Wednesday, June 23, 2010

to process or not to process that is the question...

If you have been following my blog for a little while you would know that I am not a huge fan of processing (by processing I mean various Photoshop magic) my photographs. This is partly due to me actually preferring the photograph in its 'raw' form and partly to me not possessing any Photoshop ability whatsoever...

Having said that, I do very much enjoy the vintagey yellowy look in photos.. I think it can sometimes give the photo character and tell a story in a certain way... On the other hand every time I do it to my photos I cant help but feel like a bit of a cheat. A typical dialogue in my head would go something along the lines of:

"ooh that looks pretty! .. actually that looks reaaaally cool. i like it."
"uhm! yeah.. anyone with a bit of training can make a photo look cool in photoshop... what, you couldn't take a good/interesting/exciting/[insert adjective] photo to start with so you now have to process it?"


this is probably the reason why a lot of those 'processed' photos don't actually make the blog.. what do you guys think? and i guess, what do you enjoy more?

p.s. just to clarify I do occasionally adjust exposure and the colour palette (but not in photoshop)

7 comments:

Biana said...

That's a real cool photo, Liya! Looks like a postcard.

And I don't mind photoshopping. A good photo can be defined by lots of things than solely on the fact if the photgrapher used photoshop. And photoshop doesn't make your photos better, it's just a tool to get the best out of your photos, I believe.

For example, I love creating different moods in photoshop, but I don't like manipulating my photos (I simply don't have the skills, and not striving to either). In my case PS just helps me to realize my vision of something/someone, for me that's what photography is all about. To see how the world looks through someone elses eyes. And if I need photoshop to help with me with that, so be it.

It's up to you, I geuss. Just stay true to yourself.

the nyanzi report said...

I think you should do whatever makes you happy.
That's the most important thing.
Follow your instincts and you will not need photoshop.
The old master photographers just rellied on just their instints with no post production but still produced timeless classics that we still marvel at today.
This picture looks great though.

Unknown said...

I don't know, I think it depends on the photograph. I'm all for special effects, but I say if you have talent (like you do), then there shouldn't be a lot of need for special effects, right? XO!

Bárbara said...

Well for me is ok some retouching. In fact I had the same opinion before I learned to develop on my own and it's true that depending on the time you expose a photo (in laboratory I mean) and the chemicals you use a photo can turn really different, with different contrast and so on. So if you think about it, it could be considered as it receives some "magic" too. For me some retouching is ok as it can add more interest to the photo. Just my two cents

Kylie said...

I'm with you, I don't do a lot in PS. A little contrast and colour work with some sharpening. Usually my photos are open for a max of one minute in PS :-p I do, however, occasionally like to spend more time playing around in PS, some shots i make more "vintage" or i play around with texture work. But I like natural ... and as for what i like seeing ... a mixture. I really like the image above, but also like the ones you posted yesterday ... oh, im no help lol

.:Heather:. said...

My 2 cents is it depends on the photo and the look you want with it. I see ps as a tool for expressing another form of creativity.

SuzieM said...

i should learn photoshop but i don't have enough time so i finally end up just playing a little bit with exposures like you and that's all. bye!