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Total Members Voted: 29

Voting closed: June 09, 2011

[LandyLiam]

Your photo could be easily tidied up in photo editing software.

but i'm a purist! or maybe just a bit lazy 

[suspectmonkey]

Your photo could be easily tidied up in photo editing software.

but i'm a purist! or maybe just a bit lazy 

I used to say that as well... but truth told I just had "Photoshop Phobia" and didn't know what to do with all the buttons   Mind you, I still don't know what the majority of the buttons do

[whoRya]

This raises interesting points.  I think (at present) I'm against the notion using software to manipulate photos.  I'm sure this debate has done the rounds in many places. 

For a photograph to be complimented as "looking like CGI" seems odd to me.  Surely where CGI wants to get to is that it can produce images that are like what the eye or lens could see, not the other way round!  I can appreciate some of the effects used for arts-sake, but that is very different to what inspires me in an amazing photograph.  I've seen some photographs of sunsets that are so vivid in colour that I really don't believe they have ever been seen by anyone.  That goes too far for me, or at least goes into a whole different category, in the box with paintings that have been inspired by the painters imagination.  I like a photo to capture reality.

Errigal does lean to the left from that angle, Lenny took the picture straight.  I don't think he should have tilted his camera to get a straight photograph.  And if there are phone lines in the way....move to another place, otherwise by editing the lines out you are taking a picture of a stunning view that doesn't actually exist in real life, at least not from that exact location anyway.

By the way I'm not making any recommendations for the photo competiton here I'm just airing some thoughts on my own appreciation of what makes a good photograph.  I realise I'm possibly completely hypocritical as I've done things like take a picture in B&W, but for me there is a line, I struggle to define it but I know it when I feel it.  I realise that others differ in their opinions.  Feel free to air them.   

[Oisín]

I feel its okay to photo manipulate to make a photo like you actually seen it.

I dont really feel for landscapes its okay to blow it out of the water and look too good.

Oh p.s all you photoshop fan boys, Adobe Lightroom is way better.

[twentyclicks]

Errigal does lean to the left from that angle, Lenny took the picture straight. 

Houses don't though.... tilting can be creative, or used to focus attention in a particular way, but unless obviously intended it just sits out of sorts and screws with the brain.

Documentary, pure creation, artistic licence... when done honestly I think all are valid in their place. This forum competition is one such place. If you want a pretty picture on your wall, you don't want power lines... if it's a crime scene photo, or photo-journalistic piece then they better be in there along with everything else.

Even saying something like, "it's ok to manipulate a photo to show what I saw at the time", is really quite open. Due to the way our brains interpret a scene in reality is part of why capturing a 2D still is so difficult... When Lenny looked at Errigal I'm pretty sure he didn't really factor the power lines at all in his impressions at the time, so Suspect's suggestion is still appropriate!

HDR is really a colour version of what Ansel Adams was doing with his prints way back... but being B&W to begin with was already abstract; so the effects were more easily accepted. It's an exciting tool but personally I like it like reverb and ketchup: whatever you think is enough is probably twice as much as it needs.

[whoRya]

If you are like me you'll need to google HDR.  Something tells me googling reverb and ketchup may be more difficult

HDR pic
Non HDR pic

[suspectmonkey]

HDR is extremely subjective.  Personally if I am processing a photo as HDR I don't want people to know it's been done that way.  I want it to be subtle, rather than be the first thing that pops into the viewers head.  There are loads of people into the "Grunge" effect, but I just can't stomach it at all.  Each to their own though!

I think this is the only HDR image I have on my Flickr account:


Ballycopeland by jonpatterson, on Flickr

Oh p.s all you photoshop fan boys, Adobe Lightroom is way better.

I'm a big fan of Adobe Lightroom and would use it for most of my photo processing.  So much easier to manage your photos and work with RAW files without having to open them in Camera RAW before importing them into PS.  That said, it does have its limitations and beyond a standard workflow with a bit of cloning, dodging and burning it hasn't much else in the way of tools.  I do love the graduated filters though!  Speaking of which I just bought Photoshop CS5 the other day whilst I still have my student discount.  Very good prices on www.software4students.co.uk if you are eligible.  I also got Lightroom 3 through the Adobe Education Store at a good price.

[twentyclicks]

Nice!

Clever sod on the student software. I went with Aperture as it was cheaper for me but still well regarded.

[suspectmonkey]

You know I've probably earned my course fees back three times over with student discount on software!  Microsoft are especially generous with their MSDN Academic Alliance and Dreamspark offerings, although its largely aimed at software development etc.

I had Aperture when I had my MacBook Pro and was very impressed with it.  Really liked it, but to be honest never dug too deeply into it as I already had Lightroom and couldn't be bothered learning another piece of software.  Definitely much better priced than Lightroom.  The only plus side with LR is that as far as I am aware there is no restriction on how many computers you can install it on.  I was at a camera club meeting with an Adobe Alpha tester and he basically said Adobes plan with the first few releases of LR are to turn a blind eye to people sharing it in the hope it will spread around and more people will use it.  Once people get hooked and the sales figures get up then it will revert back to a limited license.  Clever!

[pablo]

i got cs5 for nothing,anyone who pays that much for photo editing software is nuts,you gould get a decent camera for the price of cs5 .

also, there is much opinion on the rights and wrongs of photography but in the final analysis its simply up to wether or not YOU like the shot.

[LennyJ1]

I need to get Photoshop. a friend was going to get it for me but he seems to of gone into hiding.

[pablo]

pm me if you want to know how to get it for free.

[whoRya]

He's a knock-off Nigel, he's a knock-off Nigel.

[suspectmonkey]

anyone who pays that much for photo editing software is nuts,you gould get a decent camera for the price of cs5

The full price of Photoshop is prohibitively expensive for most people who aren't earning a living from their photography.  That said, I've no problem paying the money for the education version, as even at £160 I think it is well worth the money.  It's worth bearing in mind that if you are a student (or you have a child who is a student) or are an education employee you can likely avail of this edition, just check the eligibility info on their website.  I personally think £160 spent on Photoshop CS5 is much better than £160 spent on a cheap lens - and some people might argue the full £650 asking price for a standard licence of PS is still worth more than the equivalent in glass or camera bodies if you know how to use it.

Another part of the problem is that everyone feels that they have to own Photoshop.  At the risk of sounding hypocritical, it's not the only photo editing suite out there.  GIMP is a well featured image editor that probably rivals features found in earlier versions of PS that cost hundreds of pounds at the time... and its free.  For years I used a program called Paint Shop Pro.  Now I haven't used the newer editions by Corel, as it was made by a company called Jasc when I used it, but it is a great alternative to PS that costs less than £50.  Then you have the new breed of photo management software like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture.  One stop shop for photo management and manipulation, and probably all the vast majority of photographers require especially if you aren't big into brushes, masks and layers.  Oh, and I nearly forgot Adobe Photoshop Elements which offers the most commonly used tools for photographers at a fraction of the cost.

So, whilst £650+ for the standard home edition of PS CS5 is too much of a stretch for most of our wallets, there are a lot of other options out there that will suit many people.  Oh, and most of the software I've linked to gives free 30 day trials, so you can probably get by with around 6 months of photo editing for free if you use them strategically

[LennyJ1]

all i want to do is set up a panoramic photo from loads of photos. A friend was going to install it for me but he has dissapered off the face of the earth and I have some great shots from Kili I want to mearge together.

As far as I know Photoshop is the best software for doing this.

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