Are Post-processed (using Photoshop, etc.) Photos still considered Photography?

[Forgotten-Isle]

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Enhancing is ok, sometimes even brings out the best out of the picture you took. but hopefully leaving in mind not to overly do it.

[nemmo723]

with post-processed photos, be careful your not making it into a collage. i doubt that's still called photography. and all that artsy special effects? I don't know to what extent would it still be called photography, i think it's more like a painting than photography anymore.

[Ian]

as the Masters would say (summarized lang nako)... From the eye of the photographer to his Equipment then to post production / printer (FILM or DIGITAL)... it is like a Composer and the performer.

post-production began YEARS ago.. before pa kita'ng tanan dinhi nahimo ug embryo... so post-processed or unprocessed... still its art... still it is Photography..



a lot of people mag sige ug critique about post-production... for sure, they don't know how to do it, doesn't have a heart for Art. Ayaw ko lalisa ani, I used to be like this before when I started serious sa digital photography. Hahahah!

Processed or not processed... It's all about capturing the moment... period...

Just correction..technically, the printing or the "Post Production" is not photography. The art is called "Printmaking". Photography is the process of drawing light on a light sensitive meduim. Printmaking is the process of producing, obviously prints and can also be called a "Photo", the product of Photography. Two different discipline and it is not right to say Printmaking + Photography to as one art craft that is "Photography"... no its not.

[edwin_sn]

... murag layo nasad nig maabtan ni discussion dah hehehe... apil ko pero mobo ra ako share karon unlike atong jpeg vs raw nga discussion hehehe...

according to the built-in dictionary of my macbook...

photography : pho-to-gra-phy
noun,
the art or practice of taking and processing photographs.


@sir Ian your point is also well taken... but i think printing and photography (with post processing or not) are two different things, so lets stick to the question and it would be proper to answer to the point.

so with the definition given by my dictionary... i'd say post processed photographs is photography itself because its part of it

and please dont confuse yourselves with the understanding that posters/banners/brochures/postcards (or what ever output you want) layed out with a collage of photos is photography... its a different animal hehehe... photography is the means to have all these

[basikoncept]

@edwin_sn: Point taken sir.
Though I have already understood from the link that ginabot gave but I still would want to hear other peoples' opinions... So let's say, you take an ordinary photograph. Then you open it with Photoshop, add blur. Enhance the colors, use brightness/contrast, use hue, use levels, add layers (but still of the same image). Would that still be considered photography? Thanks.

[edwin_sn]

@edwin_sn: Point taken sir.
Though I have already understood from the link that ginabot gave but I still would want to hear other peoples' opinions... So let's say, you take an ordinary photograph. Then you open it with Photoshop, add blur. Enhance the colors, use brightness/contrast, use hue, use levels, add layers (but still of the same image). Would that still be considered photography? Thanks.

for me personally...YES...
have you noticed your camera's feature "bracketing"... where one same shot exposed one stop lower and one stop higher than your original setting? thats photo processing IN YOUR CAMERA... if you can do it in your computer thats the same banana right hehehe... during my film days i've experimented on this and have the lab where i have my prints made do it for me... same banana hehehe... i've tried double and even multiple exposures in one frame during my film days... and the lab does the processing for me... different kinds of film to get the desired results and have the lab process it for me... its still photography in my humble opinion. nowadays its just easier to get your desired result using photoshop.

however if you cut out a person from another photo and paste it on another may be different... but hey, subjectively... i personally still consider it photography

there are PURIST here and there, there are also PERFECTIONIST those who would want there photos to be perfect thus needing some post processing. They both are in same field of photography.

PURIST are those who strugles in finding ways and means to have the perfect exposure/composition before taking the shot and takes pride of the shot he took unaltered... and PERFECTIONIST who also struggles in finding ways and means to get the perfect exposure/composition before taking the shot BUT goes to his computer and post process his photo to further enhance it to achieve what he had in mind before he took the shot... because there is no camera yet that can ever capture a photo in the photographers imagination...

so i think we better be shooting photos than rationalizing things hehehe, because this is rather subjective and hard to quantify because we are talking of ART here. we can not be objective when it comes to art... an artist has moods, sometimes he likes the pure-out-out-of-the-camera photo and may insist that its the best exposure and composition... and sometimes he just needs to post process his photos to get what he desires ... still we are in the field of photgraphy because we are capturing images using our cameras. if you are capturing an image using your paint brush, whether on a canvas or in your computer, then obviously thats another story right?

[basikoncept]

Point taken. Thanks.

[bz_mom]

photography is an art. if you take your photos to the developers, they still have to post process your photos by adding light and enhancing colors, unless you wan to print it as is.

post processed photos are still considered photography because it is an art. some over do it then it would sometimes take out the sense of the photo.

I agree

[HybernaTe]

here are my points:
- photography is the process of capturing pictures.
- photo manipulation is a process of changing the pictures characteristics.


Let's define PHOTOGRAPHY and PHOTO MANIPULATION.

Photography is the process of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as a film or electronic sensor. Light patterns reflected or emitted from objects expose a sensitive silver halide based chemical or electronic medium during a timed exposure, usually through a photographic lens in a device known as a camera that also stores the resulting information chemically or electronically.

while PHOTO MANIPULATION is the application of image editing techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or deception (in contrast to mere enhancement or correction), through analog or digital means. Its uses, cultural impact, and ethical concerns have made it a subject of interest beyond the technical process and skills involved. Photo manipulation is as old as photography and has been regularly used to deceive or persuade viewers, or for improved story-telling and self-expression.

Thus in conclusion post processing of pictures (photoshopping) is NOT PHOTOGRAPHY for me

[szichri]

Thus in conclusion post processing of pictures (photoshopping) is NOT PHOTOGRAPHY for me

you are generalizing the word "post processing"

Photography is the process of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as a film or electronic sensor. Light patterns reflected or emitted from objects expose a sensitive silver halide based chemical or electronic medium during a timed exposure, usually through a photographic lens in a device known as a camera that also stores the resulting information chemically or electronically.

the moment you press the shutter of your camera (may it be film or digital) it clearly undergo post processing inside the camera before you see the captured images...


"post processing" is just part of photography but not photography in itself... it works hand in hand with light, you, your camera and your subject.. with the absence of any of the these (light, you, your camera, your subject and "post processing") there is no photography...

"photo manipulation" is still photography but on another level than shall i say "normal or straight photography".. mao bitaw naa uban camera naa feature nga "multiple exposure" para you have the power to manipulate the images you want to capture...

:mrgreen: