Alternatives to iPhoto
iPhoto works well most of the time but when it has an aberration it is a pain in the backside. It upsets all your folders and puts photos in the wrong order and goodness knows what else. We've just spent weeks putting them all back in order after it had a go.
A good alternative is to download your photos straight into the Pictures folder and open them up in Preview. Preview has some editing features but I use Snapheal, available from the Mac Apps page. It has some really good editing features, not the least the fact that you can erase unwanted stuff like telephone wire and electricity pylons very easily and with no apparent side effects.