Thoughts on Photoshop
- Thread starter rwright
- Start date
BobbyG
New member
- Dec 29, 2009
- 13,211
- 0
Hey Richard,
I've never used Photoshop but I'm always fascinated to see what experienced users can do with it.
In the case you mention above I see nothing wrong with using photo enhancement software to brighten or add color to a photo to make it more pleasing to the viewer.
Digital cameras of today are really great but the user in many cases fall prey to the automatic settings which relies on the camera to do everything exactly right and in most cases they don't.
So many times we take a pictire only to discover that the shot is too light, to dark, or the colors just aren't vivid enough and these tools are idea to tweak the shot a bit.
I'll give your idea a two thumbs up!! :dblthumb2:
I think that correcting the color is about the only thing that should be done in photoshop. When I say correcting I mean to make it look like it did when you saw it in person. Aside from that they only things that I think are ok to do are adding borders and watermarks.
Other than blanking out license plates, resizing, adding borders, or watermarking with logos, I don't agree with doing any adjustment of pictures intended to accurately represent the results of one's detail work. ("Photos don't lie, but liars can Photoshop.")
That said, if after you've posted raw pictures of your corrective process you want to edit some of the finished project to make cool looking beauty shots, I say knock yourself out.
If you want a similar program to Photoshop that gives you some of the same capabilities for free, check out GIMP:
GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program
Check out Picasa (from Google) for an awesome free editor that does the basics. Gimp is great if you need more.
- Thread starter
- #25
This is me exactly BobbyG! When I take pictures with my point and shoot the setting is almost always on "Auto". I've tried the manual focus setting and have no idea if it helped or not so I basically just click "auto" and go with it. I think I may invest in some sort of a general photography class.
This is pretty much how I feel Dave. I just need to get Photoshop or check out some of the recommendations here and start tinkering with borders and watermarks. I don't want to end up like Joe Fernandez where someone steals that one good photo I (Richard not Joe) was able to capture and use it on their site or something!
RaskyR1
New member
- Apr 14, 2008
- 3,733
- 0
I don't use Photoshop unless I want to remove a license plate (which I rarely do anyway these days). The program is overwhelming to say the least and I have much respect for those skilled at its use.
I shoot all my pics in RAW mode and load them up directly into Lightroom. From there I will adjust exposure/WB as needed as the camera is not always accurate (both before and after pics). Other than that I simply re-size all pics at once at export them out to 800 wide size.
I have no problem with people using Photoshop unless its meant to deceive people or manipulate the final results.
I shoot all my pics in RAW mode and load them up directly into Lightroom. From there I will adjust exposure/WB as needed as the camera is not always accurate (both before and after pics). Other than that I simply re-size all pics at once at export them out to 800 wide size.
I have no problem with people using Photoshop unless its meant to deceive people or manipulate the final results.
TroyScherer
Active member
- Sep 19, 2009
- 1,926
- 23
I have no problems with Photoshop as I have different editing software but still very similar. I can see the point in slightly adjusting a picture to make it look more realistic and like what you were looking at in real life. The problem and question I have is when and where do you stop adjusting. What bothers me the most is look at after pics where it is blatantly obvious that they were edited or enhanced even if it is just color saturation? Because if the before are normal it makes you wonder what are they trying to hide by adjusting the afters. I only resize and crop as needed usually using Microsoft Picture Manager.
jfelbab
New member
- May 10, 2011
- 335
- 0
I don't have any problem with using Photoshop to fine tune an image. I routinely do noise reduction as my camera has a noisy sensor in poor light. When the resulting image from the camera doesn't reflect what I saw, I take some noise out. I will also make changes to some images to adjust for exposure problems and I crop many images to remove unwanted parts of the image. I will often adjust for blown highlights and blocked shadows, as once again the camera doesn't always accurately capture what my eye saw. I'll check straightening and white balance correction too.
I wouldn't have an issue with removing an unwanted or distracting object from an image either. A telephone pole or an electric wire might be in the way, or a piece of trash in an otherwise great shot, for example.
I wouldn't have an issue with removing an unwanted or distracting object from an image either. A telephone pole or an electric wire might be in the way, or a piece of trash in an otherwise great shot, for example.
Robert8194
New member
- May 9, 2011
- 1,045
- 0
It's all about being reasonable and honest. I have shot for magazines that don't allow ANY Photoshop correction and others that just want a good photograph. When I take pictures of detailing, I limit the Photoshop to white balance, color adjustment and exposure correction. These are things point and shoot cameras do automatically but maybe not as well. I think everyone on this forum does a great job of documenting their work with no intent to deceive. The value of Photoshop or any other image program should not be overlooked.