Deep Thoughts About Photography
Well.....maybe not too deep, but a few thoughts anyway. The digital/computer age has changed the face of photography forever. Most of us have embraced this brave, new world, but I still run into some who insist that 'real' photographers shoot film and avoid the computer like the plague. Others have grudgingly switched to digital but insist that any type of computer manipulation is cheating. They inspect fellow photographers' work with a fine tooth comb for any hint of special post editing, although most will hesitantly accept a crop or exposure adjustment, or of course B&W or sepia. In the old days, even though there was dodging, burning, retouching, and other editing, it was difficult and time consuming and kept to a minimum. Now, with the click of a mouse, not only is traditional photo editing done in seconds, but there is a whole new world of textures, actions, effects, plugins, programs, readily available to all who wish to learn and use. Where a photograph used to pretty much start and end as a photograph, now an artist can use a photograph as a starting point, and end with a beautiful work of art that may or may not look anything like the original photograph. And that is O.K. !!! Artists, if they wish, can now use cameras, computers and a mouse or wacom tablet in place of easels, brushes and paints. Photography is art and is represented as the artist sees it, whether realistically, surrealistically, abstractly, impressionistically, (is that a word???), etc. Most of us love the freedom, creativity and fun this new age of photography has brought us, (and is there a wedding photographer alive who hasn't thanked his lucky stars on occasion when she was able to retrieve that ruined, once in a lifetime shot, with the help of Photoshop or some other computer program!) So, when people ask me if I have 'Photoshopped' my photos, I readily say "Yes, all of them, (except those taken for photo journalistic purposes.) Some are edited just a little, and some a lot!" It's all a matter of preference........
A little sharpening and exposure correction
Heavy vignette and more sharpening
Red channel B&W & several textures
And my favorite..... several textures, slight vignette, sharpen, vibrance
