Fake Photos

Gduk · Nov 18, 2019

When did Mother Nature cease to be good enough ?
I go to skypixel, some incredible images, but I keep asking myself wow, look at that sky and lighting thats just incredible, I have never seen a sky like that.
Nor did the photographer.
How much editing do we feel we have to do to get a like or thumbs up?
Not only can we now take incredibly high images we never dreamt of 10 years ago, perfectly composed composition, its still not good enough, every sunset needs tweaking.
I think we have gone beyond a 10% 'touch up'
Its my opinion we now just cheat, they are your pictures, your right, your copyright, but I think modern photography has lost the plot.

Northwood Mediaworks · Nov 18, 2019

You have a good point. Over saturation, I am guilty once in a while. Correction versus construction.

SoccerRef12 · Nov 18, 2019

There are some over processed photos. Not all, but some. I remember seeing one of the fall foliage photos that was so over processed it had a bright "blue" street in the overhead photo. I usually 'like'good photos, but not the one with the "blue" street, lol.

Spark 317 · Nov 18, 2019

Gduk said:
but I think modern photography has lost the plot.

Photographers have been manipulating images since the camera has been around.

Ethics in Photo Editing.

But too much is, well, um, too much.

Florida Drone Supply · Nov 18, 2019

Some definitely take it too far.

sharps45 · Nov 18, 2019

Since I'm too lazy to deal with ISO stuff, I'll use post production to lighten or darken, boost all colors at same time, and add a little sharpness if needed. But I agree, some are way too perfect.

DameEdnaBrown · Nov 19, 2019

Gduk said:
When did Mother Nature cease to be good enough ?
I go to skypixel, some incredible images, but I keep asking myself wow, look at that sky and lighting thats just incredible, I have never seen a sky like that.
Nor did the photographer.
How much editing do we feel we have to do to get a like or thumbs up?
Not only can we now take incredibly high images we never dreamt of 10 years ago, perfectly composed composition, its still not good enough, every sunset needs tweaking.
I think we have gone beyond a 10% 'touch up'
Its my opinion we now just cheat, they are your pictures, your right, your copyright, but I think modern photography has lost the plot.

Agreed

pmshop · Nov 19, 2019

Someone once said "The girl in the photo doesn't even look like the girl in the photo."

Tentoes · Nov 19, 2019

For sunsets, I just lower the exposure till the colors come out.

For daylight shots, I think if it looks good on my phone it's overexposed.

Barbara · Nov 19, 2019

Photos and videos, for most of us, would be considered an art form. Art has no rules. Trends come and go. In the end , it's all totally subjective.

I do agree with the original post though. Nature does not need enhancement.

Tglass0000 · Nov 19, 2019

A purist photographer once severely critiqued a retouched photo of mine with the following:

“Nice painting.”

twickers14 · Nov 19, 2019

Nothing is better than a perfectly scoped shot, using natural light and no camera shake etc etc but how often can these conditions be experienced? Not a lot in the UK so I am afraid that I almost every time trim and play with exposure and saturation on my shots. I am happy with what I produce but I absolutely accept that my “work” may not please everyone. I had the opportunity to shoot the beautiful Chatsworth House here in the Derbyshire Dales the other day but I had left it a little late to get the light on the House and valley it sits in so ended up shooting into the setting sun. Came out virtually black but thanks to Photos editing on my Mac I was able to get something like an OK shot. Think I shared it on the Forum plus the before shot. Great topic though.

hiflyer · Nov 23, 2019

Tglass0000 said:
A purist photographer once severely critiqued a retouched photo of mine with the following:

“Nice painting.”

how cruel...how true..

Earthman · Nov 23, 2019

It depends on the purpose of the photos. If it’s art, the question isn’t applicable. If you are taking crime scene photos, no embellishment is acceptable. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, so it’s subjective.

McCloudSpark · Nov 23, 2019

Most of my shots can be considered criminal...

Andro · Nov 24, 2019

Barbara said:
Photos and videos, for most of us, would be considered an art form. ... Nature does not need enhancement.

Right all right. Here's an example from the forum: dawn near Vistula That's how it looks up there at dawn really:]

BikeFlagAZ · Nov 24, 2019

Just remember that every Ansel Adams photo you ever saw was heavily processed. He wrote an entire book on the subject: The Print.

matt48 · Nov 25, 2019

I'd like to find a video prorgram that looks like the real world. With most of my videos the colors look a bit washed out compared to the real view I see with my eye. I've also noticed a considerable difference with my different drones. Spark vs mavic pro. Both without filters, etc. Spark is the closest usually.

Flash · Nov 25, 2019

matt48 said:
I'd like to find a video prorgram that looks like the real world. With most of my videos the colors look a bit washed out compared to the real view I see with my eye. I've also noticed a considerable difference with my different drones. Spark vs mavic pro. Both without filters, etc. Spark is the closest usually.

yes some shots can look a bit flat, however I leave a polarising filter on my Spark as it serves 2 purposes.
One, when shooting video it acts as a ND filter & I can easily get a cinema look.
Two, if I decide to shoot a few stills & panoramas at the same time, it works well for that too without having to land & change the filters around & shoot by water it is really handy with detail over water !