Now that our vacation is done it’s time to look over the photos I shot and decided which to print. On our last family vacation, I had all the shots spiral bound. Even though they’re only 4×6″, they look great that way.
Helaine and I thinned the herd from 1,700 or so to 65. We might have to go to 60, I’m not sure. It’s like deciding which child you love best. Can’t we print them all?
Now I’m running them through Photoshop.
This is the part that upsets Helaine, because she’d rather see exactly what came out of the camera. On the other hand, I’m not adverse to making the finished photo better match what I remember seeing.
It’s like plastic surgery for pictures. Each shots gets its levels tweaked, sharpened and color corrected. If it’s a wide shot, I compensate for distortion the lens adds and its inability to fill the corners with light as well as it fills the middle (it’s called vignetting).
The process is tedious, but I can see the difference. And, like plastic surgery, the more you do, the more flaws you see that need fixing.
It’s a never ending battle. It’s the difference between a snapshot and a photograph.