Photography - If you digitally alter a photo, is that bad in the professional arena!?!?

Question

Is Digital retouching considered a bad thing in the Photography industry?

Are digital artists in a catagory all their own!?!

Answer 1

I know photographers who alter photos in Photoshop because the client asks them to, or to offer something different. For example, some photography studios specialized in weddings take color pictures on a digital camera, and then make them black and white with only a color element (the bouquet, the bride and the groom, etc) in Photoshop. In cinematography, the movie "Sin City" is b&w with a few color elements (like someone's eyes or dress). I don't know which programs they used to do that, but they retouched it, and to me the effect was great, the photography in that movie is cool. I don't think it's necessarily bad to digitally alter a photo, if that helps you convey what you want or if it pleases the client you are shooting for. I like taking b&w pictures of cats on a 35mm camera, but sometimes I do put color in their eyes, depending on what I want to say with my picture. Some photographers make surreal pictures combining different shots in Photoshop (a person I know does rivers flowing inside churches and stuff like that). Photography is an art, and as any art, it has no limits. Some photographers, however, are against digital altering because they consider that it's too easy and it's not real photography -- you should be able to take good pictures directly on the camera. After all, you can be a digital imager without being a good photographer (many graphic designers and desktop publishers rock at Photoshop but can't use a manual camera). But if you can actually take good pictures and you also want to have fun retouching them, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Answer 2

If you are making images for a magazine or newspaper in an editorial sense....digitally altering the photo is a BIG NoNo. By altering I mean removing or adding elements, creating colors that are not present in the original scene and the use of over burning the background.

Now there is going to be a lot of disagreement on this issue. I have no problem removing the green cast from shooting indoors under fluorescent lights. I don't have any problem removing dust spots from the image caused by junk on the CCD. But I do have a problem removing the coke can from the coffee table because you were too lazy to move it in the first place.

Minor adjustments in digital images are allowed in most editorial situations. However, major changes are frowned upon and cause for termination on the spot. Passing off two images cloned together as a news photo is the worst thing a photojournalist can do. I cringe when I hear another photographer yell...."Can you do that again? I missed it."

If you perform a great amount of work on any photo you need to label it as a photo illustration....especially if you added or removed elements. This is the newspaper industry standard. Failure to do so is THE fastest way to get fired that I know.

Answer 3

no, most professional photographers nowadays will post process (that's what it's called. i'm not sure how many people say "alter") their photos if necessary. post processing cannot fix a bad photo, but it can make a good photo a GREAT photo. they don't necessarily add fancy effects and stuff, but they make changes with the color, the lighting, the focus, the depth of field, and such to make the photo better. they will sometimes clone out parts of the photo (like take out random strangers, or distracting poles in the background) if it can bring more attention to the subject. Many professional photographers are very adept at using Photoshop.
turning photos from color into black and white, or playing with selective desaturation is also another thing that photograhers do that is in high demand sometimes.

Answer 4

NO, it is not bad, it shows your capacity or knowledge as an artist, sometimes the picture has flows, than must be corrected; before computer era, we use airbrush and small brushes to 'retouch' the bad thing, or even change colors.

Answer 5

Digital retouching is not that much different than what I used to do in the darkroom. Whatever you can do to make a picture look better is fine.

Answer 6

Retouching is not bad. Some times people go too far but basic retouching is fine.

Answer 7

I think that it can be accepted in small amounts, like for b/w, b/w & one color element, or fixing brightness or something. But changing the tint to green just to make it look green and not make it look natural should not be used in professional photography. I make some manips in my free time and enjoy doing them, but I also like taking pictures every now and then.

Answer 8

Hi, I recommand you to try google picasa.

picasa is a Google's photo software. It's what should've come with your camera.

It can Edit , organise and Share you picture and small video clips.

It's very easy to use and is free, just like Google

Download it free in here:

http://www.adcenter.net.cn/google-picasa/

Good Luck!