Photo Editing

[Vegita182]

So with the availability of better and better cameras in smartphones and also having instant access to editing software. Where do most of you guys stand when it comes to editing your photos. As a whole does the photography community frown upon altering your images, as in changing the color of a flower or making a blue orchid an unnatural shade of blue. Or is it generally accepted and encouraged?

 

[weepete]

From my point of view most images need some kind of editing. If you shoot raw then that file format definatley needs edited.

How much can be done kinda depends on the image and what the goal is. I also think that there is a line between digital development and image manipulation. It also depends a lot on the context the final image will be viewed in.

With your example of changing the colour of an orchid, I'd probably shy away from that one as often we see these kind of tehniques used in an attempt to make a poorly exicuted shot "interesting" through masses of editing and that doesn't really work. Though if your goal was to produce a shot where the final image would be say an alien with a plant thats similar to an orchid and you usrd heavy editing to get you there that would be ok.

I think for me it depends on whither the viewer of an image expects to see a straight shot.

 

[Ysarex]

What photography community?

What does the term "editing" mean or imply? How can a digital image NOT be edited?

Joe

edit: Consider this analog film comparison. You put a roll of Kodachrome in a camera. Is that editing? You expose the film in the camera. Is that editing? You process the roll of film (Kodachrome processing was chemically standardized and not user adjustable). Is that editing? Once the film is dry you have your finished image. Was that image edited? Is there any kind of digital process that's analogous?

 

[waday]

As a whole does the photography community frown upon altering your images, as in changing the color of a flower or making a blue orchid an unnatural shade of blue. Or is it generally accepted and encouraged?

Depends on the end goal of the image.

 

[Designer]

So with the availability of better and better cameras in smartphones and also having instant access to editing software. Where do most of you guys stand when it comes to editing your photos. As a whole does the photography community frown upon altering your images, as in changing the color of a flower or making a blue orchid an unnatural shade of blue. Or is it generally accepted and encouraged?

As for me, extreme editing has its place, but I've not seen many good examples. The way I see it, there first needs to be a reason for extreme editing, then it should be done deftly and judiciously so as to emphasize the idea without causing the editing to be the thing people will notice and comment on.

That's the key; create your art as you see fit, but not just to rile the waters.

 

[Ysarex]

So with the availability of better and better cameras in smartphones and also having instant access to editing software. Where do most of you guys stand when it comes to editing your photos. As a whole does the photography community frown upon altering your images, as in changing the color of a flower or making a blue orchid an unnatural shade of blue. Or is it generally accepted and encouraged?

I saw this post before I saw your post with photos from your Samsung camera. Having seen those photos now I assume this post and that one are related.

It is of the nature of digital photos that they all require editing. So then what's the goal of the editing and how does the editing relate to and influence the content of the photo.

Let's do a comparison between two photos that are both very heavily edited. First your photo that begins your other thread:

And a very similar photo of mine. The photos are similar in that they are both backlit and have been heavily edited to counter some of the negative effects of the backlight.

In both photos the sky was too light and bright highlights in the sky were clipping. In your photo highlights are still clipped and you have green clouds in the sky which never occur naturally. On first seeing your photo my instant response was to think HDR and then cringe at the sight of the green clouds which appear toxic and deadly. The HDR processing of your photo has lifted the shadow area of the photo, dramatically reduced the contrast, and unnaturally increased the color saturation in a "vibrance" type manner.

I likewise darkened the sky and increased the color saturation of the sky. And I dramatically lifted the shadows in the photo and altered the white balance of the shadows. When you see my photo is the first thing that comes to your mind "heavily processed HDR" or do you see a river towboat? It's OK with me if you eventually notice the heavy processing work in my photo. It's not OK with me if that's the first thing you notice. It's also OK with me if you never notice the heavy-handed processing in my photo. I didn't take the photo as a vehicle to allow me to do HDR processing. I took a photo of a towboat.

How do you want people to react to your photo? After I noticed the ominous unnatural sky and toxic looking green clouds I saw the people. They're small but they're people. The group of three have their backs to the camera and I concluded they were looking at the sky. The woman closest to the camera appears to have her hands lifted to her face in a reaction of disbelief and horror. The woman walking toward them has her back to the sky and my thought was that she hasn't yet turned around to see what must soon be the cause of her imminent death and the apocalyptic eradication of life on the planet. What else could a sky like that mean?

It's all in the editing.

Joe

 

[Vegita182]

I like to bring out colors, contrasts and shadows that you don't find in the real world. Personally I find realistic photos boring. I agree with you that everyone has their own tastes. I also think that the more a photo is augmented the smaller the audience of people who would enjoy it exists.

 

[JacaRanda]

You own the camera, you on the software, you get to do what you want to do. Legally

 

[Ysarex]

I like to bring out colors, contrasts and shadows that you don't find in the real world.

If they're (colors) not found in the real world then you can't bring them out. You're inventing them and adding them in. Being somewhat semantic but it's an important distinction. Bright cyan/green clouds are completely unnatural so you can't in fact photograph bright cyan/green clouds. They're never there to be "brought out."

Joe