Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Natural VS Edited...Which Do You Prefer?

This seems to be a subject of much controversy for many photographers. In my early days of taking photos and learning editing I was always fascinated at how I could take an image and make it look so much better than the original.  The tools we have available to us are endless! Cleaning up an image to make it look so perfect and enhance the colors of the sky or just adding a touch of color to a butterfly just seemed to make the image "pop" and I could not stop myself from making the changes and saving the image.




All Her Beauty by Julie Everhart









I have had many friends and followers comment to me and ask me if that was exactly how the image looked out of the camera? I used to tell them no, you wouldn't really be impressed at what I started with and yes, its an enhanced photo. They used to tell me that I was "cheating" or "too artistic" with my images and that they preferred "the natural look".My answer simply was " then don't  look at my work" or "find another photographers work that you like because I don't process my images that way".

As a photographer we have the freedom to do what we wish with the images we create.  Its our right to express our creativity if its inside of us. Having someone tell you that you should "tone down your saturation" or" keep trying you'll get there one day and you will learn how to capture nature the way it should be" is not something that is going to change or inspire us to change who we are or what we do.





When Flowers Cry by Julie Everhart






































I have never hidden the fact that I am first an Artist and secondly a Photographer.I use an jpeg as a medium. Its simply a blank canvas to me and then I proceed to do with it as I wish. If it doesn't appeal to a large crowd that is OK with me. This desire to change an image from its original state made it very difficult for me to find a photo sharing site where I could be comfortable sharing my work as I was to well received early on. Now as the digital age of photography has progressed and more and more consumers have purchased DSLR cameras and joined photo sharing sites it has become more evident that people have been experimenting more with the digital age of editing.

Sure, there are still many photographers out there that enjoy nature in the raw and they are very good at what they do. I can never say that I don't appreciate it and give kudos to those masters. I am simply saying that if anyone is looking for that from me, they won't find it. I enjoy all and any ways I can find to create different looks from images and I will always take advantage of any new filters and accessories I can find to learn, change and grow with the times. Technology and the digital art world always will fascinate me. After all, if someone took the time to create the software and and filters,someone else should take the time to use them and see what they can do. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you have comments, questions or simply disagree, feel free to leave a response below.  I will be happy to hear your thoughts.

Have a great day!

Julie 




2 comments:

  1. Well said Julie. Every artist has the right to say what they feel and it is up to the listener to hear it, or not. As photographers, we speak through imagery, and tell our storoes th egg ough color, light, and shadows.

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  2. *Tell our stories through color, light, and shadows.

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