looking at their own work, and without care, one might become so entrenched in your own groove that it turns into a rut, and your work becomes stilted and stale.

My solution to this problem is to make sure I spend a lot of time looking at the work of my peers and those I admire. I buy good quality magazines, and not just of the photographic variety, wildlife magazines, news magazines, even fashion magazines, anything as long as the images are of outstanding quality.

But by far my number one rut beating tip is to keep a journal. Write down your photographic thoughts and ideas. This will keep you thinking about photography, and the mind is where good pictures are born.

Aaah, the joys of modern living.

As you may have read in the forums, I'm going traveling.

I'm of to Sri Lanka with my beautiful bride who will double as my guide, to take some pictures of the local people and the elephants.

What more could a man wish for, heh?

My lenses and film (yep, you heard that right, I'm taking the old 35mm body out for one last hoorah!) are packed, as is my tripod, flashgun and brand spanking new D3 (You didn't think I would shoot it all on film, did you?)

Anyway, we're flying from Heathrow and I'm positively looking forward to the arguments with the check-in desk over where I'm going to put my camera bag.

No way am I letting them part us.

Forget it.

If I have to, I'll put my missus in the hold, but the camera stays with me.

I'll be sure to post some pictures as soon as I get back.