Photo Art
TM
Photography By: Steve Sullivan
[ Back
[ Back
A saying I use in my work flow (taken from a high school programming class I had 20 years ago) is “garbage in, garbage out”. Why would I use this saying in my workflow? I’m glad you asked. When I take a day trip to photograph a subject of interest I will return home with my flash cards full. It’s not uncommon for me to come home with at least a 1,000 photos from a day of shooting. As I begin to download these I start inspecting them. Not all are keepers and many end up in the recycle bin, but I begin my workflow by keeping the ones that show promise and skip the ones that don’t, why? Because it would be a waste of time to try and fix something that can’t be fixed. “Garbage in, garbage out”.
I am a dedicated Photoshop* and plug-in* user and I use these to fine-tune an image. I especially like to use filter plug-ins like Nik - Color Efex Pro 3.0. Anything wrong with that? No, there is nothing wrong with that. It’s no different then the print masters spending hours upon hours in the darkroom mixing and matching chemicals to come up with the perfect exposure for the film print. But what is wrong is the mentality that since we have the great all-powerful “Photoshop” we can work miracles and salvage anything. Does it work? I am going to say, No it does not work. I don’t know how many photo/art critique sites I have visited where I see a note by the artist “I messed this one up (blown highlights, extreme underexposure, blurring from camera shake, etc…) but I used “Photoshop” to fix it and created this abstract, what do you think?” Most of the time it still does not look any better. Why waste your time on this? If you want to be looked at like a professional then you need to practice hard to develop the skills (don’t worry you won’t learn it all) and become critical of your work and keep only the best photos you have to offer. It’s not about “saving” a photo; it’s about capturing the photo as best as you can in the first place and using technology to enhance upon what you have done. Take the time to compose your scene, meter your subject, bracket your exposures, set your focus and see what you are shooting. There is nothing wrong with spending hours fine-tuning your image in Photoshop if you enjoy it. Personally, I enjoy my time in the digital darkroom, so I spend many hours tweaking my photos, but I have also taken the time in the field to capture them to the best of my ability and have become critical of my work.
If you are wondering why I am critical of my work, it’s because I heard a saying somewhere that the difference between a professional and an amateur is a professional only shows their best. You must be very critical of your work and show only your best. Art is a freedom of expression and like I said before some may like it, some may hate it and some will not understand why, but whatever you choose to display make sure it is to the best of your abilities and begin with a good foundation because “garbage in, garbage out”.
Happy Shooting & Happy Photoshopping J
PhotoShop: Photo Editing Software created by Adobe that has long been considered the standard among professional photographers. See www.adobe.com
Plug-ins: A plug-in is a program developed by a third party developer that is installed into the host application. Many are developed to perform a specific function such as reduce digital noise, sharpen the photo or create special effects.
I am a dedicated Photoshop* and plug-in* user and I use these to fine-tune an image. I especially like to use filter plug-ins like Nik - Color Efex Pro 3.0. Anything wrong with that? No, there is nothing wrong with that. It’s no different then the print masters spending hours upon hours in the darkroom mixing and matching chemicals to come up with the perfect exposure for the film print. But what is wrong is the mentality that since we have the great all-powerful “Photoshop” we can work miracles and salvage anything. Does it work? I am going to say, No it does not work. I don’t know how many photo/art critique sites I have visited where I see a note by the artist “I messed this one up (blown highlights, extreme underexposure, blurring from camera shake, etc…) but I used “Photoshop” to fix it and created this abstract, what do you think?” Most of the time it still does not look any better. Why waste your time on this? If you want to be looked at like a professional then you need to practice hard to develop the skills (don’t worry you won’t learn it all) and become critical of your work and keep only the best photos you have to offer. It’s not about “saving” a photo; it’s about capturing the photo as best as you can in the first place and using technology to enhance upon what you have done. Take the time to compose your scene, meter your subject, bracket your exposures, set your focus and see what you are shooting. There is nothing wrong with spending hours fine-tuning your image in Photoshop if you enjoy it. Personally, I enjoy my time in the digital darkroom, so I spend many hours tweaking my photos, but I have also taken the time in the field to capture them to the best of my ability and have become critical of my work.
If you are wondering why I am critical of my work, it’s because I heard a saying somewhere that the difference between a professional and an amateur is a professional only shows their best. You must be very critical of your work and show only your best. Art is a freedom of expression and like I said before some may like it, some may hate it and some will not understand why, but whatever you choose to display make sure it is to the best of your abilities and begin with a good foundation because “garbage in, garbage out”.
Happy Shooting & Happy Photoshopping J
PhotoShop: Photo Editing Software created by Adobe that has long been considered the standard among professional photographers. See www.adobe.com
Plug-ins: A plug-in is a program developed by a third party developer that is installed into the host application. Many are developed to perform a specific function such as reduce digital noise, sharpen the photo or create special effects.
