To Edit or Not to Edit
I recently posted an image on Facebook to a region specific group and received a comment - “great image if it’s not edited!”
After my initial annoyance, as in how dare this person question my professional integrity? I got to thinking, what is it about the “no filter” or “no edit” brigade on social media that annoys me so much? So I decided to write a short blog about editing and my photographic vision.
Essentially, I’m old school analogue, in a past life I spent many hours locked away in a darkroom trying to bring my artistic vision to life. Back in the day when I had to use film I there would be dodging, burning, and adjusting the photograph in order to create a finished image that reflected what I wanted to say and not just what the camera saw. Now I’m simply grateful to have a computer, Adobe, and the incredible power of both Lightroom and Photoshop at my fingertips. Not only that, I now develop the photographs in the light with drinks and snacks! In fact I’m not even tied to my office anymore, laptops, iPads and even my cell phone allow me to work on the go wherever and whenever I want. Photographers have never had it so good!
The Myth of the “Pure” Photograph
For me photography is a two-stage process - capture and develop. The idea that a photograph straight out of camera (SOOC) is somehow more “authentic” totally puzzles me. Every photograph that I take is the culmination of a series of choices… I’ve thought about the composition, I’ve watched the light, then chosen what lens to use, selected the aperture, the shutter speed and iso. Even before pressing the shutter, I’ve shaped the image in my minds eye and have an idea as to how I wish to present it once it’s downloaded and ready to edit.
Take the two images above, the one on the right is the RAW original - in that the camera has recorded the information in front of it, but with absolutely no processing applied. It’s a soulless set of pixels only logging and not interpreting what was happening during this magnificent morning. There. I’ve said “magnificent morning” because I want the viewer to share in my happy dance and excitement at the weather conditions! I’d arrived at the overlook well before sunrise hoping that there would be a bit of moisture in the atmosphere left over from the previous day’s storm - if you know me then you know that I love a misty inversion. I know that once the sun comes over the horizon the mist will burn off quickly, but if I’m lucky delicate air currents will cause it to swirl and dance as well as come alive with the color of sunrise, I might event get a few nice shadows and patterns from the low angle of the sun. Add this to the fact that the trees were just about at their full Autumnal color and I hope you start to buy into my excitement?
The image on the left is therefore the one that I presented to the world, I’d like to think that visually it presents an artistic interpretation of the excited happy dance at the sunrise that I witnessed that morning.
Digital Darkrooms and Artistic Intention
Manipulation or craftsmanship?
When digital photography came along, it didn’t replace the darkroom, it became the darkroom, giving the photographer easy access to a range of editing tools that were unthinkable back in the days of film. Now the tools are faster, more precise, and accessible to everyone. To my mind, though, nothing has changed and all the same darkroom principles apply - My RAW image is my negative and allows me to adjust exposure, contrast, and color balance, then I can dodge, burn, color tone, bleach and spot out dust marks to present the photograph in a way that honors the moment of capture while revealing the emotional depth that drew me to take the shot in the first place.
Put simply editing allows me to translate what I saw into what I felt.
The image above is what prompted this post! Yes it is edited but it does represent what I saw and what I felt that morning.
I had hoped to photograph the sunrise that morning from a viewpoint at the summit of Slide Mountain in The Catskills but unfortunately the weather gods intervened and with the mountain totally enveloped in cloud I decided to photograph the forest along the trail. My aim was to recreate the atmosphere of the morning as well as illustrate what I was feeling as I headed away from the summit enveloped in a silent world of moisture and mist. What do you think, does it work? I’d love to think that I’ve visually transported you into my world that morning.
Here comes the shameless plug too - This is one of my current signature images and can be purchased online at this link
Honesty and Vision
To my mind good editing should be invisible, it should guide the viewer’s eye, clarify the light, enhance the atmosphere, evoke the emotion and not scream “Photoshop!” Of course, there is a fine line between enhancing and overdoing - I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been tempted to crank up the saturation, smooth out textures, delete details or drop in dramatic skies, but thankfully I am normally able to stop myself!
For me, honesty in photography matters deeply, but honesty isn’t about refusing to touch a slider; it’s about staying true to my creative vision with the key being intent - does the edit support my vision, is the moment strengthened and emphasized? The real question then, isn’t whether I edited, but whether the final image feels authentic to the experience I had and the story I wanted to tell.
Essentially I say lets embrace the process and accept that Photography as well as being a technical craft it is also an emotional art form. So yes—I edit, I develop, I refine, just as photographers have done for generations, my tools might have changed, but the intent remains and I hope that my photography brings life to the moment as well as just a little of the emotion that I felt standing there behind the camera marveling at the landscape in front of me.
And Finally
New York State is such a beautiful and inspirational landscape, so in order to end this little post I’ve included a small selection of edited images that I took at Letchworth State Park earlier this Autumn - 4 days of photographic bliss in a landscape that I’ve long wanted to photograph. I had a blast and I’m sure that the joy I felt exploring this remarkable landscape is evident in each of the images ….. what do you think? I’d love a comment or two.
