dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I agree with you about users who congratulate snapshotters on their work. We have two people on the forum, one who takes pictures of birds on a feeder. The other takes pictures of flowers and then uses a post processing program to make their work look better. From my point of view that is the only type of photo these members know how to shoot. If we could have the submitters name on the list along with the title I would simply pass by these submissions. But every day I see a catchy title and click on it only to find the exact type of photos I saw yesterday. Believe me I am NOT putting these people down at all. Their photographs are not badly done but it is the exact same type of photos every day. They have a right to submit whatever photos they want in the hobby they enjoy. I also have the right to see the photos and skip to the next post. But each day other members comment on what great photos are submitted. We all see photos that are really terrible but yet other members comment how wonderful the photos are. I am just trying to say, probably not too well, that maybe we should be honest in our comments, not to demean the photos or photographer but to give them an honest assessment of their photo so they can try to improve their photo skills.

Dennis

crapshooter Loc: Fox, Alaska

I personally don't give a Crap how people want their images to look,I just look at what I like.

Batman Loc: South-Central Texas

Post Processing is seldom called ARTISTIC EXPRESSION...it's almost always called what it actually IS: "Attempt to defraud."

Batman

therwol Loc: USA

Nonsense. Norman Rockwell used photographs of his models as guides when he painted. Was the transformation fraud or art? I vote art.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

One of the most ridiculous statements I have ever seen.

Ron E B Loc: UK Hertfordshire

Well said Linda!!

Selene03

Post-processing is as much an art as taking the photograph is. This was true in film days too. My father developed photos for professional photographers. He worked with them to get the look they wanted. He worried about the developing process while the mostly news photographers got the shots. He was willing to work at all hours to get the photos processed in a timely way. He was somewhat impressed by early digital photographs that didn't have to be processed, but he didn't live long enough to see many of them that had been post-processed to any great degree.

To me it is obvious, that post-processing can be very beneficial though it seems to be popular to over saturate things to sell in art fairs, etc. However, that is a certain kind of post-processing. I would not have looked at Gene51's photo and go -- "omg, it is overprocessed." He has used the post-processing well to produce a beautiful photo. It is far richer than the first one.

HDR is an interesting example too--if done correctly, it is possible to expose for both highlights and shadows and bring them together, but the trick is to preserve some of the complexity of the scene in the process (at least in my view). I am still trying to get that right, but I completely admire those who can.

Occasionally, I don't do much with photos out of the camera, but then those tend to be snapshots rather than something I might put on a wall. But, again, to each his/her own. If one's only sense of a film exposure is from what you got from the Photomat (I love that photo--I had forgotten all about them), then one can romanticize about the good ol' days when one didn't post-process their photos, but in general, for many established photographers, a great deal of time was spent developing the photos for a certain look.

jnuss

Most will agree that the look of a final photo is very subjective. I personally, post edit to high-lite the single object which needs emphasis in the photo. I either blur or darken
the background. If this upsets the photography "puritanists" so be it.

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

I share it too. Occasionally it might be interesting. But to do it for EVERY shot is obsessive. So I take note of the 'offenders' and simply don't view their shots. Problem solved.

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

It's just you!!!!!! I'm gonna have to stop looking at YOUR pics now. LOL

leftj Loc: Texas

Does Robin agree with you?

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The extremeism is divisive. There is nothing objectionable about an artistically handled image. Other than composition and exposure, a photographer has precious little ability to get creative. If you are a purist, then you'd also only shoot available light as well.

This, however is appropriate for some photography, but to insist that realistic recording is the only role for photographer and camera, and putting aside post processing for a moment, there is no room in that narrow definition for abstract interpretations or fantasy. That would be a dry, boring world.

What the SOOC guys refuse to acknowledge is that the majority of everyday photo imagery is enhanced. If they have ever worked for a professional retoucher, or a creative director with really high standards for graphic quality, they would come to realize that SOOC is meaningless an completely inadequate in most fashion, advertising and commercial photography - whether they like it or not.

Image manipulation is as old as photography itself, as is using the photograph as a form of artistic expression.

The Captain Kimos and Trey Radcliffes of the photography world do make a great living with their, to my eye, overcooked images. Who am I to say they are wrong?

But let's be clear - a big portion of the art world regarded the work of Renoir, Monet, Degas, and later Cézanne, Picaso and others as amateurish and refused to call it art.

These were the "Traddionalists" that resisted change and innovation at every possible opportunity, much like our SOOC advocates. Such an un-creative and narrow point of view for someone involved in a creative endeavor . . .

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

Yes, it is indeed an art form. So if you don't like it, don't buy it, just as you would with any other art form. The world is diverse. And that's a great thing!

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

AMEN!

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind