Am I not a *true* photographer?

It feels like when I look at photos out of the camera they look OK/nice. After going through some photoshop some of them look great. I don't feel like I lean on photoshop as a crutch but having a graphic design background I've picked up some tricks that make my photos look better than they otherwise would have.

Does anyone else feel this way? Sometimes it feels like I'm less of a photographer because of this.

All you have to remember is that Ansel Adams put hours and hours of what we call post work into every one of his pictures. Now if you want to say he wasn't a true photographer, that's your business.

You have to look at the finished product, rather than the process. I've seen your work, and, yes, you ARE a photographer.

The photographic process only just begins when you press the shutter button.

No, using Photoshop to improve a photograph does not make you less of a photographer. Back in the days of film photography, many of the finest photographers devoted hours of darkroom work to getting a photo just right; you're using Photoshop as they used the darkroom.

Naturally, one can over-manipulate an image, whether in a darkroom or on a computer. And, admittedly, it's probably easier to go overboard in Photoshop than it is in a darkroom.

But the old rule - a rule going back to an era long before Photoshop was even a gleam in its creator's eye - is that great photos are often made or ruined in the darkroom. And Photoshop is the modern day darkroom.

Most of my images need adjustments in the RAW converter (increasingly I'm applying a custom Curve in Adobe Camera Raw) and then a sharpening step. Some need more than that.

This isn't over-manipulation - this is simply taking control of what most compact cameras do automatically.

David

Sounds good

what's that Ansel Adams line? "the film is the score, the processing is the performace" ?

The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways.

"You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams

So long as you get a good starting point, what you make of it makes you a good photographer. The Uncle Joe's of the world don't even get a good starting point...that's what separates us from the 'untrue'.

I feel the same way sometimes...but all in all photography is ART and if that means that sometiems we use Photoshop to better our artwork then i think that is OK Its much the same as when i was working in a dark room...burning, dodging, vingetting, sepia etc....

Del

Photography is more about composition, subject matter and timing.

You are using the technology available to you.

Photoshop is just like the finishing polish. It will enhance a good photo, but the material has to be good enough.

Having the skill to improve your shots, only makes you a better photographer.

Graham

if you take a crappy photo, no amount of PS will help you....

Hmmm... depends on your definition of crappy...

how about we do this:

take a picture with the wrong wb and wrong exposure as well as a very slow shutter speed handheld and a very small aperture. than, try to fix it in PS and tell me how it comes out (i am talking from experience here...)