Photo of the Week # 225

I’m old enough that I have shot film. I remember the days of taking film to the store and having to wait to see my pictures. Back at that time, my pictures were just snapshots but that anticipation of seeing those prints was there just the same. Nowadays, what do we do with photos taken? The vast majority live out their days on a hard drive somewhere and don’t see the light of day. Some get put on Instagram or some other social media to collect likes.

I believe that there is something missing from so many workflows these days……..prints. There is nothing quite like holding a print of your work in your hands, something substantial for your efforts. Lately both my wife and I are taking advantage of our hard work and we have printed out a few of our things to hang in our home. What a feeling of satisfaction comes from that!

Obviously we can’t print out everything we do, we don’t have enough walls, but once in awhile you have that special piece that you just want to see large. Surely you have photos that mean something for various reasons, trips to far off places, family times, or just a special photo that you’re proud of. Why not make up a print and hang it on your wall, or maybe give away as a gift? In my opinion, the print is the final step in the photographic process, don’t just store those images on a hard drive for no one to ever see.

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.