question about editing

[gagey]

..............................................

 

[white]

This is art world. You're not 'supposed' to do anything.

It is true most people edit their photos, though. Kinda like how writers edit their stories.

 

[gagey]

i never use to edit anything on my pictures i thought they looked ok but i always wondered how some people got their colors to look like that...i bought filters and still could not achieve that...then someone told me they edit picutres...i dont know really any professional photographers so i dont really have any to help me out ...me and my husband take pictures together but he is at same level as me so i cant really ask him stuff i dont know ...but now that i have been playing around with lightroom im thinking they are looking better

 

[KmH]

This is art world. You're not 'supposed' to do anything.

It is true most people edit their photos, though. Kinda like how writers edit their stories.

Painters and others that do visual art often start with a blank canvas, so that kind art is entirely edited.

The idea that somehow editing a photograph is something "You're not 'supposed' to do " doesn't fly at all from an art perspective.

 

[Big Mike]

What does 'edit' even mean in this case? :scratch:

I'd say that a more accurate way to put it, is that every photography has a 'workflow'.

Many of us shoot in Raw (not Jpeg), and as such, the files require some forum of processing. There may be drastic adjustments made at that time, or not. And past that, the possibilities are endless.

For example; I shoot in RAW and then off load the cards and import the images into Lightroom. I trash the bad ones and flag the best ones. Then I switch to the 'Develop' module and make adjustments to the images. I might adjust any of the sliders in the 'Basic' panel, to get the image looking like I want. Sometimes it's a lot of adjusting, sometimes it's none at all.
Is this really 'editing'? All I've done is adjust a few sliders.

Next I might take an image into Photoshop and use the healing brush or clone stamp tools to remove certain elements from the photo. I use adjustment layers and layer masks to work on certain parts of the image individually.
This is more what I would call 'editing'.

Also, keep in mind that 'adjusting' & 'editing' are things that have been going on since the invention of photography. It has just moved out of the dark room and onto the computer.

 

[bennielou]

so i was told by a couple people that professional photographers edit all their pictures...is this true? should i be editing all my pictures to make them look better? or do people use their origionals? what do you generally edit about your pictures?

i dont seem to be any good really at elements photoshop i feel like i dont really know what i am doing beside a few of the easy stuff...but someone told me lightroom was really great and that was what they used so i bought lightroom and i really love that one.... i havent learned it all the way but it seems so much easier to use but i really need to get some books on both and learn them better..when i use lightroom i generally like to enhance the color and the clarity but to make my pictures better am i suppose to be doing anything else?

I've never seen an image in a magazine that has not been edited. In fact, most of them are edited to hell and back.

Funny true story. When I was first starting out, I was in love with TriCoast. I couldn't figure out why my photos weren't falling out of my camera looking like their stuff. Mike was a friend of mind, so I wrote him and asked him how he did it. He told me he would send me some actions to help me.

What he sent was sketch, cartoon, and every other silly action he could think up. That was the first time I ever heard about actions, and I am sure Mike and Cody were laughing their butts off.

But I started studying about actions and layers and curves, and all that kind of stuff, and the money I could charge grew and grew and grew.

Taking the photo is only the first step.

 

[gagey]

thank you for the insight i appriciate all the
info i can get

if you could give opinions on these pictures and let me know if it looks im adjusting ok or if i should be doing more

here is the origional nothing touched on it





this one i adjusted in lightroom made the color alittle more vibraint and the clarity softer and cropped a bit

 

[white]

This is art world. You're not 'supposed' to do anything.

It is true most people edit their photos, though. Kinda like how writers edit their stories.

Painters and others that do visual art often start with a blank canvas, so that kind art is entirely edited.

The idea that somehow editing a photograph is something "You're not 'supposed' to do " doesn't fly at all from an art perspective.

Right. I didn't mean to suggest that editing is bad. I think it is necessary most of the time in order to get nice artwork.

 

[TomBlaze]

Greetings!

