{"id":2309,"date":"2012-01-22T12:59:45","date_gmt":"2012-01-22T20:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/?p=2309"},"modified":"2012-01-22T13:04:31","modified_gmt":"2012-01-22T21:04:31","slug":"manipulate-photograph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/2012\/01\/22\/manipulate-photograph\/","title":{"rendered":"Did You Manipulate That Photograph?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I do art festivals and shows I\u2019m often asked, \u201cDid you manipulate that photograph?\u201d\u00a0 I have several answers.\u00a0 The most direct is, \u201cYes, of course.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Other times I\u2019ll reply, \u201cMy photographs are what I saw, not what the camera saw.\u201d\u00a0 Or if I\u2019m feeling really wordy I\u2019ll answer, \u201cLet me explain it this way.\u00a0 I approach photography from the mindset of a painter. I want to give myself the same creative freedom of a painter.\u201d\u00a0 To which the inquirer will often respond, \u201cOh, I get it; you\u2019re an artist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To manipulate or not to manipulate.\u00a0 That\u2019s not even the question.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because you have to go to extremes to have a photograph that is NOT manipulated.\u00a0 OK, that\u2019s a pretty bold statement.\u00a0 So let\u2019s take a deeper look.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, before we proceed any farther, let me put forward how I\u2019m defining \u2018manipulation.\u2019\u00a0 The impression I get when I\u2019m asked the \u2018M word question\u2019 is that people expect the photograph to be a accurate depiction of the scene.\u00a0 Anything that is not an accurate depiction is manipulated.\u00a0 And that\u2019s understandable.\u00a0 After all, a photograph is captured with a mechanical and\/or electronic device whose purpose is to record what is in front of it.\u00a0 And the assumption is that it records the scene accurately.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, when cameras appeared on the scene they were praised by all, painters included, in their near miraculous ability to easily capture reality.\u00a0 And in many forms of photography we insist that the photograph accurately capture the moment.\u00a0 The most stellar example would be photo journalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if we can agree that a departure from the reality of the scene is a form of manipulation, then let\u2019s proceed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Black and White Film Photography<\/span><\/h1>\n

Let\u2019s start with film.\u00a0 In fact, let\u2019s start with black and white.\u00a0 Now honestly, isn\u2019t a black and white photograph an abstraction of reality?\u00a0 We see the world in color but a black and white renders colors to shades of gray.\u00a0 So given our definition of manipulation, wouldn\u2019t we have to consider black and white images as being manipulated?<\/span><\/p>\n

But let\u2019s concede that point and look a little harder.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The accomplished black and white film photographer has more to work with than meets the casual eye.\u00a0 First is film selection.\u00a0 Different black and white films respond differently to the light.\u00a0 So the same scene captured on different films would have subtle and not so subtle differences.\u00a0 In other words, the choice of film has an effect on the final print.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, black and white photographers regularly use filters to darken the sky, smooth skin tones and enhance foliage.\u00a0 It\u2019s a practice that is well accepted and practiced by many BW photographers, even the masters.\u00a0 Especially the masters.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more.\u00a0 This same accomplished black and white film photographer can adjust the exposure and development process to optimize the potential of the film.\u00a0 Let me explain.\u00a0 The film is capable of capturing a range of tonalities from pure black to pure white.\u00a0 The range a film can capture varies from one type of film to another.\u00a0 The accomplished photographer is able to match the range of tonalities of the film to the dynamic range of the scene by adjusting the way the film is exposed and developed.\u00a0 The result is the optimum negative.\u00a0 The development can be adjusted by shortening or lengthening the amount of time the film is in the developer bath.\u00a0 Or it can even be adjusted by mixing the chemical components of the developer in different proportions.\u00a0 (Yes, Ansel Adams did all this and more.)<\/span><\/p>\n

So the black and white photographer has quite a bit of control over the negative, control that can deviate considerably from scene that passed through the camera\u2019s lens.<\/span><\/p>\n

Color Film Photography<\/span><\/h1>\n

How about color film?\u00a0 Can color film be manipulated in the same way as black and white?\u00a0 Well, no.\u00a0 Adjusting exposure and development is not an option with color film.\u00a0 It must be developed at the correct concentration of developer at exactly the right temperature for precisely the correct length of time.\u00a0 No fudging.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

But there is a great deal of variability among color films in the way they render hue (color), saturation and contrast.\u00a0 Take hue.\u00a0 If the accomplished color film photographer was photographing the great American Southwest they may choose Kodachrome film for the wonderful way it rendered reds.\u00a0 If the photographer was photographing the beautiful blue Pacific they may choose Ektachrome for its fantastic blues.\u00a0 Photographers that like high contrast and intense colors use Velvia.\u00a0 Other photographers that prefer Provia if they are after softer images.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, the accomplished color film photographer will pair the film with the situation (like pairing food with a good wine) to deliver the effect he or she wants.\u00a0 Does this produce an accurate rendering of the scene?\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 But it produces the rendering the artist wants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prints from Film<\/span><\/h1>\n

And we haven\u2019t talked about the print yet.\u00a0 There are a lot of darkroom techniques that were regularly used.\u00a0 Burning and dodging is the first that comes to mind.\u00a0 If an area of the photograph is too bright and distracts from the subject it was darkened through burning.\u00a0 If an area needed to be emphasized more it could be lightened through dodging.\u00a0 This works for both BW and color film.<\/span><\/p>\n

