How do you define photography?

[thingylab]

Originally Posted by dakwegmo

Film has to be post processed in order to even see the images that were captured. Photographers have always manipulated the developing and printing process to achieve the desired results. Why shouldn't digital photographers receive the same latitude when processing their images?

That's right. A lot of things happen between the moment you take the picture and the moment it is actually seen (in film, I mean).
You first choose your film, which can can change a lot if things, then you develop it using a certain technique with a certain developper. Then you print it on a certain paper, etc...

It's insane to believe that taking the exact same picture with the exact same settings will always lead to the same quality in the end.

If you do believe that, you see photography as a technique, not an art.

[the.alturasian]

Lets start this off with a couple quotes,

Actually, I'm not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I'm not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren't cooks.
Henri Cartier-Bresson

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.
Henri Cartier-Bresson

Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.
Ansel Adams

Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art.
Ansel Adams

Ask almost any photographer and they will tell you that Henry Cartier-Bresson, and Ansel Adams are two of the greatest photographers that ever lived. Ansel Adams post processed his images to whatever extent that it took in order to get the vision that he perceived when he captured a photo. Post process is not something new that has happened in the last five, ten, or even fifty years. Todays software just allows you to take post processing to the nth degree.

Photography is images created by light hitting a focal plane. It is also a creative art, and a medium used to record historical events. Photography is is just a word, how you use it is up to you.

[candleman]

dont know id someone has said this yet.. i remember something WULF once posted

(course quote - in reference to "boosted saturation" camera settings)
"the digital camera does processing itswelf, so every image is processed depending on what settings you put into the camera"

i think its almost impossible to define in the digital age.. even film was post processed... they just used chemicals.

[prince]

Originally Posted by the.alturasian

Todays software just allows you to take post processing to the nth degree.

Thats what I thought too that image editing softwares have stretched the possibilities of conventional post processing.

[Aimenter]

Photography is the capture of light either onto film or now onto a digital memory card. As I was always told as a darkroom tech early in my career,a Photographer is only as good as the Darkroom tech who process's the film and the printer who prints the image. Film can be manipulated while in process to either a push or pull if photographer was wanting to alter the ASA rating of the film. In B/W you can adjust the contract and how the negative looks and simply adjusting the adjutation while in process, in over 30 yrs in this business I have yet to see anyone develop or not manipulate a negative or image to thier own particular taste or style. Now with digital imaging and the software available to the average person, images can be attained at almost no effort or expense that only pro's had the budget or artist behind them to do neg/print retouching, this can now be done with software on the average person's PC /Mac at little to no cost with software.Photography is a art form that the photographer has the oppertunity to express themself in a image form that can only be limited by thier eye and imagination.

[Aimenter]

In regards to your question is manipulation allowed. I won a award 2004 in Photolife magazine for Digital Art, this was a blending of 10 images into one image it is on my website under display images just scroll down to picture called "IRAQ" http://www.aimenter.com/display.htm
The image was made in photoshop useing layers and tools to blend images together creating the image seen.

[ving]

interesting thread...

i think the 2 are interchangable myself (photo and image), however a picture is a completely different animal.

what would be interesting also is a definition of a photographer...

[prince]

Originally Posted by ving

interesting thread...

i think the 2 are interchangable myself (photo and image), however a picture is a completely different animal.

what would be interesting also is a definition of a photographer...

Yes it is very interesting, especially for someone who is new to all this. It also helps to know how others perceive photography. Got to learn some new stuff reading everyone's replies here..

@ Aimenter - It is always nice to hear from someone who has "been there, done that"