To Photoshop Or Not
To Photoshop or not?
Just one of many questions any photographer will ask themselves…
In this new age of AI (quite scary in my opinion!) it’s an all too familiar question we may ask of any image we may see. AI is an entirely different topic that I don’t feel like addressing in this post (or ever! if that says anything about my feelings about it within the world of photography.) The art of photography itself is subjective, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to photograph. It all comes down to the choices made by the photographer: the settings, the style, the light, the subject, and the composition. What you don’t include in the frame is just as important as what you do.
I believe it is a fine balance of personal preference and reality when it comes to photoshopping images. I used Photoshop quite heavily in design school, mainly for garment alterations and conceptual development. In photography, however, I don’t heavily photoshop my images as sky replacements or duplicating objects or radically changing shapes and colors. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I try to stay as close to reality as the eye “literally” sees. The one question I do ask myself before I use the clone tool or healing brush in Photoshop or Lightroom on an object or detail is this: By taking away this thing enhance the story I’m trying to tell or detract from it? Let’s use the beach as an easy example. Say it’s late morning and there are a few footprints in the sand, and a few beachgoers in the distance with bright orange and pink umbrellas. If I’m going for a serene blissful feel or story of the place and moment, I would edit those out because they are distractions to the story I want to tell. Another example is say you are in a busy city like New York, there is random rubble around the trash can. Some may opt to leave the rubbish there or some may clone it out. There really is no right or wrong besides asking the question does this add or detract from my story? Sometimes you may want to leave the trash, dirty hand prints, flying birds or whatever it may be because it adds depth and context to your story. Again it all comes down to personal preference. For me, I take each photo individually and access it as a story itself and then make my creative decisions. What do I want to say in this photo? What am I trying to tell? What is the story here? What sparks curiosity? Is there an open-ended question in this frame? And whatever those answers are, they help me decide what I may need to edit within the photo.
It’s quite a rough approach to Photoshop I know, as so many other photographers use it heavily through compositing etc but the most important concept for me, as always, begins with storytelling and perspective. What we choose to photoshop reflects our unique perspective — what is visually pleasing, interesting, evocative etc,. And again there is no right or wrong perspective and that boils down to what style really is — how we see and interpret the world. Photographer A may look at Photographer B’s photograph and think why didn’t they photoshop that road sign out and Photographer B stands by their artistic choice to leave it because it conveys their story of whatever they are trying to tell. Two different perspectives, neither is wrong or right, they see how they are through their distinct photographic eye.
Here are some examples of when I used Photoshop to help enhance the story I wanted to tell in my photograph. There are countless examples, these are just a few that I found as easy examples without delving too deep in my to hard drive. In general, I use Photoshop over the Lightroom healing brush for larger removals as it’s easier to use and more effective. I do like to tidy up images in terms of distractions, rubbish, or unnecessary people or subjects but I try to keep the photo as natural as possible and definitely don’t spend hours photoshopping any image. Again this is all up to personal preference and your own creative discretion. Below is the extent of how much I would photoshop any one image, as you can see it is quite minor.
Before
After
I was waiting and waiting for people to leave the deck but there were too many people coming in and out of the house. I photoshopped the tourists out to focus just on the home and also cropped out the driveway.
Before
After
The iron pole was distracting and jarring in this composition to me; it made it feel more “jail-like” and took away the peaceful and serene morning ambiance that I wanted to capture.
Before
After
There were a lot of distractions from beach-goers to some natural elements like the fallen tree and the rock in the foreground. I felt like it looked cleaner without those in the frame.
Before
After
An obvious removal of the garbage on the street. I debating removing the trash can, but I don’t mind it.
Before
After
I wanted to enhance the mystical feel of this coastline scene and the truck and the paraglider didn’t add to the story.
Photoshop is unquestionably a powerful tool at our disposal and it’s easy to get carried away. Personally, I choose a minimalist approach that centers around one question: By photoshopping this image, will it enhance or detract from my story? That answer is totally up to you and will fall on a wide spectrum unique to everyone’s personal taste. How I use photoshop will be completely different to another type of photographer, say a landscape or astrophotographer who creates one image through multiple composites. There is no right or wrong, only what supports the story you want to tell. It’s a simple concept when you really boil it down in one micro branch that is the vast topic of AI and editing. Hope this helps you next time you question whether or not remove or clone out an object in photoshop!
Alanna
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