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Position:Home>Visual Arts> What are the "rules" for using photoshop to edit photographs?Question: What are the "rules" for using photoshop to edit photographs!? Is it okay to edit your photographs using photoshop- or is editing a professional/artistic quality photo considered cheating!?
I know there are a lot of interesting effects such as making your photos look old, is this okay if it is not the natural state of the photo!? I am a new photographer and am an artist who is used to creating things with my two hands, so it seems like cheating to alter a photo!. what are your opinions!?Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: There is no cheating!. There are several ways to answers this: 1) Am I shooting an image for the news!? Do I have a restriction on post processing I need to adhere!? If so, follow the post processing rules and you'll be fine!. If you do not, you take the chance of, at a minimum, having your image rejected, and at the other extreme, being black balled from editorial or news type work!. 2) Think about it this way!. "Photoshopping" is post processing, really no different than doing post processing in a wet darkroom!. Some of the most celebrated and famous photographers of all time have stated that an image is not complete until it is printed!. Contrast, brightness, colors, dodging and burning, cross processing, pushing, pulling, are all things that can be done after the fact!. Look at imges from Ansel Adams, W!. Eugene Smith, Philippe Halsmann and ask yourself if they were cheaters!? They and many others processed their images extensively in the darkroom or performed double exposures in camera to get the images they wanted!. 3) If you are producing a piece of art, then the world is your burrito!. Manipulate until the artwork is completed to your satisfaction!. If you are working professionally for a client and they require an image to look a certain way(I am doing some 1950's-esque pin-up model shots - converted in photoshop to look like the paintings of that era) then you do what you need to do to make the image look right!. The fashion industry retouches their images as does Hollywood promo shots!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Most in the artistic community split this into two parts: a photographer would consider editing a photo as "cheating" if the person who took it tried to pass it off as an original unedited photo!. Most argue, that at the point of editing a photo becomes no longer a photo but a piece of art!. Such is the case with retouching and such!. However, in a less formal environment editing is commonly used (say for instance a photographer is tasked with taking photos for some gathering)!. In this case the photographs are being commercialized which legitimizes the use of editing!.Www@QuestionHome@Com There are some things that you just can't do in the camera!.!.!. so no, it's not cheating!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Its only cheating if you tell people it is unedited!. But same goes with the dark room!. For some reason there are some people that consider anything done in the dark room art, but crap laziness if done on the comp!. Its the generation gap!. You cant edit your picture to make up for poor quality photos no matter which venue you use!. It will be obvious thats what you are doing!. But using post processing tools, be it in the dark room or on the comp are fine to use!. I personally love to change colors and mess with curves and balance and hue and saturation!. But I alse get accused of using photoshop to cover for poor quality pics by some of the pros!. This is how I feel!.!.!. If you like it, its art, and thats all that matters!. Its kind of interesting when you post pics around here!. People on this board will tear them apart because they dont follow the rules!. While on the other visual arts boards, you will get opinions based on asthetics and creativity!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Most of what one does in photoshop they have to learn to do, then invest time and effort to tweak the photo to make it what they want!. To me that is art!. You're using your creativity and putting in time and work!. I don't think you should have to do it "in the darkroom" for it to be art!. Technology has made things simpler and there's nothing wrong with that!. It's STILL WORK and to me, it's still art!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I've never understood this anti-digital art thing!. It's just a different medium!. Most of the things that photoshop does can be done, albeit probably in a more complicated fashion, in the darkroom anyway!.Www@QuestionHome@Com The only time it is cheating is if you alter copyrighted material and then re-distribute it as your own!. In photo journalism it is important that the 'art' convey truth!. So alteration other than for quality and clarity would be suspect!. But in art, the 'truth' is a creation!. By all means, create!Www@QuestionHome@Com Even the hard core black and white film nuts dodge, burn, enhance contrast and crop images!. And have been doing it for decades!. It's the result that counts, not how you get there!. Just make sure your image matches the "market" you're intending it for =] Play around with photoshop as much as you can,and eventually you'll get a feel of your own personal style and how much manipulation you like!. Maybe just a sharpen, maybe a complete overhaul!. And if you're good at arts and drawing, may I suggest you try and get to grips with Adobe illustrator!. Mixing photoshop and illustrator, in the right hands, can create some of the most amazing images!. As you can physically draw things in that weren't there and so on and so forth =]Www@QuestionHome@Com |