Did you edit?!

[gsgary]

Every photo has to be edited, Tuesday night it took me 3 hours in the darkroom to get 1 print how i wanted it yet Wednesday night i got 6 prints in the same time

 

[Ysarex]

Every photo has to be edited, Tuesday night it took me 3 hours in the darkroom to get 1 print how i wanted it yet Wednesday night i got 6 prints in the same time

All digital photos and negatives have to be edited -- not every photo.

 

[gsgary]

It needs your finger and thumb cloning out

 

[Ysarex]

It needs your finger and thumb cloning out

That's how you know it's completely real and not "shopped."

Joe

 

[Buckster]

It needs your finger and thumb cloning out

That's how you know it's completely real and not "shopped."

Joe

Exactly:

 

[Scatterbrained]

It needs your finger and thumb cloning out

That's how you know it's completely real and not "shopped."

Joe

Exactly:

 

[_t_is_me_]

There are huge numbers of tutorials already done and on the web rather than creating on order how-to's on specific images. That's a very mechanical way to approach post- processing.
It is much more important to learn to look at the image and see what you want to change and then search out the appropriate tutorials.

This isn't as true as you think. Learning is not as simple as that. How can I search out a tutorial if I have NO IDEA where the edits even begin or what they are called?

The most important part of getting better is first to learn to see the shortcomings in your images and only then to search out the techniques to fix them.

Cute.

I see shortcomings in every single photo I take. I am also new and have no idea how to fix most of them. So, like I said before, simple telling me that an image is underexposed doesn't help me a whole lot.

I thought this was a place for learning. Maybe I was mistaken and that is asking too much.

 

[runnah]

I thought this was a place for learning. Maybe I was mistaken and that is asking too much.

It is but it's also not a one sided affair. You need to be open to any and all criticism. It may sting your pride to hear that the photo you love isn't that well received. But it's all part of the gig. Eventually you will get to a point where you can pick and choose who to listen to and who not to.

 

[limr]

I thought this was a place for learning. Maybe I was mistaken and that is asking too much.

It is but it's also not a one sided affair. You need to be open to any and all criticism. It may sting your pride to hear that the photo you love isn't that well received. But it's all part of the gig. Eventually you will get to a point where you can pick and choose who to listen to and who not to.

And one of the things that the person giving the critique needs to remember is what it was like to not know a lot about editing and be able to explain to a person who doesn't automatically know what to do. Someone more experienced can hear "It's underexposed" and know how to fix that. Someone who is new to editing won't know how to fix it. They don't know what tool to use. But if someone says, "It's underexposed, so why don't you try this mask or this other one?" THEN that person will know better what tool to research and practice with. This is not an undue burden on the critiquer. It doesn't require step-by-step instructions. It is simply providing a direction for the beginner who doesn't even know what a mask is used for, never mind how to actually use it adeptly.

If I told my writing students that they should "just know" what needs to be revised in their essays, I would be a terrible teacher. I have to tell them, "You have run-ons, subject-verb agreement issues, and you need specific examples in your body paragraphs." THEN they go and look at their notes about these issues, do some practice, and figure out what I mean by "specific examples." Sometimes they come back to me to clarify, or they go to their book or the internet. That's their end of the deal. But I have to give them more useful feedback beyond, "Your paragraphs are underdeveloped and your grammar needs work."

 

[runnah]

If I told my writing students that they should "just know" what needs to be revised in their essays, I would be a terrible teacher. I have to tell them, "You have run-ons, subject-verb agreement issues, and you need specific examples in your body paragraphs." THEN they go and look at their notes about these issues, do some practice, and figure out what I mean by "specific examples." Sometimes they come back to me to clarify, or they go to their book or the internet. That's their end of the deal. But I have to give them more useful feedback beyond, "Your paragraphs are underdeveloped and your grammar needs work."

I agree and disagree.

Yes the teacher needs to clear in their comments but it's also important for the student to go the extra mile and learn on their own.

But what I think a lot of people tend forget or ignore is that you are on a forum on the INTERNET! If I see a term here that I don't know I take 2 seconds to open a new tab and google it!

 

[Ysarex]

There are huge numbers of tutorials already done and on the web rather than creating on order how-to's on specific images. That's a very mechanical way to approach post- processing.
It is much more important to learn to look at the image and see what you want to change and then search out the appropriate tutorials.

This isn't as true as you think. Learning is not as simple as that. How can I search out a tutorial if I have NO IDEA where the edits even begin or what they are called?

The most important part of getting better is first to learn to see the shortcomings in your images and only then to search out the techniques to fix them.

Cute.

I see shortcomings in every single photo I take. I am also new and have no idea how to fix most of them. So, like I said before, simple telling me that an image is underexposed doesn't help me a whole lot.

