If you’ve not read Anita’s post entitled: One of the Photoshop Days, you should. In it she talks about getting into the flow of post-processing and letting her subconscious mind take her where it will. I call it free play, or the suspension of the adult, critical mind.
I, like Anita, find that this process is fun and therapeutic. If I am having problems, or perhaps a negative or worrying type of thought, sometimes I can go and ‘shoot’ it away, other times I can sit at my computer and get lost in the moment and do some cool post-processing. It’s not a matter of fixing a picture, but of bringing some intense emotion to it. Perhaps it’s a way of getting what I feel onto the screen. I don’t know if music has anything to do with it, but I was listening to Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”.
The above photo is quite different than what came out of the camera, but it reflects what I felt at that time. I am embracing digital and using as an extension to my creativity. It’s another tool. I don’t use plugins, except for noise reduction, so each time I post process an image, it’s likely to be different. Whatever I click on, I’ll try to use.
The second picture is what came out of the camera. The camera is set to neutral color, sharpness, and contrast, so it’s not a fully fair comparison.
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Paul, interesting comparison! I actually like the softness and the flow of the second image, but found that the first one sets an entirely different mood. I love reading studies that have been conducted in the way colors influence us, and this post is a perfect example. Nice!
I like both images, but the first one brings up some points I have discussed in various places before. If photography is to be considered an art form, why must photographers limit themselves to what the camera sees? As far as I know, photography is one of the few forms of artistic expression that is based in reality at all. Painters start with a clean canvas. Sculptors start with a block or a mound of clay. Composers and writers start with a blank page. Photographers start with an existing creation. We may choose to represent that creation in a documentary style or we may decide to make it into what we would like it to be. In my humble opinion as a photographer, representing a subject “as-is” doesn’t usually say much of anything about me, my interests, or my ideas. My representation of the subject through manipulation, whether it be digital or darkroom post processing, allows me to inject some of myself into the subject, making the final presentation ‘mine.’
Paul, I always enjoy reading your thoughts on this business of making pictures. I think both images have in them a great deal of you, and I like both of them. Of course, as you know, I share your attraction to “free play”.
@Bonnie: I was having some intense emotions when I did the top image, so bold colors were called for. I, too, like the bottom image, for the reasons that you stated. It’s much more calming.
@John: I don’t really think that a photographer can really show something, as it is … I’ll discuss that in tomorrow’s topic.
@Anita: Thanks. I love to take time to play, which is mostly what I’m doing when I’m shooting. I rarely take it seriously. It’s all in fun and experimentation … I’m just now learning how to experiment in Photoshop, or am just now willing.
It’s not only the colors. Actually the orientation of the two photos adds a lot to their different flavors. Ok, maybe that’s too obivous to be mentioned…
I guess my favorite is No.1, although I like both. Of course, that’s also my current mood.
Paul, I think that we had posted similar thoughts on the use of digital the same day. After making my post, then checking the other blogs, I was amazed to find what you had written was in the same experiemetal/creative spriit that I had just posted. So you know that I totally agree with you!
Both are very appealing in their own ways, each has their own contextual situation. I am very glad my camera can’t talk back to me, because the arguments on what each of us ‘sees’ would go on forever!
@Mark: LOL! I know what you mean. That could lead to some serious disagreements!
Camera:”Heck! If you’re going to do all that tweaking and whatnot, why’d I even need to participate! Hmmph!”