Photography is painting with light. By definition, it infers that it is an "Art" camp. Correcting colors, lifting shadows, modifying exposure and contrast are all basic functions to bring out the best of what has been processed by the camera. In my case, it is always the need to correct settings that I should have made with the camera settings for that particular setting.

This brings me to this...."Is not tweaking the camera settings not doing the same thing as what I needed to do in post-processing?" "Is the camera not making changes to what IT feels more fitting?"

I suspect that the best National Geographic award-winning photos have had some post-processing applied to them. I believe there was a time that photos used as evidence were taken with a Polaroid Camera so that the image could not be altered in any way.

It is said that "life is too short" and as we age, it gets even shorter. Factor in climate change, pollution, lousy diets, smoking, too much booze, political upheaval, stress, and all the bad stuff in the news every day- our time is getting even shorter. Add in the rising crime rate and it becomes more likely that someone will shoot us or bludgeon us to death over a parking space.

So, if you are truly into PHOTOGRAPHY, why waste so much precious time philosophizing, etymologizing, superimposing ethics on art that doesn't really exist instead of picking up your bloody camera and gear that y'all argue about and making PHOTOGRAPHS. Your images are a hell of a better way of expressing your vision and views on life or whatever the heck you want to say.

Ansel Adams and Co. and William Mortensen battled it out about realism vs. fantasy ages ago! Old news! Philosophy my foot! It was about a fight over which exclusive galleries would promote their work - MONEY! Otherwise, there is space in the world for all kinds of art!

More BS about weddig photograhy- MAN! Of course, it is not pure photojournalism, It is not like Cousin Orville and his bride Matilda's wedding cover is gonna end up on the front page of the New York Times or in the pages of a major NEWS magazine. A wedding couple and their photographer can opt for a photojournalistic style of coverage, a more formal posed approach, a mixture of both, or anything in between. The only ethics involved is that the photograher provides what was contracted for, works hard to deliver a good product, and treats the client, their guests, and the clergy or house of worship with respect and kindness. And, what's with that out-of-focus weddig shot? When I first saw it, I was gonna make an appointment with my optometrist- I figured it was time for a new prescription!

Burning and dodging are old stuff. It is not fakery- get over it!

Binary notation is mathematics, not the art ot photograhy. 1-10. At college, I did OK in math- trig, calculus, differential equations- not bad. I quit when it came to "base-8" when the prof said it just like "base 10" if you have two fingers missing.

Post-processing ethics? Folks are saying that you have to include notices or disclaimers to the effect that a photograph has been altered in some way in post-processing. That would make sense if such editing is allowed or prohibited in the rules of a competition, etc., or to avoid misrepresenting in teaching. Otherwise- REALLY? It's like asking an abstract painter to include notice to the effect that "this painting is not realistic, it is my vision after ingesting LSD"! How about "This portrait of Mrs. Higginbottom is heavily retouched. I real life she looks like The Wicked Witch of the North, however, due to my exceptional retouching skills, she appears, in this image as a glamour movie star"!

I am not a genius but I take pictures just about every day- it's my day job as well as my hobby. Some of my commercial work is creatively challenging and exciting and some of it is pure drudgery- I take the bad with the good. My personal work is fun. All in all, I love work as a job, an art/craft, and a great way to earn a living. As for ethics- in business, I treat my clients with honesty, hard work, and integrity. In my personal work, well, my philosophy is simple. I shoot what I like, how I like, as per my mood. I photograph things and people as they were, as they are and how I woud like to remember them.

I like to share my work with others and hope they enjoy it. At work, if they don't like it, I don't get paid so I make sure they love it. After all, a guy's gotta eat and feed his family!