How often do you post process?

[blarg]

Just wondering if it is a normal thing to do?

To me, it seems to take away the art of getting it 100% right in the photograph, and more reliance is put upon programs like photoshop.

So, is it something that's expected to happen, or just generally used for small enhancements?

[private]

I post process all the time - Just like they did when there was film.

[Ozscot]

Originally Posted by private

I post process all the time - Just like they did when there was film.

Precisely private. Some folks seem to think that post processing to enhance images is a digital age phenomena. It's been going on since the advent of photography. In the last 4 years the most prestigious British awards for photography from the BBC have all gone to images which have been heavily digitally re-worked. Even world renowned photographers like David Bailey head straight for Photoshop to enhance their images. Previously they were doing it in the dark room.

So, to answer the question I guess I would have to say - always.

Oz

[blarg]

Well, I am happy you have both said that as I always seem to use Photoshop to enhance my better images. I just felt I was cheating, but now you have put it in the same light as film processing, it makes perfect sense.

Ozscot, I used to live up the road from you. In Noosa.

[Ozscot]

Hey Blarg - and I used to live across the water from you in London Small world

Seriously, when you think about it - even top fashion photographers get the airbrush out or the liquify tool to enhance the look of the images (and the models) they produce. And when images from top photographers across the world land on a news editors desk for example - the first place they head is the image editor who decides just how to make them 'better'.

Last year one of my pictures (a dull boring picture) appeared in a Brisbane Newspaper - I genuinely had to look twice before recognising it as 'mine' - they had post processed it so heavily I didn't even recognise the people in it!

Oz

[blarg]

And I used to live up the road from you when you were in London. I was in Herts (and then down the road in Kent on the Romney Marsh). Small world indeed...


I hope that newspaper gave you some sort of credit. Must have been an amazing feeling though.

[Ozscot]

Originally Posted by blarg

And I used to live up the road from you when you were in London. I was in Herts (and then down the road in Kent on the Romney Marsh). Small world indeed...


I hope that newspaper gave you some sort of credit. Must have been an amazing feeling though.

LOL - I may yet be back there soon - but only if the weather starts improving. Yeah it is a great feeling but in some ways seeing how they had manipulated it taught me an invaluable lesson about post processing. Never be afraid of it Of course the objective is and always should be to get it right with the original shot - but even images which have perfect lighting may just have a little imperfection that can be post processed out - recently I went to Toowoomba and pictured a beautiful array of flowers - I couldn't touch the flowers because they were not mine - but I could see there was one malformed flower which would ruin the whole look of the thing - no worries though, I took the shot knowing I could clone another flower over it and no one would ever know.

Oz

[kencaleno]

I post process every day-it's my living.No Dslr will give you finished images straight from the camera-regards, Ken

[blarg]

I am very happy now. For ages I'd imagined at least some of the top photo's you see would be straiight from the camera with no post processing. And I wondered how the hell they do it.

I reasonably proficient on photoshop and especially the Corel Suite, so that puts me ahead on my learning curve. I don't feel guilty about post processing at all now.

Thank you all.

[Saralonde]

There are some instances where it might be inappropriate to use processing - news shots, for example - where the integrity of the subject must be maintained, but for me, processing is part of the art. It all depends on the photographer how much or how little they want to do.