romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

It was mentioned in rebuttal to an ill informed comment on his camera technique. He wasn't a God, but sure used his God given talents wisely.

rebride

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Here's why he's been mentioned so often. Straight print on left, processed print on right. (sorry for the small size, it was lifted from an internet blog).

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

it has everything to do with the credibility of your images.

twindad Loc: SW Michigan, frolicking in the snow.

Mike, I've reread my post and can't find anywhere where I stated I didn't like him. Perhaps you can point it out to me?
As a matter of fact, I drove for an hour a couple of years ago, and paid good money just to attend a gallery showing of forty of his most famous shots.
I think Adams was a terrific photographer. I'm just a bit weary of his name being used constantly as a "God".

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

I have thirty five years of film photography behind me 95% of which was Kodachrome slides where what you get is all you get. That film was not forgiving at all. I then spent another ten years so far doing digital.

I do capture the images I want. I know intuitively how to get the effects I want in the camera. In that sense I don't need a program to do fixes later.

But ... in the film days we did also crop as we printed. We sometimes also corrected lighting and/or exposures though in my case I needed to make a negative first. Sometimes you got an amazing shot that just wasn't quite right so magic had to be performed in the lab.

Well the lab today is my laptop and Photoshop. The program had incredible functions allowing me to make my fixes and crops. It also allows me control over the printing process so that the prints I do produce are really professional. The drug store doesn't give you that kind of control.

Frankly though, if you can't tell the difference between an image taken in a camera and one processed later by Photoshop where various defects have been corrected like a big wart on the nose of a bride, then don't worry about software, settle for the images you get. In fact there's the odd camera now that will even crop images for you and many cameras give you control over contrast and hue.

On the other hand if you can tell the difference you won't be asking the question.

When I started I was really impressed with my images. That only lasted for a year after which they made me really unhappy. Years later earlier stuff was an embarrassment for me as I continued to improve.

Give yourself a chance to go through a similar evolution. There will come a day when a kit lens is not longer good enough for you. There will come a day when you want to just tweak the contrast of an image to improve it markedly. There will come a day when you will sense subtle differences that are invisible to you just now.

When that day arrives you'll also be looking for a new computer and some kind of software. As to that software, there is a lot of free stuff and Photoshop Elements often provides all the power you need. It's not always essential that you spend big bucks for the full Photoshop.

Go through that evolution most of us have gone through and before you know it you'll wish that you didn't become discriminating because along with that skill you face big bucks for exceptional glass, a top of the line body, and of course Photoshop.

Good Luck!

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

This is like asking why a regular coffee in New York is loaded with cream & sugar & not just coffee out of the pot. You don't want the natural coffee flavor, you want some other taste? It makes no difference to me how you drink your coffee, so why do you question my pictures? It is the same in all aspects of life.What one person does might not be what someon elsedoes. as for getting it right in camera, you are doing the same editing when you capture your images in .jpg. The camera is doing it for you though.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

I guess Michael doesn't realize that something IS processing/manipulating his pictures one way or another. As a side note, out of the forums I frequent, this is the only one where people debate the raw vs Jpeg.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Just for fun I thought I'd do my own Ansel Adams type post processing using Photoshop Elements 10 and Picassa.
I used the image of the straight contact print I found on the internet and tried to copy what Adams did.

(Download)

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

in re: darkroom - if it isn't on the negative, it isn't there.

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

and let me just add to that. what Adams' printers did in the darkroom was burning and dodging, and that's all. yes, the negative was a mess, as it was a "grab shot", but everything in the completed photo was on the negative. nothing was added or deleted.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

Some people are quite happy with pictures they take using their i-phone while others insist you need a professional DSLR and you should only use the very best lens that money can buy. I'm somewhere in the middle with only a moderately good camera and lens options.

If you don't want to post-process your images, by all means that is your choice but I will continue to edit my photos and and not feel a bit guilty about doing so.

To me this is a hobby, but others have a professional interest in this; it is quite understandable and fine with me if they have different opinions on how and what to do. Surely if I were doing this professionally I'd have a different attitude about what equipment I can afford and how I would approach this activity. I don't think I'd feel differently about digitally editing my photos but I'd probably take it more seriously as a pro.

We all have different levels of interest and different points of view. We take pictures for different reasons and we are not all after the same thing from that activity.

ygelman Loc: new -- North of Poughkeepsie!

In addition to the responses seen here, I ask you this: What makes you think that the image that comes from the camera is the "true" image?

There is a Lot of processing that already goes on to produce the image that comes out of the camera; I see my own post-processing merely as more processing.

It's true, of course, that many people with cameras go over the top with post-processing. But that's a different story.

frangeo Loc: Texas

If you want a portrait in my studio I will leave in the lines under you eyes so you know I'm a professional and show only exactly what I shoot.

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

thank you.