Lightroom & Photoshop!

[Larry Citra]

First of all, I really enjoyed Michael Wall's presentation last night, very artistic and gave me loads of ideas to try!

Now to the "Grit" ... over the past few years I have heard the statement from the audiences of photographers showing their work "ARE THESE IMAGES PHOTOSHOPPED" ... of course they are Photoshopped!!! Photoshop is not a dirty word, it is a fact of life.

Almost every serious photographer shoots in the RAW format, which means the image you see on the screen in Lightroom or Photoshop (or whatever software you use that supports RAW) is raw data and everything is zeroed out, producing a rather flat, lifeless looking image. This image must be processed in order to bring out the best in the image. If you are shooting in RAW and using the image right out of the camera you are cheating yourself. Remember too, if you are shooting JPEG images they are all processed by your camera on capture, so they are processed by the standards set by the camera manufacturer to give you a good looking image (they are, in essence, "Photoshopped" by your camera.

It should be noted that the image you see on your cameras LCD screen is a JPEG that has been processed by the camera ... even if you are shooting RAW.

As photographers and artists we do not deal in reality, unless you are a photo journalist (which I, and most of you are not) We use different focal lengths, different apertures to create sharpness or blurs, we crop, shoot low, shoot high, zoom in and out, in short we manipulate everything to give the effect we want. A friend of mine took a beautiful image of a reflection on a pond with reeds in the background. It looked like it was shot in some wooded wonderland when in reality it was shot in a gravel pit around the corner from his house. He had isolated this scene by the use of lens and angle, showing only what he wanted to show ... this is what's called art, it's what artist do! The word Photography means "Painting with Light".

Photoshop or Lightroom is where we, as artists, create or refine our art ... it's not a crutch, it's a tool, like a painter's brush. Next time you view a photographers image, please look at it as art and don't insult them with " Has that image been Photoshopped"

End Of Rant ...

[Bruce McPhee]

Thank you Larry, for raising this issue. You have pointed out, and clarified a fact of today's photography.You have also supplied people with an explanation and answer to help educate others about today's technology. 

[Larry Citra]

Thank you Bruce!

[Ross McLeod]

Well Said Larry  

I hope that this message gets out to as many people as possible.

[Simon Henson]

I too was uncomfortable with some of the questions asked of Michael last night, and I hope he understood that our membership comprises many different levels of photographic comprehension.

I have witnessed over the years since the Club's formation, many discussions/debates as to the definition of photography. It has become a matter more of interpretation, than definitive. In the end, it doesn't really matter. We are in the business of image making, by whatever means. The more important question might be, whether our images evoke an emotional reaction, a shared journey, a sense of aesthetic appreciation, or simply, makes us think.

Maybe the "Has that been Photoshopped?" folks are merely asking for their own understanding that they too might attempt those techniques.

Happy imaging, by whatever means.....

[Colton Prevost]

Well said

[Patricia Page]

Well said, Larry!  This issue is becoming very much more complex in that everyone has access to these tools now.

[Larry Citra]

Thanks Pat ... this really is one of my “Pet Peeves” for sure!

[Doug McMillin]

First of all, Larry, let me say that you speak well on this (now-well-worn) topic.

Second, let me paraphrase what I read today while viewing the 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' exhibit in Victoria: Let us acknowledge what we excessively manipulate. The rest of such is of course both normal and acceptable. It is only when one pretends otherwise that problems arise; that is the same as lying.

I tried to address this issue back in 2009, HERE.

[Bob Fenske]

Not a rant at all Larry. Very good reminders. 

[Wendy Rosier]

Thanks for the reminder Larry!

To add my two cents to the understanding of Lightroom/Photoshop

If we were shooting with film, we would take the exposed film and into the Darkroom and develope it then Print it using the tools of the aialable in the darkroom to dodge or burn - lighten or darken - creat double exposures etc...with the image to creat the print we want.

OK so we don't shoot with film anymore - well at least most of us don't - but we still take the shots and want to print them  and since we shoot digitally , we have to rely on digital darkrooms to get the print we want.

Tha's all Lightroom and Photoshop are - Digital Darkrooms.