Photography / video film making have become totally dominated by post processing: I have been working with a very talented portrait photographer. Her creations look nothing like the...

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

I have been working with a very talented portrait photographer. Her creations look nothing like the original photo.
Online I see tons of youtube how to recreate the street scene you shot etc. Today knowledgable friends did not
know that all the TV and movies are color graded to a completely different look. Photoshop and LR rule and
slog 2 and LUTS. Thoughts?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

My thought is that you are right!

You only listed Photoshop and Lightroom. Those are only the beginning of what is in the Adobe Creative Cloud suite.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

If you are a wedding or portrait photographer their is software that can do anything.
As you probably know. Even the smart phones have enhancement filters that are pretty good.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Tom Daniels wrote:

I have been working with a very talented portrait photographer. Her creations look nothing like the original photo.
Online I see tons of youtube how to recreate the street scene you shot etc. Today knowledgable friends did not
know that all the TV and movies are color graded to a completely different look. Photoshop and LR rule and
slog 2 and LUTS. Thoughts?

Sorry, but I don't get this subject; are you saying that her "creations" should be something else, isn't it inherent in the word itself that she is creating? The only photographer that needs to be worried about a photograph looking exactly like the scene, if that is ever possible, is a documentary photographer or a photo-journalist photographer. The rest of us get to "create." When Ansel took photographs in Yosemite NP and the photographs were published in books people would arrive in Yosemite and say, "this doesn't look like the print I saw." Nothing in that regard has changed in photography. Read the history of photography and you will become enlighten on the subject.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Photography and film have been manipulated since their very invention. First of all, photographic processes, especially color, are not "true" color, and are all engineered to give a particular "look". Just about everything we do with Photoshop was done in the darkroom, but with a much greater level of skill than it takes on the computer. Photography has always had people who wanted to try and reproduce what their eyes saw as well as those who are interested in an enhanced photographic vision.

User ID

Tom Daniels wrote:

I have been working with a very talented portrait
photographer. Her creations look nothing like the
original photo.
Online I see tons of youtube how to recreate the
street scene you shot etc. Today knowledgable
friends did not
know that all the TV and movies are color graded
to a completely different look. Photoshop and LR
rule and
slog 2 and LUTS. Thoughts?

"Thoughts" ? LOL

Howbout some FACTS:

Apparently you know zilch about history. Nothing
has changed. All one EVER saw since the intro of
of the negative-positive system were the results
of manipulation and processing. FWIW cine was
far more subject to this than stills.

There WAS also manipulation as far back as the
Daguerreotype, but it was less common until we
had the negative-positive systems.

`

PH CIB

I love to hike and travel and observe Nature and Wildlife and People,,,my least favorite aspect of Photography is Post Processing,,,however Post Processing corrects shooting errors and can enhance most Photos,,,one wonders if someday if not today,,,Photographs will be made entirely by Post Processing and to the liking of the Artist done entirely in Computer....there goes the DSLR versus Mirrorless debate....

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

If anyone is a member on the Nikonian website I recently wrote an article for them that touches on this issue. Check it out under their Articles tab.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

User ID I think less nasty and more involved with this open forum of classy well informed shooters.
I was in the dark rooms and studios as an art director with creators like Pete turner. Turner was one of the first to introduce hot color and abstracts from all over the world. We would create dye transfer prints and retouch for national advertising. Have been following art and photography in 30 countries. I am aware of the zone system etc. Stopped counting the awards I won as an art director. And a Clio nom. I now shoot cinema video now and some stills.
I have produced over 100 staged shows for meetings. Many celebs including a US President.
The question I asked was why we are here. I am here for years and you a few days. And no name.
I have never bragged here before but your comment “you don’t know zilch” is rude.
History would tell you their were always questions about art. Impressionists were shunned as obscene.
When photoshop started the question of how far was asked. Obscenity with jock Sturgis David Hamilton etc is a current
issue. Good luck.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

You didn't think that you could just post a topic and not get a bunch of grumps arguing with you (and themselves) did you?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Tom Daniels wrote:

I have been working with a very talented portrait photographer. Her creations look nothing like the original photo.
Online I see tons of youtube how to recreate the street scene you shot etc. Today knowledgable friends did not
know that all the TV and movies are color graded to a completely different look. Photoshop and LR rule and
slog 2 and LUTS. Thoughts?

Of course, and this has been going on for years. It doesn't bother me a bit. Watch a film from the 1950s, and you will see bright, saturated colors. We seem to have gotten away from that.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

rpavich wrote:

You didn't think that you could just post a topic and not get a bunch of grumps arguing with you (and themselves) did you?

Like sunshine and rainbows?

ELNikkor

sometimes there has to be a lot of manipulation just to get it to look the way you saw it; glad to have those tools available today

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Tom, I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Capturing the initial image/video is only a part of the process. Processing is where one makes the photo or video. The second half of the process is equally, or more, important.
--Bob

Tom Daniels wrote:

I have been working with a very talented portrait photographer. Her creations look nothing like the original photo.
Online I see tons of youtube how to recreate the street scene you shot etc. Today knowledgable friends did not
know that all the TV and movies are color graded to a completely different look. Photoshop and LR rule and
slog 2 and LUTS. Thoughts?

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

I am thinking that "Ugly" is becoming argumentative and has angry folks venting instead of sharing.
Frankly the attitude I see in the US a lot is mad. I hope for my grandchildren that this changes.
It's time for me to give this forum up.