I was recently privy to an online conversation in which a couple of my fellow amateur photographers were ripping hard on Photoshop, claiming that it was cheating and that the only people who need Photoshop are people who are incapable of creating a good photo in the camera. It’s all nice for them, I suppose; it seems that not all of us are able to do things perfectly the first time. Personally I think that’s a crock; what writer creates a perfect first draft? Occasionally I’ll get an image that needs no enhancement whatsoever; more often, I’ll run it through some actions or filters just to see what comes out. In the case of this image, taken at Grape Ranch a couple weeks ago, I found that creating a separate layer and mixing it with Hard Light, then turning up the saturation a bit, created a much more interesting, textured, and colorful image. Out of the camera this photo was sort of drab and lifeless, and if I’m cheating – oh well. I really like this one.
Comment by TR
That’s a bunch of crock. Back in the days of film – exposure, contrast, clarity, shading, were all corrected in the dark room developing process. Most of us use Photoshop in the same ways we used developing methods in the dark room. And beyond that – then it just becomes art. Imagine telling a watercolor artist that their purple rose painting was cheating since purple roses don’t exist. I use photography to express a moment and sometimes I use to express an emotion – therefore ramping up the saturation, etc.
15 June 2009, 8:52 am
Comment by Kevin
And another okaycity photo goes into rotation as my desktop!
15 June 2009, 10:21 am
Comment by Dennis
Photo “purists” will always ridicule post-processing. They always say “people who use photoshop can’t take a good picture. Baloney, a good picture is what it is, a good picture. Regardless of what is is done in post-processing.
16 June 2009, 9:52 am
Comment by Natalee
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for letting me know that your gorgeous photos do get a little bit of “help” sometimes. I was really starting to feel like crap that I couldn’t take a “decent” photo, especially compared to others. I’m learning the PS ropes, and will definitely try the method you described here.
18 June 2009, 12:00 pm
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[...] other day I had a little mini-rant about how people who think Photoshop is cheating are – well, they’re jerks, to be quite [...]
19 June 2009, 10:42 am