Are pro's like Magicians

[sanfairyanne]

I'm in southern Utah at the moment and was lucky enough to be in a gallery when the photographer was in store. As he was busy and I clearly wasn't buying a $2000 print I didn't waste his time but I did ask if his pictures were HDR'd or had post processing. The photographer proudly explained that with his Hassleblad 39 megapixel camera his images were true to that as received by the camera at the time the picture was taken.

Now I can imagine that no photographer wants to admit to post processing because it's got to be bad for business. I mean a potential client would surely be put off. In this day and age everyone's heard of Photoshop and we all know that with very careful manipulation a picture can become something it wasn't. Countless celebrities fall prey to this on the internet after all.

So my question is are pro's magicians; magicians swear not to reveal how they do their tricks, is it not plausible then that pro landscape photographers effectively do the same?

If not I'm placing an order for a Hassleblad tomorrow.

[cdifoto]

Post processing is unavoidable.

[WillOPhotos]

yes they prety much all post process imo, I dont do hdrs, I use one exposure but then i play with that exposure :)

[sanfairyanne]

I kind of thought so, I mean it's pretty obvious, I kind of wish these pro's would admit to post processing instead of effectively insulting the intelligence of us amateurs.

Thanks

[WillOPhotos]

The thing is, alot of people who buy the prints dont know much at all about photography usually and when they hear photoshop they think its a cop out but in reality photoshop is just a modern Darkroom, in my opinion your final image is what you made and that is your vision of the landscape so it doesnt matter really, although I draw the line at adding in objects etc hah.

[Rankinia]

Also take into account that they are typically pros for a reason. They dont put up their average shots in a gallery. If you shoot enough days youll come across magic light.

[tonydee]

If you shoot enough days youll come across magic light.

Shoot enough days + network and read enough to know where to be and when, and that it's potentially financially viable to do the travel.

I've heard several POTN pros say directly that they lie to customers by telling them they don't post-process. Especially if it's just a crop, curves, saturation/vibrance and/or contrast tweak, they are sick of customers assuming it's a cop out and losing interest in their work. In some ways, asking the question suggests to the pro that you do have some prejudice about the import of the answer (if he thinks you're a customer and not a photographer hoping to learn about his post-processing workflow). From your description, it sounds like he's a being a bit defensive and/or cocky, so it's worth entertaining the possibility that he might not have been completely honest... ;-)

Cheers, Tony

[Karl Johnston]

The thing is, when people say they don't support photoshop they usually mean they don't support advanced image manipulation and editing and are ignorant to the world of raw or crop or image adjustments.

I honestly say I don't use photoshop.

...but photoshop isn't the only image editor out there :lol: !