Does everybody post process (PP)?

I know this is most likely blasphemy, but I’m kinda questioning the use of Photo Shop and various programs to “fix” photos. Before you start screaming at me, here is my situation. I love photography, I’m as beginner as you can be, but the whole HDR, cloning, smoothing of skin, bla, bla, bla, thing seems to be more graphic arts than photography. Like I said, I am totally a beginner and I’m constantly using this site and the net to obtain information about improving my skills. I’m just having a hard time dealing with the fact that my pics most likely won’t be considered “good” unless I use some sharpening tool or adjust the color saturation…so-on and so-on. Is this just me being new and not understanding modern photography? Are there any photo “purists” that still take wall hanging quality photos with a digital camera and don’t post process?
Any thoughts would be great.

If your camera produces JPG files, then no, they are already processed and you do not need to.

If you shoot in RAW, you MUST process them afterwards. RAW files contain extra dynamic range that, in the processing, gives you the choice of more detail in the shadows or highlights. It is not sharpened. It is not contrast corrected. Basically it is raw and you have to process it afterwards. It isn't a question of fakery in the photo, it is the act of taking a negative a producing a finished print. Even Ansel Adams dodged and burned

PP doesn't just mean photoshopping a picture to death. If you shoot RAW, then the adjustments you make are not "cheating" by boosting saturation, contrast, etc.

You obviously have your own set of values, and that's good...but you don't DO NOT have to do a lot of PP to get a great photo.

Sure, cleaning skin and HDR is getting into digital art rather than photography and I felt the exact same way when I started...

..however once you start shooting RAW and get the really flat results that brings you you find you have to use Photoshop to bring out the colours and contrast and find out that dodging and burning were major parts of darkroom work too....

Oh, and if you shoot jpeg all that means is that you're letting the camera do the post-processing for you in regards to sharpness, colour saturation etc. - I much prefer to do that myself.

I think PP is just the darkroom of digital. Film is all PP'd in the darkroom, dodging, burning, toning, etc. You would never just slap the film into the enlarger and take the first print out of the bath. Yes, as you've mentioned, digital allows the capability of taking it further, even into the graphic realm, but that's just an additional choice, another door opened by new tech. I do this, and yes I consider myself more of a digital artist, but I also think all digital images can only benefit from some PP.

Thanks for the info. I am shooting in RAW. So from what I’m gathering is that RAW is always going to need some touch up? The RAW file/data doesn’t have the ability to gather an image accurately and true to what Im seeing?

twstdcain wrote in post #5060790
...blasphemy...but the whole HDR, cloning, smoothing of skin, bla, bla, bla, thing seems to be more graphic arts than photography.

And what do you think has been going on in darkrooms all these years?

cosworth wrote in post #5060923
And what do you think has been going on in darkrooms all these years?

Exactly! Spot on Jason.

twstdcain wrote in post #5060899
Thanks for the info. I am shooting in RAW. So from what I’m gathering is that RAW is always going to need some touch up? The RAW file/data doesn’t have the ability to gather an image accurately and true to what Im seeing?

No, RAW has all of the data there but it is presented in an unmodified format. Flat contrast, no sharpening, etc. If you switch your camera to shoot JPG it is actually shooting in RAW but processing the file down before you see it.

To actually answer the OP - yes, I process everything. I shoot in RAW. I adjust my camera calibration, I sharpen, I salt to taste. I'm smarter than the jpeg AlGoreRhythm in my camera.

Ridiculously haloed HDR? Plastic skin? Not a fan. Badly cloned out light poles. Nope.

Done right, HEAVY processing can look great.

Unless your shooting documents photography is a creative art. How much you do in post is up to you. If you want to archive the scene in front of you shoot jpg on auto and you'll get what you want. Otherwise loosen up and forget the rules.

twstdcain wrote in post #5060790
Are there any photo “purists” that still take wall hanging quality photos with a digital camera and don’t post process?

I don't think that "purity" is the issue. There are all kinds of photography. It's a matter of personal taste, unless you're producing photos for someone else in which case it's a matter of what they want. (News photographers, for instance, are often forbidden to touch up their photos, and messing with forensic photos would be a big no-no.)

Me, I don't enjoy post-processing. I do enjoy fussing with my camera. Each minute spent with the computer is a minute I'm not able to spend with my camera. I shot slides for 20 years and know how to get the capture correct, and I don't have a problem with discarding my failures.

I shoot JPEG and haven't post-processed a photo in about a year and a half. But that doesn't make me a "purist", and I don't think that there's anything "impure" about those who do post-process. It's just a matter of personal preference.

I knew somebody was going to say that, but come on. The average glamour photo shows people that have unreal looking skin; Im guessing HDR wasnt replicated in a dark room; and in my experience with dark rooms, not too sure if there are ways to remove people, telephone lines and unwanted birds from photos without cropping. Again, just asking the question…

I'd like to spend more time learning Photoshop and such, but a baby doesn't allow for that. So the extent of my PP is converting from RAW to JPG in DPP, sometimes adjusting for balances if I have the time.

I don't own photoshop. I use Lightroom to PP my raw photos. I used to use the software that came with the camera. But you have to do something with RAW images just as we had to have our film developed and then prints developed from that film.