The Photography Without Photoshop

Photoshop is a very large graphic design software program. It has a lot of functions but in photography field, it mainly allows photographers to edit their recent photos. However, there is also an issue between two sides. People in the first side are using the Photoshop program as it is a blessing to them. They agree that Photoshop can perform powerful functions that give wonderful results. People on other side are not using Photoshop. And they also believe that they can make fantastic photos without Photoshop. In this blog, I am going to talk about opinions of photographers who don’t want to use Photoshop.

 

As I research, some people never use Photoshop because they don’t want a third party has any effects on their photos. In order words, they want to keep their photos pure and original. According to Matt Suess in his article “Real photographers Don’t Use Photoshop Plugins, Right?” on his website, he said:

If you are guilty of using such Photoshop plugins, be warned that the end result is not your style – it is the style of the software programmers. You have no style, no creativity, no voice and no vision in this Real Photographers Club if you are using Photoshop plugins.

Other people don’t use Photoshop because of the photography type they are working on. Galen Leeds is a photographer who used to use Photoshop but he stops using it anymore. He really doesn’t feel much of a need for it. When he used Photoshop, he just used it for making signs and business cards. In his article, he pointed out that Photoshop is not part of his photographic view, he said:

I consider myself a documentary photographer. That is, I am documenting the world around me. Be it an animal, a landscape, an event, or a person- I will try to give my most honest interpretation of what I see through the lens, nothing added, nothing taken away. I might pull a few blades of grass that will interfere with my image, but I do that before the shutter clicks.

Moreover, there is a group of photographers who say “The Death of Photoshop”. They have three rules for any photographers who want to join their group:

1- No edited photographs
2- No edited photographs
3- No edited photographs

They are just looking for the most creative, weird, scary, mesmerizing, eye blinding, and inspirational pieces of photography that are done in-camera without any after effects or editing software. They want to see what can be done without Photoshop. 

 

We can’t conclude that there is right or wrong when using Photoshop. Using or not using Photoshop depends on individual’s thoughts. However, either one of two sides have a large amount of art works created every day. 

Work Cited:

Suess, Matt. "Real photographers Don’t Use Photoshop Plugins, Right?” www.mattsuess.com. Suess Fine Art Photography, 27 Apr 2011. Web. 24 Oct 2012.

 

Leeds, Galen. "Why I don’t use Photoshop?”. www.galenleeds.com. Galen Leeds Photography, 23 Apr 2011. Web. 24 Oct 2012.

 

Wood, Thomas. "We Say, Death of Photoshop”. www.deathofphotoshop.com. Death of Photoshop, 2012. Web. 24 Oct 2012.

The Film Photography

As I research, since the photography goes digital, more and more people are going to use digital cameras because of the easiness and convenience. However, the film photography still has a place in the arts and many hearts because of many reasons. Have you ever though about why people keep using film photography while the digital cameras are very popular with the economic prices? In this blog, I am trying to answer the question "Why film cameras or the film photography in general still exist up to now?"

Everything happens for a reason and the existence of film photography does too. The first reason I'd like to say is film photography has the history of over hundreds years. So, the photo quality has been tested and developed a lot of times. I found an article "What are Some Benefits of Using Film Cameras" on the site WiseGEEK.com, a professor said

The main benefit of choosing film cameras is photo quality. While digital photography has come a long way in the past decade, it's still far behind film when it comes to definition. If you intend on printing wall-sized prints or playing around with larger sizes, film prints offer the best quality. In the last few years, new digital cameras with high-definition clarity have come into the market, but hey are still no match for much simpler film cameras.

When I get into this topic, I do research a lot because I don't have much experience in film photography. The second important reason is that using film cameras makes a better photographer because they can't delete any photos. I think about when using digital cameras, we can take several photos and then pick the best one to keep. But with film cameras, we can't delete, we keep all photos. From the failed photos, photographers gain experience to avoid the mistakes for the next time.
 
