Photoshop made you lazy?

S2K1

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I know some people who consider themselves photographer that instead of spending a few minutes adjusting things in their camera, they just say, "I'll fix it later in photoshop?" For example, one guy I know is terrible at getting his shadow in his shot, and he just clones it out later. I know that's an extreme case, but does anyone here think about their shot, aren't happy with it, and just worry about it later on the computer. I personally hate spending time editing pictures, I'd rather get it perfect in camera, then spend less time editing. It just seems like so much emphasis is put on the editing program these days and not on skill. Am I alone in thinking this?
 
You can only get it so right in photoshop. It has been a godsend for some of the one off moments photos that needed tweaking, and personally I make minor adjustments to most of my photos (cropping lighting, rarely cloning though).

I must say it is lazy if you do have the opportunity to reshoot and you decided to fix it in photoshop anyway.
 
Photoshop cannot - ever - make bad photos miraculously good. So if you don't care about blurriness, lighting, exposure, composition etc, but say to yourself, "hey, PS will fix it for me", you are wrong. PS cannot fix blatant mistakes.

However, editing one's photos in PS is no sin and no one needs to look down upon those who frequently "send their photos through PS". I do so with mine. But photos that went wrong from the start either get deleted even in-camera (sometimes, however, you can't really tell from the little screen, so you better leave it until you can see it on the computer screen and then decide again), or they get deleted upon my first viewing them, or they get deleted in the RAW-converter programme, if the error is so that not even fixing the RAW data works (and yes, I have had photos of the kind!) ... that is mostly the end of the photos with major flaws. OK, sometimes I think "Let's put it into PS and see if a crop can help", but often enough those with big flaws don't even get converted, they die a RAW-death.

After that, though, I will invariably look if the highlights and shadows are ok and if I am happy with the original crop. Often I wish to lose 2 cms on one side and 1 at the top or something like that. And that is always done in Photoshop.

I once took a photo in Portsmouth, where there were some nice old houses in front of a modern block of flats, and that --- grrr! --- street light right in my view. My friend was not willing to chop that street light down for me so I'd get my photo without it, so I composed the photo in a manner that the street light was right between those old houses.

And later I put up that photo into our forum's Photoshop Challenges (because I knew I would not be able to clone out that streetlight all by myself) and lo and behold, someone was able and willing to spend time on that photo in PS to clone out that street light.
I admit that when I composed THAT one photo, I did so in the hope that eventually someone versed well with the clone tool would be able to get rid of that light. Other than that though... it is much more FUN to plan and set and compose so that only tiny adjustments will later be necessary, I think.
 
out of my last 1000 images photoshop did only considerably improve maybe a dozen. Sometimes, if my lens is too short for some wildlife, the cropping does a good job.
 
Perhaps the creative process includes post-processing.

people felt the same way about reticulating emulsions, collages etc.
 
HDR, multiple image merging.

"Nothing that happens between a consulting adult and the image disgusts me."
Ralph Freud (Sigmund's younger brother)
 
Me, I use Photoshop rarely, I do most of my (minor) adjustments in CaptureNX or Aperture...

99 percent of what I do is crop (I always leave a bit of extra room so I can print shots with different aspect ratios). It is rare for me to adjust anything else, I pretty well just show it as it was shot.

But that is me.
 
Yes, some have already said that using PS (with a good photo to start out with is my addition!) is part of the creative process of taking a photo, so that in the end it expresses you, i.e. what you wanted to "say" when you decided to "click" in the first place.

So for most who take the additional use of a (any, actually) pp programme seriously, as seriously as they take their taking the photo with the help of their cameras, it does not make them "lazy", but gives them a bit of even extra work they apply to their photography.
 
Of topic, but isn't a successful edit a skill based activity?
Yeah, it can be.

I think the point is being missed, I'm not saying abandon Photoshop and do everything in-camera, I'm just saying I know people who consider photoshop as a way to fix the mistakes they could've fixed otherwise, and I was seeing if anyone else knew of people like this and if it has made anyone lazier when taking a shot.
 
So for most who take the additional use of a (any, actually) pp programme seriously, as seriously as they take their taking the photo with the help of their cameras, it does not make them "lazy", but gives them a bit of even extra work they apply to their photography.

Agree completely


I'm just saying I know people who consider photoshop as a way to fix the mistakes they could've fixed otherwise, and I was seeing if anyone else knew of people like this and if it has made anyone lazier when taking a shot.

many of the people I see on-line who use PS to correct mistakes are just not skilled enough to anticipate and correct mistakes. I think that computer-savvy people learn both photography and PS at a basic level and never progress because they don't see the need or don't understand.
 
I know some people like that. They'll say "I know it's not great, but I can fix it later". I just look at them and wonder why they don't just try to take it again.

I don't know PS that well yet but am learning. That being said, if I have a photo that needs more than basic adjustments, I usually scrap it and go back out later to try to get it right. It sure has made me think about the composition more.
 
Like BEvaristo, I don't know PS that well to save a photo. I usually adjust some levels and contrast, crop a bit... and that's all. So yeah, i work more with PS than without it.

Now, I understand and agree with you. I I could crop stuff out, I'd do it only as a last resource... somethig I couldn't see when taking or reviewing the photo... or unable to reshoot.
 

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