SpeedyWilson Loc: Upstate South Carolina

We're all kinfolk!

.... in one way or another.

vislp Loc: Level Pebble

Good Article! :thumbup:

deanc2006 Loc: lancaster ohio

saying that you have to take a quick picture of a bird or what ever goes to what i was saying. if you had spent your time learning the camera and the settings the day you need to get that once in a lifetime shot you will know how. you will be able to make the most of your opportunity.

deanc2006 Loc: lancaster ohio

I have adjusted exposure of a eagle "in flight" because the dynamic range of the camera will not allow the adult eagle to be as bright as the young ones that do not have the white feathers. the flight path gives me less than 3 seconds so like i said get to know your camera

Turt1e Loc: Columbus, OH

Amen to that.

jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

Almost as old a photography is photo manipulation. Photoshop won't make a bad photo good but it can be used to enhance good photos. No talking about the design end of it where you switch heads or do that kind of stuff. Even Ansel Addams used dodge and burn techniques to enhance his photos as did a lot of others. Airbrushing things out of photos has been around since before Photoshop as well. I have filing cabinets full of film negatives. Photoshop is the digital dark room especially for those that shoot in a raw format. I shoot mostly in a manual mode so when those shots come up that have to be taken right now or missed and there is not enough time to change settings you snap the shot. If the photo is a good composition I see no problem with changing the exposure in Photoshop to save the shot. I do take a lot of photos that are later tossed. Not because I don't know my camera but because it doesn't cost me anything but the time to go through them. Sometimes moving just a foot left or right gives a better composition or light or saves a crop. Maybe I take ten when two will do. Maybe I like all ten, maybe I don't like any of them because the subject just is not as interesting as it seems. All of the ones I save go through Photoshop because they are all shot in a raw format and need to be 'developed'. Photoshop does not make great images. The photographer does. Photoshop enhances them.

jazzplayer

...or ruins them entirely!

I usually have no problems with well executed photo alterations. But I do see an awful lot of pretty good originals posted on this site that are often followed by horrendously bad "fixed" versions. Based on that kind of postings I've seen, I would jump to the rash and subjective conclusion that about half of the UHH'ers that think they know post really need to study it a bit more. But telling someone they suck at post is even more inflammatory than criticizing out-of-the camera pics, in my experience...
Photoshop "experts" seem even touchier than "pro" photographers when it come to critique, so I have lately extended the philosophical notion of this topic for myself to "no criticism of photoshop" because - why bother? It will always piss off at least one person, the one who sucks at photoshop. And of course, always leads to the inevitable defensive challenge of, "okay, wise guy, let's see you do better," which I certainly don't want to waste my time on - PP is something I usually only do for money...

jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

If someone ask for an honest criticism I have no problem giving my thoughts if I have something constructive to say. I think a lot of bad fixes come from monitors that are not calibrated. I think that a lot of times that is why the original looks better and if you do 'fix' their photo that is why they do not appreciate what you have done. It still looks like crap on their monitor. Usually I don't mind taking five or ten minutes to show someone something if I think it will help make them better photographers or better at post. I won't spend hours doing it though. As a matter of fact I have found that if a photo can't be 'fixed' in a very few minutes it needs to be retaken.

jazzplayer

Funny, I just heard a quote most apropos, from a surprising source:

"There is no substitute for quality source imagery." -Agent McGee, NCIS

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

I can certainly agree with this philosophy - When I was being mentored my friend would spend lots of time with his light meter & camera adjustments taking 1 shot to my 6 - yes when the rolls were developed he has 12 great photos & I had 2 or 3[ - but that was years ago now with my digital bridge I get 10 out of 12 good shots & the only thing I do to most is add 18% contrast & tweek the brightness a tad either up of down. 10 seconds in PP at the most.
Yes some times I do some cleanup of bright or distracting objects.
Most PP can be avoided - as you said in taking time to compose & setup you camera. I am looking forward to a DSLR coming into my hands & have dusted of a couple Canon SLR - new batteries are coming this week.
quote=docrob]

Right on :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: Best advice of the week!!

heck what if you only worked on one maybe two subjects or two compostions of one subject for the entire day....imagine what one might learn to see?[/quote]

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

I agree, many of the "fixes" are worse than the original postings. I tend to bite my tongue (well, the keyboard equivalent thereof) and move on. I've sometimes taken a whack at fixing an image, and if I can't improve it with a few minutes of effort, it's on to the next topic. I definitely won't post a retouch that I don't think is a significant improvement. I do wonder at what possesses some people to think their efforts are better. Making the effort isn't a bad thing, it can be good practice, but posting what really amounts to a failure seems to indicate you can't recognize a poor result.

lightchime Loc: Somewhere Over The Rainbow

pfredd,

You have limited your view.

You should consider that reality is the first step in imagination. It works the other way also. Photography is where art and technology come together.

I don't see the PS people bursting at their seams looking to criticize. They do not have to be defensive. Yes, there are those that you would consider extreme. Most are just out to make a picture a little sharper and bring the colors out - improve contrast and dynamic range - maybe even refine white balance. They know how to work in the mid-tones so as not to blow the highlights or lose the shadow detail. They may be the purists - and justifiably so. Many take the time to compose as well in the camera. They don't necessarily shoot hundreds of pictures to get one or two. They tend to do it right and do it better. They learn by working in the digital darkroom. Simply, they see better.

Then there are those who shoot hundreds of pictures - usually JPEG and let the camera do the editing. That is the easy way out - yet they truly believe they are better - the pure and the elite.

sdemaagd Loc: Michigan

It would be great if I could do that...but my 22 month old won't sit still that long (ha, I'd be happy to get her to stay still for me for 3 seconds!)...actually, I am working very hard at getting my photos better in-camera, since I hate spending much time on pp...


I have another random thought, too...isn't using filter(s) on your lens a form of "Photoshop?" Not that filters are a technological post-production thing...but they do alter the way your photograph would turn out versus if you used just your camera...I think we all "manipulate" photos to an extent, whether prior or post processing...but yes, I totally agree about getting it great in-camera as much as possible--something on which I am working hard! :)

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

which I certainly don't want to waste my time on - PP is something I usually only do for money...[/quote]

I can see your point on the ones who over do in PP and some who have not quite learned or are even newcomers to PP - but don't be so harsh on us who enjoy doing it for fun - our hobby - don't have the wonderful DSLR & lens kit - again doing it for pleasure sure beats doing it for money and having to make someone else happy instead of just ourselves.

When I see some photo posted I don't like - I just move on - my opinion is usually given only when ask for and if I feel there has been enough said already I don't post.

Purists in all my hobby interest kinda irk me - so many think if we don't have the best and biggest "KIT" then we don't belong. I have found this in Fly Fishing, 4X4 of road, hunting and now here.
Most spouting purist and perfection is the only way- no room for the new comer, novice, or budgeted person.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Should have learned photography using a 5 x 4 camera. So called 'Wedding Photographers' who quote "400 pictures of the day" . are just trigger happy snappers, hoping to salvage 30 or so, for the album.