With film cameras, photographers have to use the viewfinder on the camera. I used to take photos from a film camera a couple times before and I'd say it's not easy to frame a photo from the viewfinder. Almost digital cameras have a LCD screen the back, photographers may depend too much on it. In the other words, with film cameras, photographers can develop framing skills better than digital cameras. In addition, the framing skills may determine a level of a photographer (Charlie Sorrel)

I see that almost of art photographers are using film cameras. I think it's because using a film cameras requires more skills than a digital one. That means taking a photo by a film camera is much harder. However, in my opinion, it's hard to conclude which one is better. On my favorite photographer's site, Ken Rockwell Photograph, in the "Film vs. Digital" article, he said

Neither is better on an absolute basis. The choice depends on your application.Once you know your application the debate goes away. The debate only exists when people presume erroneously that someone else's needs mirror their own.

From this short blog spot, I think it's clear enough to understand why the film photography still exist up to now. It remains for many reasons.

Work Cited:
"Why film cameras or the film photography in general still exist up to now?" www.wisegeek.com. WiseGEEK, nd Web. 17 Oct 2012.
 
Sorrel, Charlie. "Five Reason Film Cameras Are Still Better Than Digital Camera?" www.wired.com. WIRED, 30 Nov 2007. Web. 17 Oct 2012.

Rockwell, Ken. "Film vs. Digital" www.kenrockwell.com. Ken Rockwell Photography. 2006. Web. 17 Oct 2012.

The Black and White Photography

__THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY__

Sometimes, we have seen a photo that had no colors on it? So, what kind of photography is it? And why did photographers take the picture like that? (Photo credit: Digitalphotographyschool)

Along time ago in the history of photography, black and white photography was the most choice of photographers because it was less expensive than the color photography. A couple years later, the color photography became more popular with the quality improved and the price also reduced. The effect of color photography was that an amount of photographers who chose the black and white photography decreased. However, the black and white photography still survives in this decade.The reason of the black and white photography's survival was stated in an article on the site www.photography.com, the author said

The vibrancy of color can, at times, actually detract from the desired photographic effect. Subtle effects of texture and lighting that can be lost in color photographs will stand out in black and white photography... Black and white photos can add an air of romance, class, timelessness and mystery to otherwise ordinary photographs. A run-of-the-mill color photo may look entirely different when seen in black and white

For the reason, photographers take an advantage to give a photo a timeless. Everything such as architectures, cars, telephones, clothes, and especially colors in a photo may date the photo. In some specific photography, I choose wedding photography is an example. Wedding photos often work well with black and white photography, as wedding dresses and tuxedos don’t suggest a specific time period when color isn’t a factor (Photography Office )

Due to the absence of colors, the black and white photography mainly aims to the play of light and shadow instead of colors. According to Vitaly Friedman in his article on the Smashing Magazine, he said

This is both a strength and weakness for black and white photos. In the right lighting conditions, black and white photographs are beautiful. However, when taken in the wrong light, black and white images may look washed out or too dark...Because shadow and light play such a key role in the effect of black and white photography, two pictures of the same subject can create very different looks at different times of the day

When we look at a black and white photograph, we usually think about how classic and elegant it looks. The reason is that a lot of photographers use black and white photography for their artistic purpose. The absence of colors expresses the mystery of a photo and brings special emotions, especially sadness and loneliness to viewers. I will post a couple white and black photos taken by professional photographers. 

Photo Credit: Adrian Sommeling

Photo Credit: Dan Barham

Photo Credit: Mario Mencacci

Work Cited:

"Black and White Photography " www.photography.com. Your Online Source for Photography, np. Web. 08 Oct 2012

 

"The Art of Black and White Photography" www. photographyoffice.com. Photography Office, 18 June 2011. Web. 08 Oct 2012

 

Friedman, Vitaly. "Beautiful Black and White Photography" www. smashingmagazine.com. Smashing Magazine, 9 June 2008 Web. 08 Oct 2012