When I first got into photography (a little over a year ago) I thought that editing photos a lot was cheating, that a good photographer shouldn't need to.
Yes, a good photographer can get a good image SOOC. Yes, it's great if you don't have to edit an image. No, it's not cheating!
It took me a while to realize that PhotoShop isn't a way to hide what you did, it's a way to enhance it. It's an art. Knowing the tools and knowing how to correctly use them can make a world of difference...
For me, one of the funnest parts of photography is the editing! I love taking an image that is good to begin with, and bringing out all of the beauty that's within it. It's not necessarily changing the photograph, it's enhancing it!
There are ways to misuse PhotoShop.... You could do the horrible, dreaded selective color {oh my this makes me SHUDDER}
You could edit a lot too much {ow my eyes!}...
But if you practice, you can know how to edit in a way that makes ART, and doesn't scream "I learned to edit watching cartoons!" {not that I'm calling my work art, I'm just saying}
Something else that is met with much controversy in regards to PhotoShop, is the use of actions. Many say it's a cheap way for a photographer to get away without editing. This can be true, but most of the time, it's not! I never edit only with actions, and I only use them after I've gotten it almost perfect with hand edits. Because I have taught myself the tools and features, and I know how to use them, I don't need actions... But I adore actions! They can make editing faster, easier, and polish off an image nicely!
Plus, I never run an action straight... I tweak it to fit my image. For example, if I had run the actions the way they played on this image, it would have looked like this....
Okay, that's not really a bad example, but that wasn't the look I was going for.
PhotoShop is an art. It's part of being a custom photographer. It's part of the reason I just love photography! You can look at something you had, then look at something better you created!
Bottom line is... Don't think that people cheat because they use photoshop.
Because we aren't!
2 comments:
Great post! I'm a graphic designer and have used photoshop for years and there's a lot of truth to what you're saying. It crosses the line when photo manipulation causes an audience to get the wrong idea about a news story or public person, but in feature photography it ROCKS! You're photos are quite lovely, you have a great eye :)
Stumbled across you through something good. Take care! Ashley
you are so so incredibly talented!
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