To Photoshop or Not to Photoshop
Today the term“ photoshop” is used to describe almost any photo manipulation( even when it’ s done in a completely different program). When photoshop is mentioned there almost always seems to follow a discussion on if it is“ appropriate” to photoshop an image or should it just be printed“ as is”.
The image that is recorded by your camera sensor is always manipulated. The question is are you going to do the manipulation or are you going to allow an algorithm stored on a chip in your camera to do it for you?
Your image sensor“ sees” a great deal more data then can be seen on the screen or put on a print.
Coming Up! Quarterly Advanced Contest
2 nd quarter – Open Subject( June) 3 rd quarter – Close up( September) 4 th quarter – Scenic( November)
We will be looking for: 1. Technical Proficiency – exposure, printing, color, etc. 2. Composition 3. Emotion( did the picture elicit an emotional reaction from the viewer?) Fell free to bring in your work prints for comments as you finish up your projects.
Someone( or something) is going to decide what data goes into that final image. So for you purists who insist that the image shouldn’ t be manipulated – it already is. Image Editing Software allows us to adjust the exposure, contrast, to get the image we want. We crop the photograph to show the parts we want.
Bottom line here, every image is subject to some manipulation. You the artist should have final control and final say on how that image is going to look.
This allows you to do a couple of things – create one image where your highlights are perfect one where your shadows are perfect and layer them – using the erase tool to allow different parts of each image to show through.
This month, SHAPES
Find shapes in your subject matter and show them in your print. This one was pretty easy( and it won’ t be in the competition) but you get the idea. Think circles, squares, spirals, hearts, ovals, stars, whatever. Now incorporate those shapes into your image. As always matte or mount your print and please consider allowing us to hang it at the DAV hall to help brighten up the day for our veterans.
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