Like the shot. It's unfortunate that you didn't have a more colorful sky but the magic-hour blueish haze is beautiful. The lighthouse contrasts nicely against the horizon. It seems to be pretty sharp but I would have to see it more closely to be sure.

Honestly your original shot looks to be the better of the two. You actually toned down the contrast with your adjustments. You lost a little detail in the lighthouse as well. You also lost contrast on that fantastic horizon line. Overall, I like the mood of the shot but the first one is in better shape.

A good way to approach editing this composition is to enhance its mood. You took this on what appears to be a pretty rainy, cloudy morning. To me it conveys somberness and gives the feeling of being cold and damp and the lighthouse is a symbol of home and hope. I would translate that into enhancements. In this case, the first thing to do is import the RAW into lighthouse. I use Bridge and Photoshop which together is pretty much Lightroom with more toys. I am not well versed with Lightroom. I beta tested it but I was more comfortable with PS and Bridge.

That being said, here is how I would approach this:
(Disclaimer: take what parts you like and dump the rest. This image has many artistic possibilities and I am merely demonstrating one and I am sure there is better advice out there than mine)

Cold, dark, wet, somber, sad, light, hope, home, safe

Using these words as a guide, consider visual translations of those words using the image as the canvas. Think of the image as your color palette and now you are going to highlight the details.

Cold, dark and wet is the sea and sky and blue dominates them both but you have a clear horizon line defining the two. I would intensify the blue in the water and make it a deeper blue but no so much so as to make it look too surreal and then add the slightest bit of purple in the top of the sky but blue would be the dominant color. (Graduated filer in the RAW editor is a nice tool for this). I would also up the contrast in the sky as well to get a little definition in the clouds as well as darken the overall sky a little. Through all of this, it's important to maintain the nice horizon line. The horizon line is a tad crooked so I would rotate the image a degree or two to straighten it out.

Other effects to consider: Doing a slight vertical motion blur on the water right at the horizon line. Possibly adding a little blur to the sky. Kind of a long exposure look

Lighthouse of hope: Warm, Home, Safe, Hope

This is easy. First thing to do is sharpen the lighthouse. Tweak levels and curves to lighten the lighthouse a little bit. The idea is to make it pop in the mid-ground with striking contrast but not artificial-looking. If the image is not very sharp to begin with it may not be as dramatic but less drama is good too.

Other effects: create a little light source gleaming from the lighthouse and use the lens flare filter to embelish it a bit.

Overall alternate idea: Convert it to black and white and tweak out all the detail you can with high contrast and sharpening and then adding noise over it to give it a grainy look.

Hope that inspired!

 

[robbie_vlad]

Yes, most (if not all) professional photographers edit their work. That includes those using the darkroom still. However, if you can't take a good photo editing won't save it so I always say to concentrate more on your actual shooting and later on begin to learn editing more.

 

[anatra]

this is terrible - but how do i post my own question?? i have so many and im new to this forum.

 

[photonewbie86]

I really like the shot and like an aboce poster mentioned the lighthouse stands out to the pale bluse sky great job

 

[anatra]

one question i have actually kind of applies to this forum!
to TOMBLAZE -
in regards to getting a good shot of the sky and the clouds...this is something i constantly try to do! however, it seems like if i expose for the clouds, then the people who im shooting are too dark but if I do the opposite, the sky is blown out. how can i prevent this from happening?!

 

[anatra]

i want to get a new flash for my canon. i have a speedlite but im interested in the pocket wizard plus II. HOWEVER, the lighting that i want - I CANNOT THINK OF THE NAME!? basically its takes another person to hold, and they life it above the subject being shot to cast down light. it has a softbox and obviously can be controlled by the pocket wizard. help?!

 

[JasonLambert]

this is terrible - but how do i post my own question?? i have so many and im new to this forum.

Top left of the Photography Beginners' Forum & Photo Gallery page has a button "newthread". Click it and ask away!