AzPicLady wrote:
I enter this fray from a different viewpoint. I'm old school and hate doing PP work, so I love it when it's good SOOC. My purpose - my mission, if you will, is to depict as truthfully as possible what's in front of me, hopefully in a beautiful way. When I find myself thinking, "I can fix this later," I don't take the picture unless it's a once-in-a-lifetime shot. I want my viewers to have faith that if they stand in that exact same spot, they will actually see what is in my photos.
That said, I understand totally that not all photographers share that purpose. And that's fine and I support them in their personal quests. What makes me bristle are those who belittle my purpose and my methods because they preach the glory of PP to the exclusion of everything else.
I enter this fray from a different viewpoint. I'm... (
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I also try to minimize post processing, although there are some times and some types of photography (night sky) that simply require that I do it. So I've learned how, even though I'm still a little bit clumsy when doing some things.
Here's a story to illustrate something about what I think goes on with us as photographers...
My photography club sponsors a monthly contest. Some months are "Open" competitions, some have a defined theme, and about twice a year we have a print competition, again sometimes with a theme and sometimes open. Last night, we got the results of the latest contest, which was specified as being of historic buildings representing our state's history. Our judge's comments were confusing at best and confounding at worst. I was particularly distressed when accused of "oversaturating" my photograph in post processing, leading to excess color in the limestone blocks of the subject building and "unnatural green in the grass and other vegetation." In fact, while I had done some minimal post processing, adjusting saturation was not a step that I had done at all. And my as-shot setup did not include boosting saturation in the original image, even though I do sometimes do that. The truth is that the building is located in an area where petroleum has been extracted and processed for close to 100 years, causing rainwater to absorb various chemicals and alter the coloration of the limestone over the years. Additionally, there had been rain in the area over the previous two days, causing all foliage to be intensely green. This is a very common effect in arid and semi-arid areas, and most photographers that I know look forward to taking advantage of it.
Please do not get my motivation wrong here. I'm not whining about the contest result. The previous month, a photograph that I didn't expect to do anything scored 14 of 15 points and placed just behind the photograph that ended up being awarded "Best of Show." If I whine about this month's result, then I can't accept last month's result.
My point here is to discuss what I call "arrogant ignorance," which is a tendency of some to presume that they know all there is to know about everything there is to know about, including what cameras or lenses another photographer should buy, what that photographer should take pictures of, and how that photographer should handle the images that he takes. I am (usually) a person who, like you, seeks to do minimal post processing. I absolutely respect and admire the work that Linda does. Sometimes my wish to be able to do the same is very strong. But I respect more that she has never tried to "shame" me into doing something beyond what I do. I also absolutely respect and admire the knowledge and skill that Ed lets us have a glimpse of. But I respect even more the fact that he has never "beaten me over the head" with it.
In another discussion, Cat Marley eloquently lamented the loss of recognition and respect for "absolute truth." The sad thing is that it has been replaced by "absolute opinion." And it seems that folks are willing to fight much more viciously for absolute opinion than they are for absolute truth. Perhaps because they are compensating for secretly being less certain in it.
I am appreciating this discussion and thank Ed for opening it up and for gently guiding us in a constructive direction. Civil, intelligent discussions like this would be very strong motivation for sticking around.