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Question: Back in the day, were photographers naturally better at shooting!? !?
Because they were not Dependent on photoshop to fix little mistakes!?

Just curious to see the feedback i get from This question

NathanWww@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
there has always been some kind of darkroom magic that photographers had access too just in case!.!.!.
i have been taught to get the shot in the camera and depend on my eye and lighting and the setting, and not to depend on post processing so much!. cropping can help with composition, but only so much!. and photoshop can deal with bad lighting but only so much!. it is much easier to compose and light the shoot well in the beginning and do a minimum of post processing!.
photoshop isn't a replacement for knowledge, training, experience and talent!. and work!.!.!.sometimes it is just plain hard work to get up early and get out and go to shoot something when it is cold and misty and snowy and icy but the conditions are right for the shot!.!.!.and to get out of a warm van and set up a tripod and camera in the cold and wind to get the shot you want, and freeze your tail off taking several timed exposures!.!.!.
this isn't a timed exposure in the cold and wind at night, but it is an example of my photography, my lovely and talented wife posed for me: http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/giltwerks/3!.!.!.
it ain't perfect, but that's part of the charm!. merry christmas!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yes!. I think great photographers are as great now as then, but the average picture taker then was better than the average picture taker today!. (I say picture taker because I am speaking about everyone holding a camera, not just professionals or hobbyist)

Today's easiness of photography has made it accesable to everyone!. Back in the day you HAD to learn exposure and basics of photography in order to take a picture that was remotely decent!. Today, even a minimally-trained monkey can press a button on auto-focus, auto exposure point and shoot camera!.

However, today, even professionals are a wee bit dependant on the auto everything!. Back in the day, a good professional could look at the light and know what to set the camera to for proper exposure!. Some pros can do that today, but there are even pros who are dependent on the computer to constantly think for them!.

Photoshop is a useful tool to help eliminate minor flaws in a photo!. However, some use it as a crutch, and many see it as a replacement for good technique!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't think they were necessarily natuarally better at shooting!. I think when they were journeymen in photography they were forced to learn the basics better as there were not some of the cheats that are here today and there was the penalty of cost associated with mistakes!. I am not against using photoshop, autofocus , VR/IS or any other technology breakthrough!. I am against people thinking that they do not have to take the time to learn the craft because of the technology!. Bad habits and practice are still bad habits and practice even if I get lucky enough to be able to hide them later!. And if I can take a bad photo and make it acceptable with photoshop think of what I could do if I actually started with a great photo!. Yes in the old days we would dodge and burn in the darkroom, under expose and over develop to increas contrast, make mats to selectively expose parts of the paper and so on!. Thats not too different than what people do with photoshop today but still the emphasis then as it should be now was to get as much right in camera as you can!.

I have said before I do not know if there are porportionally any more bad photographers today than there were in the days of film being the main medium !. But the internet sure has made it easier for people to share bad photos!. And one of my first photography teaches told me " One of the big differenence between a good photographer and a poor one is that no one sees the good photographters mistakes!. "Www@QuestionHome@Com

A good photographer had to work hard at it then and still have to work hard at it!.

Think about it!. What is "easier!?" Taking a good shot with one click of the camera shutter, or taking the picture, uploading it into the computer, starting Photoshop,opening up the digital file, selecting the proper tool(s) and then going to work on the image to, finally, get it "right!.!?"

Please understand, I am not averse to "fixing little mistakes" in Photoshop, but I work VERY hard to get it right the first time!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I'm sure I'm going to get voted thumbs down for this answer, but oh well!. Ask me if I care!.!.!.

Yes, I think that, overall, photography has degraded because of people relying too much on image manipulation!. I think the problem is the mentality people have since digital point and shoot cameras became popular!. I have seen a trend in the past 5 or 6 years or so, where people are forgetting how to even use a camera!. They don't even know really simple things like holding the camera steady, or making sure that there is enough light!. They think that EVERYTHING is just fixed on a computer!. Look at how many questions you see here from people asking how to "photoshop" their pictures!.!.!.and it's always a blurry, underexposed, pixelated picture taken from a digital camera!.

The problem is that people who have never used a film camera and have only used digital cameras (especially point and shoot digital cameras) have no reference!. They think that any camera is just another electronic device, and they don't understand even simple, basic things about how to use a camera!. People are forgetting basic things that everyone knew less than 10 years ago!.

Just do a random image search on Google, Flickr or especially MySpace and look at the pictures you'll see online!. I honestly took better pictures when I was 8 years old!. But everyone seems to think that they can just take bad snapshots with a cheap digital camera and then "photoshop" it to make it look good!.

