Comments on: Listener Poll: What level of Editing and Processing is acceptable in photography?

By: Pixinfo.com blog - Blog Archive - Képfeldolgozás - Milyen szintig elfogadható?

Pixinfo.com blog - Blog Archive - Képfeldolgozás - Milyen szintig elfogadható? — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:39:51 +0000

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By: Cliff Plumlee

Cliff Plumlee — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:31:39 +0000

I voted that anything goes, but only as long as you are honest about it. I do believe there is an exception when it comes to journalism. Journalists should do nothing to change the content of a photograph. Color correction, white balance, black and white conversion, and even cropping are fine, but the pixels shouldn’t be tampered with in any other way.

By: Patty Hankins

Patty Hankins — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:40:32 +0000

For me – the level of acceptable editing is determined by how the photo will be used.

For journalistic purposes – I think minimal editing should be done.

For art purposes – whatever an artist needs to do to create their art is fine.

I don’t think making a comparison to what can be done in a darkroom makes much sense. Someone who is an expert in the darkroom can change the final image as much as someone who is an expert in photoshop can on the computer.

By: dawn

dawn — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:27:24 +0000

I think it depends on what area of photography you are shooting in, what you’re trying to achieve, and how your audience will receive it.

For instance, if you’re a photojournalist, you’re trying to portray as much realism of the scene as possible. Your audience (and your supervisors) will shun any manipulation because the end result is reporting the facts as you perceived them in that small frame. It would be unethical to do go beyond the respected limits of the profession.

However, I think that in fine art, the gates are open. If you are starting with a photograph, whatever you end up with is great, with one caveat: if your audience accepts it, it will work. If you don’t care about your audience, you probably won’t sell much (if that is your goal).

By: Roman geber

Roman geber — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:35:18 +0000

Well, let´s try this commenting thing
I think the question is not relevant at all. It simply doesn´t matter how the final result is made. Editing an image in photoshop is not so much different to all the things you can do in the darkroom. Many great photographers used all sorts of methods to enhance their images after they´ve been taken. Ansel Adams for example was not just a good and patient photographer, he was a genius in the darkroom too. He used whatever tools where suitable to realize his idea of a perfect image, and people like them. The only thing that counts in photography is the result, not the way it was created. So: Creative freedom for me please!

By: the_wolf_brigade

the_wolf_brigade — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:09:35 +0000

A week ago I would have voted none at all, preferring to keep all my edits in camera so to speak (including multiple exposures).

However, I posted a photo on my flickr stream that I’d cropped to square from 6×7 and converted to black and white from colour quite recently. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first, but a few commenters made the point that it’s really about the end result and not the equipment, though I’d still prefer if it resembled a photo.

John Ingledew makes the assertion in “Photography” that there is no film or digital photography, it’s all just photography at heart. After all, the core of photography is all about ways of capturing light.

Personally I can’t bring myself to call something photography if elements have been added in, but at the risk of being flamed, I’d still have to call HDR photography as it is still about capturing light.

I voted for some, but no more than could be achieved in the darkroom. I don’t actually know much about darkroom technique beyond film development and the theory that I’ve read, but it’s rare that I even remove the dust spots from my negative scans; that doesn’t mean I begrudge those who edit, it’s just not my style.

By: Jeremy Brooks

Jeremy Brooks — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:48:20 +0000

That’s a great question. I think it depends on what the photographer is trying to do. Personally, I want the end result to still look like a photograph rather than a digital fantasy rendering.
I think most people will end up developing (no pun intended) their own personal technique and style, and that goes a long way towards making their digital photographs stand out from others.