old poet

AL! Camera captures the subject. Post processing creates the art.

Jim Bianco

I agree!!!

KTJohnson Loc: Northern Michigan

I like both. Kind of like what "fuminous" already said. I love going out and just being out on a new adventure. Then, I love taking photos of what I see and then trying to capture it in an artistic way. That's like finding a treasure & putting each item in the treasure chest.

Then, I take those treasures home, open up the box and see what I got. I look at each treasure/photo and start to clean it up. I love all the tools my Post Processing Box gives me. I can remove the power lines, the unwanted signs, the trash on the ground. I can take each of those treasures and put a little "shine" on them.

Occasionally I bring forth a precious jewel and am often stunned by the results.

Bubbee Loc: Aventura, Florida

And to add to my previous specific reply...I have a love-hate relationship with post!! I love shooting and can't wait to get to the computer where I remain trapped for days. I am not a 'techie', nor am I basically artistic, so my PSE is a challenge. But what's an old gal to do? It goes with the territory!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

A Very Famous Photographer whose name is over-used once said, "The negative is score, and the print is the performance." His meaning was that every image is subject to multiple renderings.

A raw file, like a film negative, has a much richer range of colors and tones than paper can reflect or a monitor can emit. So it is up to the photographer to develop the raw file.

Since around 1888, Most people bought the George Eastman concept, "You push the button, we do the rest." That is the same sentiment behind smartphone cameras and adjustable cameras' JPEG processors when the camera is in an AUTO mode (P, A, S, Ai, Ai+, etc.). The idea is that TAKING an image can be as simple as pressing the button and relying upon someone else to do the interpretation, whether manually, or in an automated fashion designed by a team of engineers. It "sorta" works, "most of the time." That's good enough for many folks.

I grew up with cameras — my uncle gave me my first at five, and my Dad gave me a "toy" darkroom set at ten. The net result was a life-long hobby and a 33 year career in the photo and printing industries. So I take post processing in stride. I can't imagine NOT post processing images I care about. I enjoy MAKING images. (I do "take pictures" with my smartphone for casual purposes.)

In high school, I spent many hours in the darkroom each week. I was sought after by fellow students for portraits, sports action photos, and candid party photos. None of those would have been any good had I not taken time with them in the darkroom.

When I got into my 30s and managed departments in a photo lab, all my hands-on experience making an image, from concept through the camera to the print, paid off. Few lab workers have that perspective. It helped to show it to them.

If you're hesitant to do post processing, I get it. There are significant barriers to it:

> Many folks "of a certain age" missed the computer revolution. They never learned to type! I thank my Mom every time I sit at a keyboard, for teaching me to type at age eight. That enabled me to fall in love with computers when the Apple II came out. If the computer scares you, post-processing is a non-starter.

> Some people cannot read camera manuals with comprehension. They never learn to translate what I call 'JEnglish' (bad translations of Japanese into English). So they don't understand how to START the image recording process properly. Post-processing begins with PRE-processing (setting the camera menus), exposure control, and perhaps white balance and lighting control. It is very dependent on what you do at the camera.

> Some people will not or cannot put in the time it takes to learn a software application. Chances are, if you won't read and understand a camera manual, you won't read and understand a software manual, either. COMMIT, people!

> Post-processing can be expensive. There's the computer, the monitor, the software, the Internet connection, the calibration kit if you really want accurate color, the TRAINING if you want to learn efficiently...

> Post-processing, like any other skill, takes practice. Finding time for that practice is a challenge!

> Knowing where to start (anything) can be a challenge. If you didn't "learn how to learn" in school, adult learning can be difficult.

> Some folks hesitate because they DO know the enormity of learning any new task well. I had a friend whose Dad was a very successful heart surgeon. He bought two Nikons and six lenses. When he died, she found them in mint condition in fancy leather bags, with the receipts and some expired film. Her Mom explained that he had used them ONCE. Apparently, only a handful of negatives from his first few rolls were even printable. When he realized he was in for a long learning curve, for which he had neither the time nor the energy after long days in the OR, he gave up. He was perfectly capable of commitment and learning, but simply had neither the energy, nor focus, nor time.

So yes, I do enjoy post-processing, because it's all part of the process of making images instead of just taking them.

Dr Grump Loc: Southern New England

As someone who has spent untold hours in the darkroom and loved every minute of it, I thoroughly enjoy the digital counterpart, post-processing. Ansel Adams gave us the analogy: the negative is the score; the print is the performance. Now the file is the score and I delight in seeing how much I can get out of it and into the print. I am often amazed in what can be discovered in what initially appears to be a pretty blah shot.

photoman43

I do not enjoy it at all. I only post process my best RAW images, and I keep the post processing steps to a minimum. I much prefer to "get it right" in the camera as often as possible.

For some travel and vacation trips I shoot in RAW and JPEG (on separate cards) and just use non post processed Jpegs for images I share with family and friends.

Bushpilot Loc: Minnesota

To me post work is part of the process of getting a pleasing image of what I saw or had in mind when I pressed the shutter release. I really
enjoy the post work for the most part.

StevenG Loc: Long Island, NY

Like

koratcat

Enjoy taking the shot, but love post-processing. The conditions under which I photograph at my local SPCA leave a lot to be desired in terms of lighting and background (I pretty much have to work with whatever's there), and especially with the dogs, I'm often working with a moving target which presents an additional challenge. So a lot of times it's the post-processing that turns a mundane shot into something that's good enough to present Fido or Fluffy at their best and help them attract someone's attention and get adopted.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Bill, in reference to your Famous Photographer quote, "The negative is the score, and the print is the performance.", I posted a quote from the same photographer earlier in this thread, "You don't take a photograph you make it."
--Bob

koratcat

NickGee Loc: Pacific Northwest

Who was it that said "You don't take a photo, you make it," or something like that. It used to be in the darkroom that we "made" the photos, but now (except for the film folks) it's in the computer. Fact is, PP is where the magic happens. I used to love the darkroom (hours and hours). A bit less so with software, though it's still the magic wand. Taking the photos is the easy part. I believe PP is where photography happens.

greenwork Loc: Southwest Florida

Well said

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

So that’s the difference between phots and snap shots it post processing. They all just look like pics to me