May 5
Editing
But what is a rule worth if you can’t make exceptions to it? I really liked the glory-of-the-snow image in the previous post, if not for the ugly strand of OOF grass in the background that I failed to notice during the shoot. I figured that it should be easy to fix it so I used the magic wand to separate the left side of the background from the flower and applied a generous dose of gaussian blur to it and Bob’s your uncle - I think the image works now!
I still have a problem though. I failed in my original mission, which was to create the final product in the camera. I don’t mind it if other photographers edit their pictures, I always think that as long as the finished product is good and the photographer admits the edits, then why not? Why can’t I allow the same liberty for myself? Why do I keep thinking that the end does not justify the means?
So this is my mantra for today. I like this image - edited!
Congrats for setting up your mind! Especially finns are known for their purity what comes to alcohol and nature photography. If I remember right, Jorma Luhta said something like this: “I don’t manipulate my pictures ’cause I’m so pure and noble.” I.e. “I don’t post process my pictures ’cause I’m so lazy.” I do agree with him, ’cause it’s cool to share an opinion with a pro :))
I do not believe in straight out of camera -shooting, no way. There’s no such camera that can produce the situation and its mood and feeling right. I’m the artist, I make my art look like me - at least I give it a try.
Manipulating and post processing are two different things. If I add or remove something, it should be mentioned. If I remove a dust bunny, who cares? If I decide to make levels or curves into the sky only, who cares? My purpose is to make the picture look like the way I saw it. Purism and art - let us keep them separate. BUT, let us keep ourselves straight and honest!
Sorry, the picture - Much better like this!
That’s certainly interesting thoughts… thanks for your insight! I’ve never thought of it like that, but I think that this may explain my approach to editing (or manipulating). The thing is, while I recognise photography as a form of art, I really have a hard time of recognising myself as an artist. When it comes down to it, photography is more of a technical challenge to me than artistic. I can’t say that I have any artistic vision whatsoever - I just know how I want my pictures to look like, and the look I’m going for can be achieved in the camera (which means that some manipulating may be involved before the picture is taken!). It has never occurred to me that I could take the pictures beyond that, I just haven’t felt the need - probably because of this artistic problem of mine…
Maybe this is just a stage I’m going through. Right now I want to achieve total confidence in my technical skills. Once I’ve done that, I can start developing a vision - or rather, the vision will gradually emerge and evolve on its own.
But I have to repeat what I mentioned before - I have absolutely no problems whatsoever with other photographers manipulating (i.e. editing the image beyond levels, saturation, USM, cloning of dust spots etc) their pictures, especially when the manipulation is disclosed. To each their own!