Does editing your photographs make you less of a photographer?

Question

being a beginning photographer, I take pictures then edit some of it a bit. Maybe the contrast, coloring, sharping it. I think started to think that if maybe if I continued to editing it, will I be a good photographer later on?

So, I was just wondering if editing pictures was a good thing.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I am a Photographer, and you would be surprised how often I have this debate with veterans of the industry....I my opinion, editing with a computer is no different than the work which was done years ago in a dark room....dodging, burning, even layers have their origins in the real world. The computer only makes such thing that much easier and that much quicker that you'll probably employ them more often. As far as your talent as a photographer....if the picture is good, it's good! No amount of retouching can take a bad picture and make it good. But you can re-touch a good picture and make it great picture!

Answer 2

Reader asks:"Does editing your photographs make you less of a photographer?" .

The answer is no.

Editing photographs is an essential and I do mean, essential , part of photography, in no matter what field of photography that you go into.

The fact that you are editing shows that you are very serious about your photography and you are a hard-working photographer.

Anyone can aim a camera and anyone can press the button and then bring the pictures to a drugstore to develop them.

That is an ordinary person.

The person who does the work behind the camera and also in the darkroom or in the computer with software, now that's a true, promising , hard-working serious photographer.

Of course, some of us are more (beginning) talented than others and some of us do not have to do as much editing as others.

But still this doesn't measure a good photographer.

A good photographer knows when and how to edit and when and how to leave a good picture alone.

So, you are doing just fine; keep up the good work.

Now go get that book called, PHOTOGRAPHERS MARKET 2006

and you'll be on your way to a very promising career and a very interesting adventure in life.
Peace.

Answer 3

There is nothing wrong with editing your photos...by that i mean color correction, cropping a slight sharpening. But major changes need to be done with the understanding that the photo has been manipulated to an unrealistic degree. (This is a photo illustration)

Every shoot requires an edit. I have sports shooter friends that machine gun shoot at events making hundreds of images. They will only have a few printed....maybe 10. Of those 10 most of them will require a crop, dodge or burn and color correct. This is necessary to make the image suitable for publication. Editors expect the images to be ready for print and would be ticked off if they had to prepare the images themselves.

With experience you will require less and less editing of the photos. You will get better at exposure control and will become more aware of what is going on in the background of the image so you won't need to "remove" items. Or course this is for editorial work.

When it comes to graphics work that is about all you will do with an image. Blending images together, radical color shifts, masks, adjustment layers cut outs..ect.

You would be amazed at the amount of work some images receive before the public views them in print.

Answer 4

It's totally okay, in my opinion! I have a digital camera, and whenever I'm done taking photographs I rush to Adobe Photoshop (in my laptop) and adjust auto levels, maybe brighten the photograph if it's too dark (but careful not to over-expose it), and once it looks just right, I save it. There are all these types of software (like Adobe) that are emerging and becoming popular, because it gives expert photographers (even beginners like you and me)more control over their pictures like never before. So, go ahead and edit your photographs until the finished, edited final is to your liking.

Answer 5

As far as I am concerned there is nothing wrong with editing. Simply because no amount of simple editing can change the composition of an image or the feeling you, as the photographer are trying to convey. All you are trying to do when you enhance color, contrast, hue, etc is to more fully convey the intent of the image to the viewer.

Answer 6

If you edit photographs to make the visual story clearer, you're doing a great job as a photographer! But if you edit a photograph to exaggerate/ distort the truth, that's another story.

Answer 7

Yes, you can definitely edit and still be good!
You SHOULD experiment with contrast, etc. There is a bleaching technique you can do to on small spots to get the whites whiter. It used to be very common for professional photographers to do. Photography is art! If a painter paints over part of their painting (edits) its still totally legit.

Answer 8

It's all in the way the photo is composed. Now days every picture you look at in a magazine has been edited in some kind of program on the computer. It's all about how compostion.

Answer 9

Edit away, most photographers edit their photos. Editing is a good thing. I edit mine.

Answer 10

Editing photograph is a must, as long as you are not doctoring it and giving a fake message.

All the photographs you see on magazines or books are edited. Eithter digitally or film.