Prod/Traffic__________ Editor__________ Manag. Ed folio?__________ Assoc Ed __________ Edit Assist__________ Art Director bleed?__________ Photo Editor__________
tHe pRocessing, oR developing, of a digital file (wHetHeR cameRa file oR scan) is necessaRy in viRtually all cases Because of tHe natuRe of digital pHotogRapHy itself.
aFtER
Having said that, I must confess that a magazine recently asked me for a vertical shot of a diver cuddling a moray. I had one well-composed shot taken 30 years ago but had never published, as the image was full of backscatter. I’d kept the slide as a reminder to use correct technique every time. I scanned and e-mailed the image to the magazine, pretty much to say, “Sorry, I can’t help.” Te magazine contacted me and asked for it in high resolution. “Backscatter is no problem,” they said. “We can fix that.” Tey did, and the image made the cover. I’ve now had several magazines “improve” my images, but I still aim for perfection using only my camera. In the end, it comes down to this: Even if I do not get the perfect image every dive, I will at least have the satisfaction of having attempted the perfect photo dive. And that’s good enough for me.
Embrace Photoshop, Don’t Fight It �A By Rod Klein
Most who hear the words “Photoshop” and “photography” think: manipulate, composite and fake. Tis might be true for advertising graphic artists, but certainly not for wildlife photographers.
For those photographers who embrace Photoshop as part of their normal workflow, the issues are darkroom issues just as in the days of film: develop, process and color correct. Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw even call the module that controls these functions the Develop Module, not the Make It Fake Module. Te processing, or developing, of a digital file (whether camera file or scan) is necessary in virtually all cases because of the nature of digital photography itself. To start, all original digital files are lower in contrast and color saturation. Film, which is a photochemical process, can be developed to increase these attributes so the final transparency has the desired look. Each film stock — Velvia, Provia, Kodachrome, etc. — has a different color balance built in, so the photographer decides beforehand if the image is warm or cool. In a digital file, this occurs after the fact. Take sharpening, for example: All digital files need sharpening (film scans too!). Why? Digital cameras utilize an antialiasing filter in front of the sensor to slightly blur the image to prevent zigzag lines, stair-stepped diagonals and digital
noise. To compensate, all digital images need a bit of sharpening to bring them back to square one. Photoshop and raw-image processors allow us to take full advantage of the information that lives inside the file. Images are no longer viewed on a light table as small slides, but on large computer monitors or as large ink-jet prints where every minor imperfection can be seen — the same imperfections that exist in a film image but can’t be easily seen, even with a magnifying loop. Certainly there are those who shoot hundreds of images on one dive and hope for the best. But nothing can replace great diving skill, composition and proper lighting to make great photos; and the best photographers are able to come back from a dive without having to fill up their memory cards. Photoshop is just another tool in this new world of digital-image making. Underwater photographers don’t work in a studio where everything can be controlled; they work where currents, visibility and water movement affect everything they do. Using the Photoshop/ Camera Raw tools helps equalize these basic disadvantages. If you’re a well-known photographer doing a fish ID book, you’re not going to digitally manipulate your images — for example, taking two or more images to make a composite. But you want the best quality image so it reproduces great in print. Even the best photographers need to make their images look as good as possible by using the tools that are available now: develop, color correct and sharpen. In the past, these were done in the chemical darkroom; now they’re done in the digital darkroom. > Tink there’s too much photoshopping? Have
your say at scubadiving.com.
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