Post Processing and Assumptions About it

Post Processing

Lightroom

Lightroom is often peoples first steps to editing photos. After taking pictures, people import them into lightroom to do minor editing and to see what the picture actually looks like on a screen. This is an important thing to do, because when pictures are taken, they aren't necessarily the best that they can be, whether it be that they are under/over exposed or that their is some sort of blemish in the picture. I use lightroom every time I have a shoot to make a contact sheet, which is a piece of paper with all the images on it, just printed small. This way you can see how they will end up when printed later on. Also, it helps to see which images are blurry or in focus.

Before

After

Photoshop

Photoshop is an application that we use very much when it comes major edits of a picture. When it comes to cropping, removing, or adding something to the picture, Photoshop is the first place to go for many photographers. I generally only use Photoshop for the pictures that I will end up printing because the ones that you print are the ones you want to look the best. Photoshop helps you do that because it makes it easy to remove blemishes in the picture, cropping the picture, or adding/removing something in the picture. Also. Photoshop makes it very easy to print pictures and to make sure that they come out the way that it looks on screen. The program gives you a preview before you print, and lets you see how the image looks on different types of paper, which is very beneficial if you want the image to come out the way that it looks on screen. 

Conceptions about Photoshop

Many people disagree with the use of Photoshop, whether it be for private use or in the media. The reason behind this is the fact that people believe that it is 'lying', or not telling the entire truth behind the image. While this is true, I believe that Photoshop is no more harming than a girl wearing makeup, because the main image is still present, but some of the blemishes and problems are no longer visible. Photoshop isn't meant to hide the true meaning of the image, but instead help intensify the emotions and thoughts you get from looking at the image. In the book Art and Fear, by Ted Orland and David Bayles, they talk about the difference between approval and acceptance, stating that "Acceptance means having your work counted as the real thing; approval means having people like it. It's not unusual to receive one without the other". They go on to talk about how some people spend millions on props, actors, and setting only to have the movie be a total bust later on. It counts as a movie, but the approval for it is very low. This applies to what I was saying because while people may not like the use of Photoshop, the story behind the image is still there and it comes down to the person's feelings/emotions to determine whether or not they like it.