Digital manipulations

[jonix]

My personal criteria for a good image is the same as it is for good music. If it makes me feel anything, it's good.

"If it sounds good, it is good!" - Duke Ellington

couldn't agree with you more

 

[jghflash]

As the photograph is shot on film, it really is nothing......at least nothing recognizable to the average person. It has to be translated from the negative into what we "thought" we saw when we shot the picture.......and in that translation we make it what we want it to be. As many have said before, some level of composition, exposure, sharpness (assuming that is what you want), etc. has to there in the negative or there may never be a pleasing result, but it is still what "make" of it that we view.

Digital simply let's us do the process of "developing and making the picture that we see" much quicker. The result is still what we thought we saw. In the end, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, a good photograph is something that pleases each one of us.

30 years ago I had a black and white and color dark room and spent many hours "manipulating" my images to be what I thought they should be. Today I spend many hours in front of the flat screen playing with CS2.......is it really any different? More importantly, does it matter? The beauty of all photography is that we get the chance to create something and make it what we want it to be. I may not know much.....but I know what I like! Tke your pictures nd do what YOU feel is right with them. If that makes you happy then you have created something special and that's all that matters.

 

[Mike Veitch]

my personal pet peeve with digital? cropping...

I teach a lot of people to take photographs, and i teach them to get close and to get the shot. Too many times i have had someone say "well, as long as i get what i want in the frame i can crop later, i have 8mp to work with" GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...... i hate that statement. i think in my portfolio of 10 000 photos i might have 8 that i have cropped. i hate cropping, cropping is a cop out..... if you don't get the photo you want, throw it out and take it again, don't crop. But thats just me!

i have had many an interesting theoretical argument about this with many full time professional photographers, including people i teach workshops with!!

Personally, i can't stand it...

Why do i bring this up? well.... obviously it is much easier to crop in the digital world than on film. And.. the OP (sorry to pick on you) states that he/she has no problem with cropping or sharpening..

Soooo... basically what i am saying, colour correction, sharpening, cropping, etc etc etc. it all comes down to personal preference and capturing what YOU saw in the pic and showin it to your audience. sometimes that means cropping, sometimes colour correction etc

Do i think it is right to copy and paste a part of one pic to another and call it an original photo? no... and to be honest, serious photographers do not do that. you will find the words digital composite or some such on most stock agency sites for those...


If the original poster is talking about competitions and contests then yes i agree, we need to put a limit on what can be done there (tortuga has stated that a few times) and thankfully most competitions have done. thats great and i appreciate it...


however, what digital has done for me? with the ease and relatively cheap way of people to get into photography.....i now have to really work on my composition to stand out in the crowd and therefore make sales and that is what i rely on... my PS skills suck azzz... digital has made me a better photographer through the eye... not the computer..

 

[pakman]

my PS skills suck azzz...

well if u spent more time on your PC learning CS instead of downloading pics from FHM and Maxim you might actually pick up some photoshop skills...

 

[Mike Veitch]

well if u spent more time on your PC learning CS instead of downloading pics from FHM and Maxim you might actually pick up some photoshop skills...

my fave art director for one of the mags i work with used to work as part time art for FHM.... clonin out nipples! hahahhahaha

 

[pakman]

clonin out nipples! hahahhahaha

is that in the curriculum for our class next month???

 

[Mike Veitch]

is that in the curriculum for our class next month???

you get the pics... i will put some serious study into finding ways to do that... hours and hours of study

 

[Jcsgt]

my personal pet peeve with digital? cropping...

I teach a lot of people to take photographs, and i teach them to get close and to get the shot.

So Dennis really is getting that close? And you taught him how to do that?

 

[Jamdiver]

So Dennis really is getting that close? And you taught him how to do that?

Mike is the master .

He's even given me a bit of advice over the internet.
Best advice ever is 'fill the frame', get closer.......... and when you think you're close enough... GET CLOSER!!!

 

[bladephotog]

I agree for the most part. But there is a big difference between cropping for aestetic reasons and cropping because you weren't close enough. Some times a good crop can really help a photo.

my personal pet peeve with digital? cropping...

I teach a lot of people to take photographs, and i teach them to get close and to get the shot. Too many times i have had someone say "well, as long as i get what i want in the frame i can crop later, i have 8mp to work with" GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...... i hate that statement. i think in my portfolio of 10 000 photos i might have 8 that i have cropped. i hate cropping, cropping is a cop out..... if you don't get the photo you want, throw it out and take it again, don't crop. But thats just me!

i have had many an interesting theoretical argument about this with many full time professional photographers, including people i teach workshops with!!

Personally, i can't stand it...

Why do i bring this up? well.... obviously it is much easier to crop in the digital world than on film. And.. the OP (sorry to pick on you) states that he/she has no problem with cropping or sharpening..

Soooo... basically what i am saying, colour correction, sharpening, cropping, etc etc etc. it all comes down to personal preference and capturing what YOU saw in the pic and showin it to your audience. sometimes that means cropping, sometimes colour correction etc

Do i think it is right to copy and paste a part of one pic to another and call it an original photo? no... and to be honest, serious photographers do not do that. you will find the words digital composite or some such on most stock agency sites for those...


If the original poster is talking about competitions and contests then yes i agree, we need to put a limit on what can be done there (tortuga has stated that a few times) and thankfully most competitions have done. thats great and i appreciate it...


however, what digital has done for me? with the ease and relatively cheap way of people to get into photography.....i now have to really work on my composition to stand out in the crowd and therefore make sales and that is what i rely on... my PS skills suck azzz... digital has made me a better photographer through the eye... not the computer..