Is Software Everything?

[SamP]

Hi

As a new comer to the photography world ive noticed the similarities that i found when DJIing in the way that everything is now done on a computer.

Im 22 and I can mix on vinyl and on CDJ's using nothing but my ears and skill. but alot of DJs (young and old) use computer software to make everything seamless and sound perfect without doing anything other than click buttons, this really p*sses me off when i go to a club.

Anyway, DJ rant aside, I have found that in the short time been involved in photography if you aint very good on PhotoShop, then your pictures just look like a normal photo that anyone can take and that doesnt get any attention, and it begs the question, is there any talent in photography now? or is there just talent where u can look at something and picture how u want it to look, take the picture and then edit it to how u wanted it to look?

I agree that the edited pictures look better, but it could many people that that look without the need of software. i know we're in a digital era but i actually like doing things the old way, hence why i DJ on vinyl and its got me thinking about getting an old skool slr from the loft that used to be my dads give that a whirl!

Sam

P.S- I by no mean to offend anyone in the post

[hssutton]

If you like doing things the old way then get an film camera and shoot some film and start up your own darkroom.

Manipulating/editing, is not something new, most of what we do now on the computer is much the same as when we processed film in the darkroom.

To a certain extent it's similar to those who preferred to process their own film as apposed to using the local chemist.

Some people like to get their hands dirty, some don't. If you want better quality then learn how to use the tools provided.

Harry

[wavemachine]

I know what you are saying, rewind myself a few years back and yes I thought the whole PP stuff was pointless and it annoyed me.

Once I started playing and getting familiar with the software I feel differently now although the majority of my shots don't have heavy manipulation my typical workflow is:-

Import the Raw image
Tweak exposure, WB, contrast etc if it needs it
Apply a bit of sharpening if it needs it
Maybe crop to get a more pleasing composition
Export to JPEG

These are very basic adjustments which are done by eye, the fact is what your eye sees and what your camera see's are two different things, which is why many people tweak images.

I do more advanced stuff as well like cloning people out of shots or ugly distractions from my images or even putting together shots that would be impossible to achieve.

Harry hit the nail on the head about film photography and the heavy manipulation that happened in the dark room.

My advice would be enjoy what you do now, if you don't like PP it is not compulsary but it is always there, you will I guarantee start doing your own adjustments in the future even if it is just a bit of cropping which you will be forced to do if you print your own images anyway.

To me PP is a handy optional extra, this weeks competition prooved that all the entrants could produce perfectly good photographs without using PP although my entry this week could do with a minor crop

[CR3Snapper]

The way I see it, it's like buying a nice dress to go out, then not bothering to put on some make-up, a dash of perfume and a few nice accessories. It's still a nice dress, but with a little extra effort becomes something much nicer.

....just a female perspective ;0)

[markgozz]

Hi Sam ,

Is software another accessory in your kit bag to go along with your different lenses , filters , remotes , tripods etc YES .

Will it get up at 3am to catch the sun rise NO
Will it compose your image NO
Will it have the artistic insight to plan your shot NO
Will it make a bad shot good NO

If anyone thinks they can use software to cover up the fact that they can't set up a camera or a scene then their in for a nasty surprise .

Mark

[SamP]

Ive got photoshop cs6 from my mate, just been playing about with it for the past 2 days and it is without a doubt an amazing bit of kit and can see why it can really enhance photographers. but i can imagine people going to far with the editing

[cosmicma]

i would say digital images need some sort of PP especially if you shoot in raw only ( which i do ) how far you go with it is up to you but as the saying goes you can't polish a turd getting it right in camera makes all the difference

photoshop is based on the darkroom techniques of old but it's developed to a stage that go beyond what even the most skilled darkroom expert could achieve
if that degrades the art of photography i don't really know i have seen some amazing images that would probably be impossible to achieve in the darkroom
i have also seen bad images made worse with PP and good images spoiled with PP

[pupulv]

software is supposed to enhance photography, but not a necessity

[beatnik69]

Originally Posted by cosmicma

i would say digital images need some sort of PP especially if you shoot in raw only ( which i do ) how far you go with it is up to you but as the saying goes you can't polish a turd

But you can stick a flag in it...

[Markulous]

You can do pretty much anything with software these days, it's all a question of how much time you want to spend and how much fakery you want to add. The art is to make it all look natural - which most manipulators fail to do!