NEVER USE BRIGHTNESS OR CONTRAST???

70Dstudent · Apr 2, 2017

Hey everybody I am new to site, and I joined because I have a question about editing photos, use of photoshop and brightness and contrast.

Been a photographer for about 2 years now, I do my best to do research and study everything about photography as I want to improve and get better. And I would say I can take criticism well, but I am always doubtful when people make statements that use the word "NEVER".

My photography professor asked me if I used brightness and/or contrast on my photos that I turned in. I told him yes, I used photoshopp. And then he preceded to tell me NEVER USE BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST ON YOUR PHOTOS.

Now he did say I could use auto contrast and auto brightness, and lightroom instead. But I don't really understand what the huge fuss what about using brightness and contrast on photoshop. I feel like I have seen people use it the way I did, with great results. Is there any other reasons for why you should never use brightness and contrast on your photos?

The photos were like a photo essay, candids of a friend taking pictures.

Peeb · Apr 2, 2017

I am ALWAYS skeptical of advice including "always".
I NEVER take advice including "never" without a grain of salt.

Related: In theory practice and theory are the same, but in practice they are not.

Overread · Apr 2, 2017

The best person to ask is your professor.

In photoshop there are multiple ways to get similar or the same effects. Indeed some of the processes on offer are simply a collection of simpler actions bundled together into a complete, commonly used package.

Now I can understand brightness being used in lightroom and not in photoshop, because in theory with lightroom you've got 100% of the data from the shot as you're working from the RAW and thus have the greatest potential for getting things to work as you want.

However it seems odd that he'd say "never" use the sliders, but to use the auto button; because to my mind auto isn't that productive nor that good. Sometimes it gets it right; but many times it won't. Furthermore from a teaching perspective he should be teaching you, not having you just use auto-editing settings because then you're not learning.

Choice in editing should always (ideally) come from a position of knowing MORE than you'll use or need too; so that when you make choices you have the option to go further or do different things. Rather than be restricted by what you don't know.

I would ask for greater clarification on their point; it might even be that you've gotten the wrong point and that they didn't mean what you've interpreted what they said to mean .

70Dstudent · Apr 2, 2017

When I look at auto, in most cases I feel it does too little. I can understand how the aspect of data is important, making lightroom a better option.
I needed to ask someone on the outside as I do not fully trust my professor nor am a huge fan of him. He's has the experience to backup his teaching, but he is panned by most students for his way of teaching.
Thanks! I really appreciate your take on this. :bouncingsmileys:

DarkShadow · Apr 2, 2017

I think the professor needs to take never use out of his teaching and stop pushing his opinions and stick to facts.

KmH · Apr 2, 2017

Lightroom's Develop module is the same parametric (non-destructive) editor - Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) - that was developed for, and remains a part of, Photoshop several years before Lr existed. So for all practical purposes Ps Camera Raw and Lr's Develop module are the same.

However Ps has non-destructive Adjustment Layers Lr doesn't have, and regular Ps layers can be converted to non-destructive Smart Object layers.

So it's difficult to understand what your professor was trying to convey to you.
I would not be surprised if it turns out you misunderstood what your professor said.

Overread · Apr 2, 2017

In my experience many professors or lecturers can have a lot of understanding and experience, but are often very poor teachers. It's not totally their fault* that they are not trained for it (I place that blame on the organisation that hires them partly); but it can mean that sometimes you have to pester them to go into more depth or t oget more understanding out of them.

Sometimes they can also get caught out because they simplify and quicken what they know to teach it as fast as possible; which can often go a little too far and suddenly cause confusion.

Again clarification is key and never be afraid to make THEM justify what they are teaching you; or to have them tell you of a key reference to read up on to better understand their position/argument/thinking.

*although in a subject like photography where they are essentially just teachers and not performing research I do wonder what else they do in institutions beyond teaching

zombiesniper · Apr 2, 2017

70Dstudent said:
My photography professor asked me if I used brightness and/or contrast on my photos that I turned in. I told him yes, I used photoshopp. And then he preceded to tell me NEVER USE BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST ON YOUR PHOTOS.

Now he did say I could use auto contrast and auto brightness, and lightroom instead.

As others have said it sounds like the instructor is either:

A - misunderstood bye you as to what he/she meant and why the advice was given, or

B - A very narrow minded person that is placing more emphasis on the steps taken than the final product.

Before trying to uncover the answer here I would ask the instructor why the statement was made and how you could achieve the effect you want with more control than an auto function.

DanOstergren · Apr 2, 2017

That's just your professor's opinion, and my opinion is that your professor is completely wrong. In my opinion you can use any tool to get to whatever end result that you want. It's HOW you use those tools that really matters, not that you used them. If you do use brightness and contrast, or any other adjustment for that matter, it is my belief that a good photo editor uses non-destructive techniques, so rather than applying the adjustments directly to your image, apply it using separate adjustment layers in photoshop. This also allows you to control the opacity and blending mode of the adjustment layers, as well as allows the use of masks to selectively control the areas you are adjusting. Because you'd be using adjustment layers, you're also not changing the original image, leaving it completely intact in case you need to undo any of the adjustments you made. Just my opinion though. I earn part of my living by retouching other photographer's work, so I know a thing or two about it.

Gary A. · Apr 2, 2017

I have no experience with LR ... but, as there are many different pathways to the same result(s) in PS, I suspect he may have wanted you to ... use Levels or Curves for your adjustments.

photo1x1.com · Apr 3, 2017

Yes and yes to what has been said. I also often read don´t use levels, don´t uns brightness and contract,... They say you have more control with curves. But I don´t always need that kind of control. Many times brightness and contrast works really well - other times not so much. Saying NEVER to use it is like saying never use the handbreak in a car.

loonatic45414 · Apr 3, 2017

I'm a film guy. Hardly touch digital except for scanning negatives into the computer. I do have an old school darkroom & work with chemicals.

Having said that, here's my take on it....

In film photography, certain amounts of light affect areas on the film differently which affect areas on the print differently. Sloppy technique is just taking the picture & working to lighten/darken or change contrast at the time of printing.

The accomplished artist would know immediately how settings at the camera & film development (type of developer chemical, temperature, agitation, length of development) affect the resulting image.

At the time of exposure, when you're analyzing your subject -- that's the time to know where you're headed with your shot, what you want to bring out, what message or feeling you want to convey. At that point, you compose your shot using both artistic vision and science (light meter, focus, depth of field, film type, etc) to achieve your vision, not when you're standing over the enlarger at 4am trying to make as little noise as possible between trips to the bathroom because you had too much to drink.

That's what his message means to me. Good luck.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

TCampbell · Apr 3, 2017

I think the word "never" is a bit of an overstatement. Brightness and contrast offer a simple adjustment that doesn't offer you much control. There are other ways to control the "brightness" or "contrast" of an image that offer a very high degree of control and I think possibly your instructor may have been trying to suggest that you use those other methods.

For example... let's just pick on "contrast". If you increase "contrast" then it stretches the tonal range of the image by trying to make the darks darker... and the brights brighter. But it does this equally. This means that in an effort to optimize say... the blacks... you may end up clipping off the whites. You have limited control because you don't get to control each tonal range independent of the others.

If you were to use the "curves" tool or even the "levels" tool, you'd be able to adjust the image to set a more appropriate white point and black point and you can optimize the whites and the blacks without one adjustment having an adverse consequence to the other tonal ranges in the image.