Editing, What Is Crossing The Line?

I recently had something come up that got me thinking about editing. I like editing and believe it is a normal and essential part of the photographic process. This is where you add your artistic vision into your photo. I’m not a believer in letting my camera process my photos, that’s why I shoot in RAW 100% of the time. That said, where do you cross the line? How much is too much?

I had a judge in a competition give me a comment that I should change the sky in the photo below. I always at least consider judge’s recommendations but this is a bit different, that isn’t something I typically do. When I do photography, I do my best to attain images that are appealing but also real representations of what I saw in the field. If I comp in a new sky every time I get a less than perfect one, is that ok? Is that image still a representation of what I saw when I was there? Not exactly.

My take away in this case? Competition judges assess your photos using criteria they have learned and I find they see things rather technically. Just because an image falls short in a competition doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad image. A technically imperfect image can at the same time be an aesthetically pleasing one. Shoot and create for yourself. It’s defeating the whole purpose of photography to try and please others. The image below resides on our wall as a canvas and we both enjoy it greatly, that makes me happy.

Photo of the Week # 189

I first went to the maritimes in 2004 and I immediately fell in love with lighthouses. So much so that I spent quite a bit of time touring around taking photos of as many lighthouses as I could. Since I was just beginning my journey in photography too, most of those photos weren’t very good. Sad really but goes with the territory I guess.

Lighthouses are woven into the very fabric of maritime Canada. They were used for many years to help people navigate safely to their destinations. They obviously exist in other countries too and as I’ve traveled a little, I still find myself attracted to their lighthouses.

Faro Castillo del Morro - Havana, Cuba

Photo of the Week #130

I have always been one to be a perfectionist and I am my own worst critic. This place in Nova Scotia is a place where I see the potential for some great photographs, but I was never able to make that happen. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve done The Cabot Trail in Cape Breton. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the province and if you haven’t been there, try to make time, you won’t regret it.

This scene at Corney Brook is one of those iconic Cape Breton shots but it alluded me for years. This particular place is several hours from our house and therefore, I always found myself there in the middle of the afternoon, shot it the best I could and I almost always got a crappy over-bright sky. This time I was there when there was enough clouds to make it interesting and not blow out the sky. I am so much more happy with this version.

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Is Aspect Ratio Important?

For a long time when I started processing photographs I was reluctant to alter the aspect ratio of an image. My reasoning was to do with printing and framing rather than composition. I figured that there were all these standard sizes of frames available and you had to stay within those dimensions. Granted, custom framing and matt cutting is an added expense, but not every photograph fits the norm. We want our photograph to be displayed in it’s best form so I began to re-think my practices.

The image below has all of it’s information grouped together in a strip that was on the bottom of the frame while the sky was full of nothing but heavy fog. In this case, there was no reason to leave the sky there. In this case, changing the aspect ratio to a more panoramic crop made more sense. The rule of thumb for composition is if it isn’t helping the image, it is hurting it so the boring sky had to go.

Peaceful Morning

Peaceful Morning