Do you retouch your images or keep them unaltered? I show you what I do.

alequandro (67)in #curie • 6 years ago

I often talk with photographers about photo editing programs and I have noticed that in general people are divided into two lines of thought.

Some believe that true photography is natural, without manipulation of the image, without the use of photoshop etc.

Then there are the people who postproduce the images to improve them, eliminating any errors, increase contrast sharpness etc...

I think that the post-production programs are an extra tool in the hands of the photographer with whom he can interact in a more personal way on the shot.
I always shoot in raw format to have maximum control during postproduction and I also believe that a good photographer is not only good at shooting but also in the studio when he must extrapolate the best of the photo during computer processing.

Look at this picture.
On the left there is the original photo in jpg.
The half right instead is a post-production I did today.
Look at the difference and how much information can be extracted from a raw file.

This is the original photo...

Here you see the original on the left and the one elaborated with Photoshop on the right...

This is the picture seen in full, processed maintaining, colors, exposure quite natural...etc.
It took me 10 minutes to process it and as you can see it has more details. Now the clouds are more visible. The colors are more vivid etc...

This is the same image that I elaborated a while ago and that I called "Walk on the Red Planet".
With photo editing programs, the photographer's possibilities for expression are endless.

I enjoy postproduction photos and you ??
What do you think? Which side are you on?
Photoshop yes or Photoshop no?
Only jpg or even raw?

Write in the comments, I'm really curious!!

#photocircle #ocd-resteem #photofeed #adsactly

6 years ago in #curie by alequandro (67)

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smawkward (49) 6 years ago (edited)

I personally enjoy the post processing. Don't get me wrong I think getting as much right in camera is important but it doesn't always happen.

RAW file format is a life saver for me because I rarely remember to change my white balance setting on my camera. I am so used to not having to worry about it. However, when shooting things like flying birds when I often take way more photos than I need too, jpg's sometimes have the benefit because of the camera not needing to buffer.

I have a few thoughts on why people fall into the category of no post processing. I don't think some people realize that most of the basic tools in Photoshop originated in the dark room for film photography. Tools like dodging and burning for example.

As for what might be considered more advanced photoshop'ing like replacing parts of an image or composite imaging, that was also done in the film era. One of President Abraham Lincoln's most popular photographs actually has his head on John C. Calhoun's body. Who would have thunk that they were doing that back in the 1860's

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alequandro (67) 6 years ago

You're right!
Photo editing programs are a great help to the photographer, you can correct shooting errors or simple camera setting errors.
Who says he does not use them, he does not even know what he says.
As you rightly says, postproduction has always existed.
I did not know the anecdote about President Abraham!

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smawkward (49) 6 years ago (edited)

If i remember correctly what I read about the Lincoln photo, they started looking at it more closely because they noticed his mole was on the wrong side of his face.

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alequandro (67) 6 years ago

Interesting! When I have time I will do some research on this curiosity.

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fotostef (67) 6 years ago

I agree with you. Editing is part of the procedure. Those of us that have worked with film remember numerous techniques in the darkroom to manipulate the result. Digital cameras and Lightroom made it a lot easier but for me it’s the same thing. I definitely use raw even for simple shots but I rarely use photoshop. The only difference from what you say is that I stop one step earlier. In your example I would stop before “the Red Planet" :)
I really enjoyed your post!
Thank you for sharing!

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alequandro (67) 6 years ago

Yes, it's true. It seems a new phenomenon but people do not remember that they were manipulated even 50 years ago and not only!
Even I usually do not exaggerate with post-production but sometimes I exaggerate to try different settings and get out of the schemes that I usually use.
Thanks for the comment!

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