Don’t “fix” your photos

New World Island, Newfoundland

I’ve been doing digital photography for a few years now, and I have to admit, there’s a lot to learn. No matter how skilled you are or how much preparation you put into each shot, it’s not easy to get the shot you want straight out of the camera. There has to be a certain amount of post processing. But hasn’t that always been the case? Some might think that in the days of film, very little photo manipulating was done. Quite the opposite. One of the greatest landscape photographers of all time, Ansel Adams, was a  master in the darkroom. This does not in any way diminish his ability as a photographer.It merely suggest that most artists need to present their work the way they see things, not the way a camera records it.

It seems odd that photographers get frowned on for editing their works-of-art while others, such as musicians, sometimes spend hours, days, and even weeks recording, editing, re-recording, tweaking voice recordings, fine tuning instruments, and altering acoustics until finally the right mix is produced. But, that’s ok. It’s what they’ve always done and people accept it.

So what’s the big issue about “fixing” photos? Until someone manufactures a camera that can “see” and record a scene the way the human eye can, photo tweaking will continue to be as important as the camera itself.

Try selling stock photos without editing. Try selling anywhere without editing. In today’s competitive world, you’ll become richer being a harmonica- tooting busker on the waterfront.

~ by spencedove on March 12, 2011.