When I show an image to people today I often get the question “Is that Photoshopped?”. I used to give a yes or no answer. After attending a talk by a very good professional photographer, with his permission I now give a different answer.

It is exactly the way I saw it.

Some days you go out to shoot and the image is there. It comes out of the camera and you don’t have to touch it other than a little sharpening, Trust me, this is the exception. Most of the time when shooting outdoors the elements are out to get you. The sun is harsh or the sky is flat gray. There is smoke in the air or the wind is blowing at the coast and the air is full of salt spray. The light is flat. The list can go on and on. This brings up the debate on if the use of editing software misrepresents the image taken. What I see in my mind as a final result may not be something that can be shot under the conditions while I am at a location. Actually it may not ever be able to be captured that way at all.

Everybody knows the names Adams or Weston or a number of others when it comes to photography. They are known for their great images but those prints you see today are far from what would be there had they just printed the negative as it came out of the camera. Trust me there was a lot of time spent in the dark room “making a print” and a lot of technique that  went into the work of making those prints. Most of us shooting today realize that using software to create an image is no different than what the masters did with different films, papers, chemicals and dodging and burning.

Next time you see an image you really like, don’t ask if it is Photoshopped. Just stand back and enjoy it for what it is.

Below is a before and after. The left side came out of the camera.The right side is the result of about 10 minutes working in Lightroom. Which do you think is a better image? You can click on it for full size.

Shooting Photos or Image Creation