If Photoshop Is Wrong I Don’t Want To Be Right!

There is a huge difference between what the camera shot and what was ultimately delivered. The final product is closer to what our eyes actually see

I am just back from the annual Photowalk. I’ll write more a little later. Simply put it was frustrating. I’m not sure how many ‘keepers’ there are.

I did have one which caught me because I wanted to demonstrate some photo techniques I use. If you’re not a photographer (or maybe if you are) you might not know how all this stuff works. I use Photoshop, but you could use a variety of paint programs. They probably all have this functionality.

I wanted to shoot the wrought iron gate into Pierson College on the Yale campus. It is dark. Behind it are a few buildings which were bright and brightly lit. The camera just couldn’t handle it!

The camera captured a file with the gate properly exposed and the sky blown out. There was virtually no detail in the brightest areas.

Because it was shot in RAW and not .jpg there was more detail locked away than what was visible on the screen.

I masked, or separated, the dark from light so I could turn down the sky without affecting the gate. After adjusting the levels I sharpened the gate a little.

There is a huge difference between what the camera shot and what was ultimately delivered. The final product is closer to what our eyes actually see.

Some people think using Photoshop means you’re cheating. Not me.

3 thoughts on “If Photoshop Is Wrong I Don’t Want To Be Right!”

  1. Geoff,

    Used as you describe, Photoshop is no more cheating then burning and dodging a print in the “olden days” of darkroom photography, and it’s a heck of a lot easier.

    To me Photoshop cheating is altering a picture to be something that was never captured in one shot. (HDR excluded)

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