Straight from the camera

[Jeff1558 58]

I do basic editing to most of my pictures but I do not believe in composites.....

 

[Soocom1]

Eye of the beholder.

OUC is something I strived for for many years and wound up with what could be called garbage.
When I started doing color corrections in a lab with a Noritsu machine then moved on to the darkroom doing old school dodge and burn and some other forms of touch up I realized that most photographs will have some amount of post process. composite are made either very very good or very very bad! Especially the overly peach colored sunsets with birds in the background.

In most instances the picture you have in your head over what is recorded can be brought out through PP. but like many others I do strive to make it as little as possible.

Unless I am doing somethings specific, I try to go au-natural.

 

[Mike Drone]

Images straight from my camera a few minutes ago.

Sorry I couldn't resist... All these years and I still forget to push the rewind button on the bottom and destroy the film =[. Awesome thread =]

 

[Jeff G]

I never add elements to a photo unless it is for another purpose, such as humor, a collage, etc. I would never try to pass it off as an original photo though. I do however crop shots, or clone out unsightly blemishes and mild color correction.

 

[PJM]

I see no issue editing an image to make it look it's best. After all, that is my goal, to get a pleasing image. As with Jeff G, I don't add elements, but I have removed distractions.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I've done sports and events, who has time? who's going to wait for edits? (That's rhetorical...).

That's how I photograph anyway. I get it the way I want it. I know how to get proper exposures. I know how to frame and compose images, fast. Even in general taking pictures, some of my best that got submitted for juried art exhibits have been done on the fly, out the car window, and so on.

And even if there is time, once I take the picture I'm done with it and on to the next. If I'm using my digital camera I may need to brighten up the photos some for printing. That's about it most of the time.

To me it's similar to writing in that if you need to spend more time editing and rewriting than writing, you probably need to bring up your skill level in writing.

I've done some alternate processes. I agree if you do a composite, or double exposure, etc. it needs to be made clear that it's a composite or a photo illustration, etc.

 

[Mike Drone]

There seems to be two post with the same exact title and the same subject made minutes apart. They have different answers from different members. Any chance they can be merged together?

The current post your in is:
Straight from the camera by Jeff15

The other thread was started by Tracy55 found here:
Straight from the camera

Just checking...

Thanks mods and admins, you are awesome! =]

 

[snowbear126 57]

I think this one is a mistake; I'm guessing, by context of the first post, that New Post was created instead of a reply or it somehow got posted as new while/after I moved the original thread. I moved this one out of contests, where it definitely does not belong, but I'll have to get a real moderator or administrator to merge them.

Thanks.

 

[James Mitchell CPP]

I always and carefully edit my own image, indeed!!! After that, I honesty email them for the N4C Cometition, as always!!!

Stay Blessed!!!

 

[PixFixer]

I've done sports and events, who has time? who's going to wait for edits? (That's rhetorical...).

That's how I photograph anyway. I get it the way I want it. I know how to get proper exposures. I know how to frame and compose images, fast. Even in general taking pictures, some of my best that got submitted for juried art exhibits have been done on the fly, out the car window, and so on.

And even if there is time, once I take the picture I'm done with it and on to the next. If I'm using my digital camera I may need to brighten up the photos some for printing. That's about it most of the time.

To me it's similar to writing in that if you need to spend more time editing and rewriting than writing, you probably need to bring up your skill level in writing.

I've done some alternate processes. I agree if you do a composite, or double exposure, etc. it needs to be made clear that it's a composite or a photo illustration, etc.

I go for the image I had in my head when I decided to shoot it. If that means the digital version of dodge & burn for balance or to bring stuff out or subdue others, I do that. There are times I had to move some elements to get a better composition. All is good in my book.

Today it's so much easier to do than in my darkroom [which was B/W and Color]. Ya' gotta love that digital realm. It's seldom, even with good control to get in-camera exactly what you had in mind. There are always ways to improve the image and it's OK in my book to use them. That has been going on since photography began. It was good enough for Ansel Adams, it's good enough for me.

Being a purist can keep you from getting what you want in your image both artistically and commercially. I'm not a purist. I'd like to think I'm a photographic craftsman producing art as well as a product shot.

 

[Strodav]

Photography is a mixture of art, science, equipment, and skill. I try and get it "right" in the camera when possible, but what's wrong with saving that special image rather than deleting it. How about improving an image or applying my artistic abilities to create something new and unique. Sorry, but I don't want to be limited as I've spent too many hours studying the science and equipment to gain the skills that allow me to create.

Examples: Camera and lens have limited focal length, but I can use focus stacking (a composite) to overcome this limitation. Camera has a limited dynamic range, but I can bracket to encompass the entire range of the scene then build a composite to fit the dynamic range of my display or print. I can go on and on ...

 

[CherylL3 1]

Composites??? Never!! Just kidding. I edit all my photos with basic adjustments to a raw file. Portraits are touched up and hair fixed. I follow several FB photography pages. Some do basic edits and others change the sky. I am not a fan of the fake blur backgrounds.

 

[johngpt]

Coming from a drawing and painting background where elements are placed by the one creating the image, I don't feel any qualms about doing it in photos.
I clone out distracting elements. Like in photo restoration, I'll pull elements over or even from other photos of the same subject to get things as I wish.
I'll bracket exposures and mix in post processing. I'll create brackets using camera raw edits and then mix if I haven't shot bracketing.
I do lots of dodging and burning, primarily using luminosity based masks. I want the viewer's eye moving to where I choose, not limited by what was captured initially.
I'll create new areas of light and darkness to create the mood for which I was looking.
I create copies of the image in different color spaces and use channels and layers from those in the working image.
I use the LAB color space to expand the colors in images.
If there are areas in frame that don't work or are unbalanced in color, I paint what I want into them.
I'll color grade images. I'll use constrained color palettes.

I view the initial image capture as only the starting point for achieving a final image.
The camera is just the initial tool.

 

[Helengannon]

I make sure all of my images are very good straight out of camera but believe that they should be edited to give them a more professional look. It also means you can balance things like shadows / highlights which are difficult to balance in camera.

 

[johngpt]

I make sure all of my images are very good straight out of camera but believe that they should be edited to give them a more professional look. It also means you can balance things like shadows / highlights which are difficult to balance in camera.

Helen I looked at your baby photography website. Excellent, excellent work.
I did a double take as I read your "Hello, I'm Helen" thinking at first you wrote that you're a mum of 21.
Then I realised that it said "As a mum of 2 (pause) I know just how quickly... "
I had to laugh at myself for my misreading it.

And your headshot site shows excellent work.