To enhance or not to enhance...

becky_a

becky_a

Active member
Having an argument with my brother about using photoshop on my photos. How many of you enhance your photos for your scrapbook pages. Do you go with the purist method of using what the camera gives you or do you brighten and enhance...maybe removing irritating items? I am of the creative method because I want my scrapbook pages to look as good as possible and a lesser quality photo can make my page look bad. What do you all do?
 
I find that most of my pics turn out a bit dark, so I usually do "lights on" on Rad Lab. I really should play with the other settings too... it was an expensive program to just use one button!
 
I have a workflow that I use on every photo, which includes sharpening and tweaking the lightness/darkness. Occasionally I tweak the saturation if someone looks a bit too ruddy (as us blondes tend to look with flashes). I don't remove items or change the actual look of the photo in any way though.
 
It depends on the photo. If it's a candid and looks decent out of the camera, to save time I will leave it alone. By the time it makes a layout tho, I usually add at least some brightness to it so it stands out against the elements. I love a good action too (Greater Than Gatsby are my faves - a bit pricy but have great Black Friday sales).
 
Depends on the photo. A scanned in photo definitely needs some tweaking with exposure etc. I do try to use my own photos as are. Most I do is brighten them a bit. Phone photos need some sharpening usually but that is about it.

i will recolour or turn black and white to match a kit though.
 
You know, that's what I told him. The camera sees things a little differently than the eye, so I try to make it the way my eye saw it. To be honest, I love the creativity digital photography affords me and I see nothing wrong with taking artistic license. He says I am creating a fantasy world because my photos don't look the same as when they came out of the camera... Well I say when you buy a painting from an artist you are seeing the object the way they saw it so what's so wrong about making my photos look the way my eye saw them? Ugh.
 
mariewilcox said:
I have a workflow that I use on every photo, which includes sharpening and tweaking the lightness/darkness. Occasionally I tweak the saturation if someone looks a bit too ruddy (as us blondes tend to look with flashes). I don't remove items or change the actual look of the photo in any way though.
Click to expand...
I have a workflow like Marie's. I keep then as natural looking as possible.
 
ENHANCE!
I'm a much better photo editor than I am photographer. ��

And it it makes me crazy when I view some photos on pages that are a very easy fix...even for a novice on auto, or the most novice scrapper.
m
 
I am a candid photographer:(...I would miss the moment if I stopped to adjust settings, so it is point shoot and hope. Therefore I do use the photo enhancement tools in photoshop...I use brightness, levels, curves etc (none very expertly) but one thing I am fairly adamant about is NOT removing a freckle or a mole or some other blemish that is always a part of the subject's face/body. I WILL remove acne or scratches etc...those things that are not "forever" parts of the person:) I would really like to learn more about photo enhancement and am not a purist about SOTC other than as mentioned above.
 
I enhance 90% of the time. It depends on the photo. The way our current apartment is (weird lighting and creamy yellow walls), it's almost impossible to get a decent shot. My camera (phone and big camera) overcompensate for the warm walls and we all end up being a weird purple red color. My eyeballs definitely see the world nicer than my camera in that case. But if we're outside and the sun isn't too harsh and the colors are popping all on their own, I'll leave those alone. I don't do a lot of cosmetic retouching, but I'll remove a pimple here and there.
 
It truly depends. I use my phone instead of my fancy cam because my phone is always on me, and it gives me some pretty great photos. I do find that printing through shutterfly tends to darken my pictures vs. what I see on my monitor (a big problem with printing anywhere) so I do like to lighten/brighten my photos up a little. Monitor brightness always changes how my photos look printed vs. on the screen. As a photographer, I try to compose my shots so that items in the background are there intentionally. It doesn't always happen with candids but I try. I really try to eliminate a lot of photo editing where I can.
 
I edit about 90% of the time. I'm not the best at it...Maybe I need to take a class? Or, I'm looking into the $10 CC with Lightroom because I've heard it's great for editing. I'm not the best photographer and I exclusively use my phone or a P&S camera.
I edit out most zits-I'm 50 and still get them :cryhard and my teenage boys don't want their photos posted if the zits are showing too much.
I have also edited out people...Yes, I know that I'm altering the story & most likely I will do a page with the person in, but there are a couple of people that really don't deserve a place in my books.
 
I never used to, because I didn't know how. I look back on my very first layouts and books and just cringe at how they look. Now I enhance, sharpen, tweak, anything I can to make my photos looks good. Sometimes straight out of the camera just isn't good enough.
 
So, question for everyone who "enhances" their pictures - what program do you use? Do you use actions?
 
craftytam said:
So, question for everyone who "enhances" their pictures - what program do you use? Do you use actions?
Click to expand...

Sometimes all a photo needs is just to click Image > Auto Color in PS. Sometimes it needs more and I'll take the photo into Lightroom. I'm still learning that one, so I mostly just fiddle with the clarity and sharpness.
 
I totally tweak. I'd say 90% of my photos have some sort of brightness added, or sharpness tweaked. I even will take out zits if they bug me enough on a photo. Also my daughter for the longest time had this little red spot under her eye and it drove me nuts so I would remove it from just about every photo I took of her. Also does he want you to leave the "red eye" on photos because that is how the photo came out of the camera? That's "fixing" a photo so if he doesn't want you to do anything to it then you should just leave the red eye too. ;) Don't EVER feel bad about changing a photo to your liking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top