Is it the true art of photography

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Permalink Reply by Randall Sherman on November 2, 2009 at 9:38pm

I am new to this group and I joined mainly to play "devil's advocate." You seem like a great guy Dennis but my problem with "don't touch it" is well illustrated by your comment. I see 4 or 5 easily edited mistakes in your text -- a few of which actually change your intent. I believe it is the same with the image we download from the card. Why not take a few minutes and "edit" the "before before's" or "eventhough's" in our shots? The viewer will appreciate it and your improved photo will better represent you.
I do agree with Laura that we need to determine if we are striving for "photo realism" or creating "photo art" and I accept that this user group is not for the second purpose. However, it is naive to think some programming technician in Japan or China can write an algorithm that is the be all and end all for converting captured pixel data into compressed .jpg files! I think I can do a better job of presenting my vision than they can -- perhaps that is why I shoot RAW?

Permalink Reply by Scott D. Fels on November 18, 2009 at 5:49pm

Dennis, I agree with you about editing for that special shot. I strive for that best shot, too, but I choose the time of day, or the angle or some other factor. I always try for the best shot right out of the camera. I am not big on editing, really all I may do is crop out any vignetting I have due to filters or lens setting. Photography is a reflection by the phiotographer, and what he or she may see and want to portray. A picture is not necessaruily good because of the technical aspects, but rather the photographer captured something in a special way or something they wanted to share. If the photographer is successful doing that, then it is a good shot becasue they captured what THEY saw in the way THEY saw it! Check out some of mine. I am happy with them as they are the way I saw them at the time. Happy Shooting!