In color photography the hue of a particular area could be modified by using a color filter to burn just that area.\u00a0 Master photographers even dropped moons into their landscape photographs in the good old world of film.<\/span><\/p>\n

But even without these common darkroom techniques, the image was already altered (manipulated) when the negative or positive film came out of the developer bath.<\/span><\/p>\n

Digital Cameras<\/span><\/h1>\n

Today most of us photograph with digital cameras.\u00a0 So the whole argument about manipulating the image through the careful selection of the type of film or, in the case of black and white, the way it is exposed and developed does not apply.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, not exactly.\u00a0 Our cameras\u2019 sensors are produced from different manufacturers.\u00a0 Canon makes their own.\u00a0 Nikon uses sensors manufactured by Sony.\u00a0 Tests by such prestigious labs as DxO show there are subtle differences in the way the sensors respond to light.\u00a0 And the camera\u2019s processors that create the files from the images that come from the sensor also behave differently from one manufacturer to another.\u00a0 But you\u2019re not going to change camera sensors like you could change film.\u00a0 So let\u2019s move on.<\/span><\/p>\n

So the way film was selected, exposed and developed does not apply to digital photography; right?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 But the vast majority of digital cameras still manipulate the images. Why is that?\u00a0 Because the vast majority of digital images are captured as JPEGs.\u00a0 Now JPEG is a file format the compresses the raw image that comes from the camera\u2019s sensor.\u00a0 The result is a smaller file and that\u2019s why we can get so many more JPEG files on our memory cards than RAW files.\u00a0 The camera uses its processor to create the JPEG file.\u00a0 Kinda makes the digital camera sound like a computer \u2013 processor, memory, programs.\u00a0 Yep, it is.\u00a0 But I digress.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the camera\u2019s processor compresses the raw image it also makes some modifications. For example it can increase or decrease the contrast.\u00a0 It can do the same with saturation and sharpness.\u00a0 It can also alter the hue.\u00a0 These are all controls that can be adjusted in the camera\u2019s menu system and that photographers can set to get the results they want.\u00a0 Oh, we\u2019re back to photographers getting the results they want.\u00a0 Busted.\u00a0 The image is manipulated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, RAW files are not altered by the camera in any way.\u00a0 RAW files are exactly what was recorded by the sensor.\u00a0 Now they may have some metadata attached to them like the the white balance setting.\u00a0 And the raw image conversion software like Lightroom may read this setting and adjust the image that it displays on the monitor.\u00a0 But the change was not applied to the raw file itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if we want truly unmanipulated images from our digital cameras we could get them from the RAW files.\u00a0 As long as we did nothing to them.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

I recall when I first started shooting digital.\u00a0 I shot JPEGs.\u00a0 A big reason was the smaller file size.\u00a0 But another reason was that the RAW images looked so horrible.\u00a0 And I had no clue how to make them look even half as good as the JPEGs.\u00a0 (Lightroom didn\u2019t exist back then and I was a total klutz with the early version of Adobe Camera Raw.)\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until I learned to make RAW images look as good as (or better than) JPEGs (and bought larger memory cards) that I started shooting RAW.<\/span><\/p>\n

An interesting thing about shooting RAW is that you can buy plugins for Lightroom and other raw image conversion programs that reproduce the effects you would get from the various color and black and white films.\u00a0 So we effectively have the option of selecting the right film for the situation even with digital cameras.\u00a0 I think some of us still long for the film days.<\/span><\/p>\n

So alas, all photographs are manipulated whether we\u2019re unaware of it or intentionally make choices to get the effect we want.\u00a0 Manipulation is not the issue because we can\u2019t get away from it.\u00a0 The issue is honesty.<\/span><\/p>\n

A student of mine purchased a beautiful sunset photograph on a recent visit to Sedona, Arizona.\u00a0 She thought it was very nice but had an uneasy feeling about it.\u00a0 Something didn\u2019t feel quite right about it so she asked me to take a look at it.\u00a0 It was indeed beautiful.\u00a0 The red cliffs were basking in the glow of the setting sun with radiant clouds above.\u00a0 But sure enough, something wasn\u2019t quite right.\u00a0 And then I spotted it.\u00a0 The sun on the clouds was coming from the left but on the cliffs and land it was coming from the right.\u00a0 The beautiful sunset sky had been dropped in.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t question the right of an artist to use techniques such as these.\u00a0 It\u2019s not for me to say what others should and should not do.\u00a0 I know where I\u2019ve drawn my line and it doesn\u2019t include such techniques.\u00a0 But have no argument with anyone who differs from me.\u00a0 But we should all be honest about it and not try to deceive our audience.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

So when asked if I manipulate my photographs I proudly respond, \u2018Yep, you bet.\u00a0 I work really hard on my photographs.\u00a0 I\u2019ve worked on some of them for months to get them to say what I want them to say.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Manipulated photographs?\u00a0 They\u2019re all around us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Join me on an upcoming workshop.\u00a0 Click here for more details.<\/a><\/p>\n

To see more of my photographs click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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(812)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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