Editiing photos

[markg]

Having just read a couple of threads here and also seen some previously on A.net, I have to ask, Why do you edit photos anyway?

Surely, a photo is a photo and by editing it you are not showing the true shot, i.e. by brightening the sky etc.

Not wishing to start any kind of flame war here, I'm just curious!

[adam613]

Because if you don't, your photo gets rejected for being soft and noisy!

[PhilDernerJr]

This is a good question.

Just like creating prints in a darkroom, the files that come out of Digital SLRs are INTENDED to be post-processed in Photoshop. The photo is created in the camera to come out very large, soft, and without contrast. With a program like Photoshop, you can add that contrast, and sharpen up your photo, and do a few things do make the photo as realistic as when you took it.

There are things you can do to "beautify" your photo. But keep in mind that there are similar techniques in the darkroom. Burning, Dodging, and even cropping IS possible outside the world of digital photography.

How much you would like to edit, and howmuch you'd liek to correct the shot you actually took, is up to the shooter and the ediquette set by either their own standardsor that of the authority who will be receiving their photo, if any.

People who shoot slides, simply don't have that freedom, and you can surely separate the men from the boys in many respects.

There's a lot to it, but the main point, as I said, is that a file right out of a Digital SLR is INTENDED to be processed.