IS EDITING YOUR PHOTOS CHEATING? 

Hi Stephen, thank you for those comments, the questions you raise are really interesting ones, but firstly, I have to challenge the elephant in the room. I don’t believe there can be any dreary days in Ohio 🤣. Seriously though, I have always been a professional photographer, straight from art college at 17. So the competition print club circuit has never been on my radar personally, and I have never considered how much post production artwork would be a bone of contention. You’re right, I would like to do a video on that. You see, as a pro, I see the new Photoshop sky replacement tool as a real godsend. Only this week I was photographing a swanky new office block in Birmingham city centre. I always do office shots for architects at silly o’clock to ensure no workers are there and the windows turn blue during morning blue hour before sunrise. At the end of the interiors, the sun was up and the day was flat and rainy, thick grey skies (taking their vacation from Ohio!). Now my client had asked for an exterior shot, but in the flat light, with pedestrians rushing by in rain gear, the photo was uninspiring at best, but I’d describe it as aweful and not something I can deliver to the client. So what to do? Not delivering for the client is not an option. Well, I switched on HDR, popped onto a tripod, went down to an eighth to blur the rain clad passers by, and then came post production, where I enhanced the interior lights, made the colour saturation of the windows pop, and then added the sunrise sky that I had missed while doing the interiors. Hey presto, and image the client loved. So I used the sky replacement to fix a problem. But now you have made me think, what if it were a club competition and the title was buildings and I had manufactured the lighting, the weather conditions, the time of day, took out some undesirable elements. Would that be fair? Should there be a different competition for non manipulated images, or is post production so much part of digital photography now that pre and post production have merged into one? Wow, that really is something to think about. Thanks for raising it. I do apologise for the ridiculously long comment, but you have raised such an interesting point. Thank you again for watching and commenting, I really do love to chat about photography 👏📷😊

@@rileyphotosI certainly agree that sky replacement is a useful tool and for you to use it for commercial photography work is to be expected. And, don't you think it tends to be an example of photography as a form of graphic design? Then, consider that most folks that aren't photographers have no idea of what is possible in the creation of photos and why it really is an art form. Another interesting related topic is how the study and pursuit of photography changes a person's perception and how we look at the world. I know this is applicable to so many fields of study. I've been an amateur photographer for little over 20 years and it has made me so much more observant of how I see things around me, and my interest in wildlife/nature photography has resulted in my eyes always looking for that hawk sitting in a tree along the roadside, or how the lighting would be rally great for a landscape shot, etc. So thanks for taking time to respond as it is always interesting to learn more from a professional photographer's point of view.

Stephen I think you’re right, I hadn’t considered the perspective of post production to those that know nothing about photography. I see an image that has subtle post production lighting and think, oh that’s a nice edit, but for some they would simply marvel at the lovely time of day without realising it was fiction. The photography vs graphics debate is a very interesting one. Although I did put a t shirt in my merch store today with the slogan ‘we are photographers - cos even designers need heroes’ 🤣. Your second point really interests me, and for the second time today I am going to ask if I may adopt it for a future video. How becoming a photographer, helps you notice the world around you more. I’ve never considered that until I mentioned it to my wife today after reading your comment and she told me I was forever saying “look at that light over there”! Thank you Stephen for taking the time to share those observations. 👏📷😊

@@rileyphotos Feel free to use any idea or topic I mention. So much of what I've learned about photography has been through photographers such as you that are willing to share your experiences, knowledge and opinions. As to our experiences changing our perception, observation or whatever became evident to me during my teaching career as a public high school band and orchestra teacher. We know as teachers that many students will not continue to play an instrument after high school or college but it was quite observable how playing an instrument can open up one's eyes and minds to the many facets of music. For that reason, I think it's important to encourage children and young adults to explore and try as many things as possible. We never know as the adults how much of an impact it may have on those young lives. Hope you don't mind me getting a little philosophical, but I enjoy conversations such as these.

Philosophise away Stephen, I love talking photography too. It’s interesting to hear your teaching experiences. I joined a newspaper as a press photographer at 17 and worked for various British publications over 16 years before leaving to set up my own commercial business to business photography company. I mention this because before leaving the newspaper I spent two years at night school getting qualified to teach adults. I figured if the photography business was slow to get going, I might pick up some teaching. The lesson I remember most from that time I still use with my photography now, and that is, ‘if the receiver isn’t receiving, then it’s the transmitter that’s at fault’. I often see clients or subjects not seeing the shoot the same as me, but it’s up to me to find a way if getting it across. The time you spent teaching young musicians and the experiences and memories you gave to them will stay with them forever. Even if they don’t play any more. Those special memories will be etched indelibly into their being. I have had people come up to me is shopping malls, people with kids, and they say your a photographer aren’t you? I say yes, how did you know, and they proceed to tell me of the time I came to their school and picked them out to go in the press photo, and they remember detail like it was yesterday. Now, I appreciate that as a photographer I’m not doing work that can change lives like teaching , but it does bring home that what I do has a positive impact on people, so much so that they can remember it years afterwards. That’s very satisfying.

Thanks Peter, I thought I’d try something a bit different, hope your channel is going well 👍🏻