Check out Software and Computer Support for Photographers section of our forum.
I've discovered Lightroom! Is it cheating?
Jan 24, 2022 12:22:13 #
GeorgeFenwick wrote:
It is not cheating, but it may be competing. This forum has made that clear to me. Personally, I don’t enjoy time working on a computer so I don’t edit my shots. Other things force me to spend more time than I like chained to the computer. To me, the fun of photography is the time in the field and the editing is drudgery. Am I alone feeling this way?
You are not alone, George, I am right there with you.
Jan 24, 2022 12:41:12 #
Never once in my whole life has a camera captured what I "saw". Post processing allows me reproduce that.
Jan 24, 2022 13:24:14 #
Thank goodness! I feared hate mail, but thought it needed to be said. It seems to me that many Hogs spend more time processing than photographing. I don’t mean this as critical, just an observation: whatever floats your boat.
Jan 24, 2022 13:27:50 #
You're not cheating. Your enjoying your work because now you can create your own interpretation of what you see and how you see it.
Jan 24, 2022 13:40:23 #
Just to be clear, there is no such think as a digital photo that has not been post processed.
It is either done by the camera or by the photographer in software like Lightroom or Photoshop.
All digital photos start out as RAW files regardless of the camera setting, RAW or JPEG.
If set to JPEG, the camera post processes the RAW file to get the JPEG,.
If set to RAW the camera creates a JPEG to so the image can be displayed in the viewfinder or LCD screen.
For those of you who think "Photoshopped" is a bad word I refer you to Ansel Adams most famous photo, 'Moonrise-hernandez-new-mexico'.
Look at an early version of the print verses the one we see now days.
Early: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/a-grand-vision-the-david-h-arrington-collection-of-ansel-adams-masterworks/moonrise-hernandez-new-mexico
Now: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/53904
It is either done by the camera or by the photographer in software like Lightroom or Photoshop.
All digital photos start out as RAW files regardless of the camera setting, RAW or JPEG.
If set to JPEG, the camera post processes the RAW file to get the JPEG,.
If set to RAW the camera creates a JPEG to so the image can be displayed in the viewfinder or LCD screen.
For those of you who think "Photoshopped" is a bad word I refer you to Ansel Adams most famous photo, 'Moonrise-hernandez-new-mexico'.
Look at an early version of the print verses the one we see now days.
Early: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/a-grand-vision-the-david-h-arrington-collection-of-ansel-adams-masterworks/moonrise-hernandez-new-mexico
Now: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/53904
Jan 24, 2022 13:54:34 #
No reason to feel guilty! If you keep doing it like these I think you are an artist, not a cheater.
Jan 24, 2022 16:31:49 #
As others have stated, the adjustments made to your photos are to bring it to the state or level that you saw when you took the image. Prior to the advent of digital there were many steps available to adjust photos during development and printing. Was that cheating? Whether one developed and printed their own photos, or used labs, they had the means to adjust each roll of film to correct several aspects of the final print. That is why film development was called "processing."
Check out Film Photography section of our forum.
Jan 24, 2022 16:46:24 #
BobInAustinMN wrote:
I'm a retired video production/television editor a... (show quote)
An image is ALL in how you see it. If Lightroom/Photoshop helps realize that vision, then great!
bwa
Jan 24, 2022 17:06:30 #
Ferris
Loc: South Carolina
GeorgeFenwick wrote:
It is not cheating, but it may be competing. This forum has made that clear to me. Personally, I don’t enjoy time working on a computer so I don’t edit my shots. Other things force me to spend more time than I like chained to the computer. To me, the fun of photography is the time in the field and the editing is drudgery. Am I alone feeling this way?
Not at all.
Jan 24, 2022 17:13:59 #
These are terrific, even if you say you cheated. Keep cheating! LOL
Jan 24, 2022 17:25:00 #
BobInAustinMN wrote:
I'm a retired video production/television editor a... (show quote)
You know I’m right there with you on this!
Check out The Dynamics of Photographic Lighting section of our forum.
Jan 24, 2022 17:38:36 #
GeorgeFenwick wrote:
Thank goodness! I feared hate mail, but thought it needed to be said. It seems to me that many Hogs spend more time processing than photographing. I don’t mean this as critical, just an observation: whatever floats your boat.
Some times I do spend more time processing. It is the nature of the medium. Not to mention that often I will get a new app or updated version of an app and go back to some of my favorite or my "almost shots" and re-do them to see what I can get.
I can take a picture in seconds if I am carrying my camera and lens already set for what I am doing. Processing I have a lot of different things I can do, different apps I can do them with and can spend a lot of time in front of my computer thinking and experimenting. That takes a lot more than "seconds".
I often multitask by listening to the TV news and looking at the TV when something interesting comes up. I record and watch the news later in the evening using fast forward on commercials to watch a one hour show in about 43 minutes while editing photos or reading a book at the same time.
Jan 24, 2022 18:50:01 #
Tom70
Loc: NY
At this time I do not do any post on 95% of my photos, (I'm not that good of a photographer but just don't have the time, when I shoot, which is several days a week, I get about 50-60 shots per session).
I feel that cheating would only come in to play if you had SOMEONE else doing post for you and you take the credit.
Is it cheating when you by a piece of wood to create a project, you cut it, you shape it, you sand it, you seal/prime it and stain/paint it. You are just massaging the photo or piece of wood to achieve image in your mind.
If your having fun keep on doing it.
I feel that cheating would only come in to play if you had SOMEONE else doing post for you and you take the credit.
Is it cheating when you by a piece of wood to create a project, you cut it, you shape it, you sand it, you seal/prime it and stain/paint it. You are just massaging the photo or piece of wood to achieve image in your mind.
If your having fun keep on doing it.
Jan 24, 2022 19:57:02 #
rmalarz wrote:
Is it cheating? Not any more than altering developing times to achieve the tonal variation one perceived at the time of making the exposure. Not any more than dodging and burning during printing "are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships"*. So, it isn't cheating.
Remember, "You don't take a photograph, you make it."*
--Bob
* Quotes- Ansel Adams
Remember, "You don't take a photograph, you make it."*
--Bob
* Quotes- Ansel Adams
So no it is not cheating.Don
Jan 24, 2022 20:34:30 #
If using equipment or software to enhance an image is cheating, then we should all go back to pinhole cameras.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
Check out True Macro-Photography Forum section of our forum.