I'm not some old man who's talking about something 20 or 30 years ago either (I'm only 31)!.!.!.I'm talking about recently, within the past 5 or 6 years!

So YES, I think that in general photographers were better in the past, because they HAD to get it right the first time!. They used manual exposure, and they were intimately familiar with photographic techniques!. And yes, REAL photographers don't need Photoshop!. I use completely manual 35mm and 120 film cameras, with NO editing!. I also develop my own B&W film and prints!. If people got along just fine for nearly 200 years with no computers and no "photoshopping" then you don't need it now!. also, don't anyone bother trying to give me the tired argument that "photoshop is the same as what you did in the darkroom"!.!.!.!.no, it's NOT!. Making darkroom prints is a TRUE, hands-on process, working directly with light!. also, when you make darkroom prints, you have to start with a good negative!. You have to get the picture the best you can, in the CAMERA!. That's a lot different than how people think that they can just click buttons and move sliders in Photoshop and "fix" a crappy picture!.

also, like I said I was taking better pictures than most people take now, when I was 8 years old!. I could show you pictures that me and my friends took when I was a kid, even with a disposable film camera!.!.!.and they were better than the crap you'll see on the internet these days!. At least with fim, it forced you to have more discipline because you had a limited number of pictures, and every shot costs you money!. So you're going to be extra careful to try to get the picture right the first time!.

But getting back to your question!.!.!.yes, I think that even photographers were better in the past than some are now!. A someone else said, even professional photographers are starting to get a little lazy!.

I have a friend who is going to major in journalism and he's studying photography!. He started with film, but his parents bought him a digital SLR!. He admitted that he doesn't even know how to use it, and he just shoots in auto mode! He got a $500 DSLR from his parents!.!.!.and he's just treating it like a cheap point and shoot camera!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yes and no!.

There are many people today who are lazy photographers and use PhotoShop to fix there mistakes instead of shooting it right the first time!. That being said most professional photographers worth their salt do not need PhotoShop to take good images!.

However, unlike the moron who claims that "real photographers don't use Photoshop" and mistakenly believes that wedding photographers are somehow lesser photographers; most of us consider PhotoShop and Lightroom welcome additions to the tools at our disposal!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Fifty years ago, (and earlier) photography was quite expensive to do!. People took more care and only pressed the shutter when they knew they had a great image!. They also had to use their brains to work out exposures and shutter speeds etc!.

A comment on the negative comments about Photoshop in other answers!.

I use it always!.

If you shoot in RAW mode and then process this in Photoshop, you're not doing anything different than Ansel Adams did to negatives in the darkroom!. You simply make the most of the available information!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

If you were to look at the negatives of some of the great photographs from "In the day" you would see that they are not the same as the final product you know!. Photo manipulation has been going on from the start of photography!. In the darkroom you see that you don't just shine the light for x number of seconds and develop!. Almost every photograph has to be burned or dodged here or there!. Editing is not some new things!. Why it seems like they might have been better is photography was not always something that anyone could do but even more important the world was not inundated with photographs!. Each image was carefully worked before it was shown the the public!. In the modern era photography is more accessible to the every man and everywhere you look there is a photo!. Because of this pictures lose what made them special in the first place!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

When you say "photographers" I'm thinking you mean either professionals or advanced amateurs and not the person with an all-auto point & shoot!.

I have to come down on the side of the old-timers since I am one!. I believe that photographers used to take more time to get it as right in the camera as possible!.

I get a good laugh out of people who claim that the old 100% manual cameras were harder to use!. Just looking at the Owner's Manuals for some of my old cameras I see between 40 and 50 pages!. Quite a contrast to 200 to 400 page Owner's Manuals in my opinion!. Sure we had to set the shutter speed and the f-stop and focus the camera but that's really rather easy after a few times!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

at the top level photographers dont make mistakes they get it right in camera, manipulation of images has always existed theres nothing new about it except the masses can do it now

at the top level i think todays shooters are better (the market demands it), at the mid to lower levels yes the old shooters were way way better than today - have a look at some old stuff then goto flickr!.!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

photography is easier these days, but a true photographer doesn't need photoshop!.!.!.!.i'm a photographer and i think that back in the day people were more focused on getting the perfect picture!.!.!.i only use photoshop to make my colors pop more!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I kind of think so!.!.!.!.!. in away!. also old cameras are really hard to use, compared to today's!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

True photographers don't use Photoshop (unless you're some lame wedding photographer)!. It's still an art, you know!.Www@QuestionHome@Com