I thought this was a place for learning. Maybe I was mistaken and that is asking too much.

This is a very good place to learn -- time and patience. It is an open forum and anyone can participate within the limits of the forum rules so you won't always get everyone giving you the same answer -- this thread you started is evidence of that. It won't take long for you to figure out where the better answers are coming from. You need to understand that anyone offering you answers or critique is doing so freely on their dime so....

Telling you a photo is underexposed is very helpful. The photo you posted of the pelican was too dark and also too low contrast. You got that now from multiple good sources; Lew, Braineack, and I'll add my assertion to the same. What you want to do now is start to figure out why the photo is that way and how you can do better next time. We will help you with that and we do have the answers. Nobody is going to write you out a photo class in a single thread or post but you've already got some suggestions of places to look.

Re-post the pelican photo with a question of why it's not better as it was delivered by your camera. That's where you want to look for what to do. The pelican photo as you posted it directly from the camera is a bad place to start in order to try and make a good photo. Rather than edit that to try and repair it (yep I just said repair) -- rather than try and repair it ask instead why it came out of the camera broken in the first place.

Joe

 

[limr]

If I told my writing students that they should "just know" what needs to be revised in their essays, I would be a terrible teacher. I have to tell them, "You have run-ons, subject-verb agreement issues, and you need specific examples in your body paragraphs." THEN they go and look at their notes about these issues, do some practice, and figure out what I mean by "specific examples." Sometimes they come back to me to clarify, or they go to their book or the internet. That's their end of the deal. But I have to give them more useful feedback beyond, "Your paragraphs are underdeveloped and your grammar needs work."

I agree and disagree.

Yes the teacher needs to clear in their comments but it's also important for the student to go the extra mile and learn on their own.

Of course. If the student isn't doing any work to practice and strengthen their weaknesses, then that's his or her failure. But if I say "Your grammar needs work" and the student says, "Which grammar points?" that does not mean the student is unwilling to do the work. It just means that the student would like more guided feedback so they don't spend two hours on nouns and articles when they really need help with verb tense.

But what I think a lot of people tend forget or ignore is that you are on a forum on the INTERNET! If I see a term here that I don't know I take 2 seconds to open a new tab and google it!

If you google 'underexposed,' is it going to come up with "use a mask to correct underexposed pictures'? Or is it going to give you a gazillion results, some of them relating to photography and some not, and of those related to photography, how many of them will point you in a direction to help you edit in order to correct underexposed? If someone says "layering mask" and the person then googles that, it's more likely to lead something useful without slogging through all the other random crap that comes up in a google search.

I am not absolving the student from the burden of putting in the work to improve. But I am accepting the responsibility that if I really am interested in someone else learning, I need to give them something to work with that is actually useful. And I should take into consideration that someone brand new might need a little bit more guidance than the shortcuts we are all used to taking with those who are no longer beginners.

Edit: So much of this depends on how the question is asked. If someone is asking simply "What's wrong with the photo?" then yes, saying "underexposed" is an answer. If someone is asking specifically "What can I do to improve this photo?" then "underexposed" is an incomplete answer and possibly not quite as useful as you might think if the person asking the question is a beginner. Again, someone well-versed in Photoshop might see "underexposed" and think "Ah, I have to do x or y." Someone who is just starting out sees "underexposed" and think, "Okay, now what? Where do I even start?"

 

[runnah]

OK again but Exposure is arguably the most important part of photography, second being focus. That would be like me showing up to your class and not knowing how to read.

 

[limr]

OK again but Exposure is arguably the most important part of photography, second being focus. That would be like me showing up to your class and not knowing how to read.

Again, it comes down to what the question is being asked. "How do I get better better exposure in my pictures?" vs "How can I fix a picture that has been underexposed?" If the learner doesn't even know what question to ask, then we ask our own questions (and I have seen this happen many times on this forum) to narrow down what that learner needs.

As for a student showing up in my class and barely knowing how to read? That's unfortunately happened

 

[runnah]

OK again but Exposure is arguably the most important part of photography, second being focus. That would be like me showing up to your class and not knowing how to read.

Again, it comes down to what the question is being asked. "How do I get better better exposure in my pictures?" vs "How can I fix a picture that has been underexposed?" If the learner doesn't even know what question to ask, then we ask our own questions (and I have seen this happen many times on this forum) to narrow down what that learner needs.

As for a student showing up in my class and barely knowing how to read? That's unfortunately happened

In that case I have a hard time justifying my time if someone isn't even willing to learn the basics. Everyone is doing this for free and it's insulting for someone to not even google basic stuff before expecting other to answer their easily answerable question.