ART How much is too much?

[Collective]

When it comes to photo editing...

Sorry if I'm inquiring on a subject that's already been discussed recently, but it got me thinking tonight. I went out with a friend and did a brief photo-shoot at sunset/nighttime. When I got home I ended up doing a fair amount of editing in Photoshop - sometimes it was minimal like cropping, other times I needed to adjust the contrast/exposure settings. I'm still VERY new at this photography thing, but I feel like I've been doing too much editing on the pictures I take.

So I guess my question is, with more practice is it safe to say that I'll eventually get better at shooting pictures exactly the way I want? Or even then, how much editing do you photo-gurus do on your photos?

Or is it even a combination of the two.

It's not that I'm getting discouraged, but sometimes I suppose I feel like I'm cheating when I enhance my photos.

 

[Jbrown]

I figure once you get good, you shouldn't have to do too much editing, since you'll get exposure, framing etc right.

But it all depends on what you want pics too look like

 

[isaac86hatch]

Who cares? Edit til your heart's content.

 

[Collective]

Who cares? Edit til your heart's content.

Well I understand that photography is an incredibly subjective thing - I'm taking a photography course in college right now, and my instructor essentially relies on Photoshop for everything. But at the same time I've met various photographers that hate this method because they see it as a form of cheating and masking less talent. I've seen some incredible photographs here and I'm just curious if the masses choose to edit or to go make it all count at the time of the shot.

But I guess you two are right. It depends on how you want the shot to look - and there are many methods that are unattainable from a camera alone.

 

[Spurious]

Knowing how to edit photos is easy, doing fancy Photoshop bullshit is easy. Knowing when to stop and how to be subtle is where the skill comes in, but that really doesn't answer your question, I just like saying it.

As for editing, I do something to just about every photo I shoot and keep, but 99% of the time it's for style and not correcting an error, so as time goes on you'll use Photoshop as a photo enhancement tool instead of a correction utility. 90% of photos benefit from sharpening or contrast, both of which your camera does poorly, or at least poorly compared to Photoshop, and you shouldn't feel like you're cheating because of it. Sometimes a scene makes it impossible to get the perfect shot, like a streetlight, times like that Photoshop changes the world to fit your vision.

If you've ever seen a truly amazing photo that was taken after 2004 you can bet your sweet noobie ass it's been in Photoshop. It's silly to think of it as a crutch instead of what it is, which is the single most revolutionary tool to ever happen to digital photography.

 

[isaac86hatch]

Well I understand that photography is an incredibly subjective thing - I'm taking a photography course in college right now, and my instructor essentially relies on Photoshop for everything. But at the same time I've met various photographers that hate this method because they see it as a form of cheating and masking less talent. I've seen some incredible photographs here and I'm just curious if the masses choose to edit or to go make it all count at the time of the shot.

But I guess you two are right. It depends on how you want the shot to look - and there are many methods that are unattainable from a camera alone.

Yeah, it's very subjective but in the end the only thing that matters is that YOU are happy with the finished product.

The other thing I have learned is that most of the people who say "it's cheating" have no idea how to manipulate photos in the way that they claim to hate so they just bitch about it under the "it's too much post processing" banner. The fact remains that the crazy HRDvignettingblackandwhitedivehill looks cool to a lot of people.

 

[Collective]

Thanks for the replies, folks. That really helps.

I'd say you're right about the people who don't know anything about Photoshop. I've definitely come across people like that!

 

[jared_IRL]

Knowing how to edit photos is easy, doing fancy Photoshop bullshit is easy. Knowing when to stop and how to be subtle is where the skill comes in, but that really doesn't answer your question, I just like saying it.

As for editing, I do something to just about every photo I shoot and keep, but 99% of the time it's for style and not correcting an error, so as time goes on you'll use Photoshop as a photo enhancement tool instead of a correction utility. 90% of photos benefit from sharpening or contrast, both of which your camera does poorly, or at least poorly compared to Photoshop, and you shouldn't feel like you're cheating because of it. Sometimes a scene makes it impossible to get the perfect shot, like a streetlight, times like that Photoshop changes the world to fit your vision.

If you've ever seen a truly amazing photo that was taken after 2004 you can bet your sweet noobie ass it's been in Photoshop. It's silly to think of it as a crutch instead of what it is, which is the single most revolutionary tool to ever happen to digital photography.

You stop editing when the picture on your computer matches the picture in your head.

 

[wizeguy4]

dont edit more than your marketing skill. as long as you can convince people dogshit is art AND beautiful, edit till it looks like dogshit.