goldstar46 Loc: Tampa, Fl

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Eric

We actually can be more accurate.... It is NOT "changing what is seen" to "Changing what is Captured..." with the camera... As all of us on UHH know, the sensor of the modern day digital camera does NOT have the "Dynamic Range" equal to the human eye...

So, with that said, yes, in an awful lot of instances, we 'process' the image in an attempt to have the end product represent what we, as humans, saw during the 'capture'

Cheers
GeoVz
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Shooter41 Loc: Wichita, KS

As an old guy, in the 1980s, I had a wet darkroom in my basement where I push processed 400 ASA, Tri-X, black and white film two F stops. Then I dodged and burned black and white images for the Wichita Wings Professional Indoor Soccer team for publication for seven years. John Avery of the Wichita Eagle Newspaper darkroom classes taught me that my easily adjustable hands often worked better than a quarter taped to the end of a coat hanger to "dodge" images. One beautiful thing about photography is that those of us who love images quickly learn what works for us and what doesn't.

(Download)

cedymock Loc: Irmo, South Carolina

The difference of taking away or adding to a photograph the way I see it. When taking something out of a photograph it still remains one photograph. When you add to photograph parts of another photograph it becomes something different. It becomes parts of two it’s just different art whatever you want to call it composite, digital art. Composites or digital art does not mean it is bad, nasty or vile (as some people may think) composites and digital art are a description of what has been done to the image to make it more appearing. There is no right or wrong unless you are misrepresenting what it is.
One of the best definitions of photograph;
A photograph (also known as a photo) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of what the human eye would see. The process and practice of creating such images is called photography.
• . Wikipedia

Opinions on this will be as far part as the East is from the West
Everyone can do what they wish with their own photographs; I just don’t want to see a Fiji sky over the Grand Canyon.

srt101fan

Your "Fiji sky over the Grand Canyon" reminds me of the John Wayne movie the "The Green Berets". The closing scene, supposedly in Vietnam, shows him walking along a coastal beach with a young boy and the sun setting in the background. Not possible. Not photographic trickery but location manipulation; acceptable or a no-no?

aggiedad Loc: Corona, ca

True. Just look at Ansel Adams !

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Lots of people today think that adding to or subtracting things from photos just started with digital photography. But it was done in the darkroom virtually from the beginnings of photography. It has always been a part of photography.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

SK, I'm not so sure that that photograph is a combo of studio / outdoors. Being a bit familiar with Elena's work, I think these photos are outdoors.
--Bob

cedymock Loc: Irmo, South Carolina

They would have to be south west of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to see sun set over the South China Sea.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Movies are an entirely different topic.
--Bob

srt101fan

Sure, movies are make-believe and "fakery" is accepted. Why can't some folks accept it in photography?

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

First off, movies are a different genre. They are, and always have been, fantasy. This is even if they are presenting a factual event, they stylize to an extent. Documentaries may be a bit more towards the factual and actual portrayal but even then a bit of fictionalizing enters into the picture.

I don't think it's an acceptance issue per se. What some are suggesting is the acceptance of substituting lack of talent/skill, desire to put forth an effort to learn good technical aspects, etc. with computer-aided gimmickry.

Of course, this willingness to accept that leads to camera manufacturers creating cameras that do a great deal of work to create a notable image to start. Then the software companies sell software that expands the population of people who aspire to create notable photographs but unwilling to devote the time to actually learn the craft. I guess it comes down to integrity.
--Bob

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Mainridge Loc: NW Mich, SW Fla

For me the hardest thing for me to find is a mentor. I really enjoy photography, just being out there trying, but would really benefit from tagging along with an experienced, skilled photographer who would answer my dumb questions. That is how I learn best, not taking online courses.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Can you search for camera clubs in your area, Zoom meetings you an attend ? How about hands on courses where a photographer leads a group on a walk? (Covid-19 safe). At those kinds of events, your can meet people and possibly find a mentor.

Linda S.

People are talking about post- processing. What about the filters we put on our lens to enhance, change, or delete haze, unwanted washout, or . . . ?

Using film and learning b&w photography, there were several pieces of colored glass to deepen blacks, remove haze, make the image behind the window appear more clearly.

These were added to the lens prior to taking the photo. So the image was being manipulated even before the shutter button was pressed.

Given, what we see is not what we get due to our eye seeing more, whether its burning or dodging, pushing film, and/or adding corrective glass, all of it is part of a person's creative process. The only time it is "wrong" is when the person manipulates a scene to defraud, defeat, cheat someone.

I've also learned through various classes that not only do our eyes capture more data (can see more), but that also film can "see" or capture more data than do digital sensors.

To me, that alone requires post-processing so that what I saw is as close reality as I can make it.

And as far as adding a better sky, or dramatic clouds to enhance the feelings a person is trying to evoke, that's being artistic. Whether a person is using a paintbrush or a "brush" in PS, to me, it is the same ... creative expression.