Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Photoshop is more fun.

One of my favorite things about taking pictures is fiddling around with them in photoshop. As a photojournalism student this is strictly off-limits. The goal in photojournalism is to protect the integrity of the photo, and alter it as little as possible, preferably only correcting color, contrast, and lightness. You are not allowed to play with the photo.

That's unfortunate, because changing photos in photoshop is what I like best. For instance, I love to take pictures of flowers. But let's be honest, everyone takes pictures of flowers. As gorgeous as they are, seeing flower after flower can get a little old. So I've become one of those people who takes a picture of a flower and then changes it in photoshop. Now, this just makes my picture another of hundreds of electronically enhanced flowers, but I've wasted twenty minutes playing around and managed to convince myself my picture is just a little bit different. Sometimes delusions are better than reality.

Anyway, the point of my rambling about photoshop is that in personal, not photojournalist, endeavors photoshop can make everything a lot more interesting. Or at least provide an enjoyable half hour before getting back to school or work.

After that half hour is over I like to choose my best photo alteration, usually to make it my desktop background for a few days. Then I'll get bored and switch it again. Choosing the best photo, however, was never one of my strong points. I'm indecisive, always have been, probably always will be. It's why I'm double-majoring in college, I just couldn't manage to choose.

So here are two pictures of a rose, altered in a photoshop-like software that I got free off the internet (since I'm poor and can't afford photoshop). Which is better? Expect more questions like this from my indecisive self in the future, I'm serious about not being able to pick one.


  

They're not even all that different. You'd think I'd be able to choose to a favorite.

3 comments:

  1. I would say that the bottom picture is the best. and i can understand what you mean how photojournalism and photoshop tend to collide. Where photojournalism goal is to capture the "moment " of that picture but when you manipulate a photo it can no longer can represent that moment. -Joana

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  2. I like the top one more, only because at the bottom of the red rose it gets really dark and grainy, and while that sometimes is really pretty in a picture I don't think it sits right with the red rose. It's hard to compare black and white photos to photos with colour, though. "When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls.” (Ted Grant)

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  3. I wish I had your photoshop skills! I'm working on it! Anyone who can swim there way through program like photoshop is a genius in my eyes! I love black and white... I could not have summed it up better than Kerstin's, Ted Grant quote. Keep doing what your doing. You've got that gift for a reason!

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