How Far Is Too Far?

I normally don’t do this preferring to use my own images but for teaching purposes i’m using an Ansel Adam’s image that includes the printing instructions he sent to his printer to create the final print on the right.

So how far is too far when it comes to image manipulation?

When it comes to street photography and largely thanks to PhotoShop we regularly see images on FaceBook which are highly manipulated. Fantastic sunsets, skin so perfect it’s obviously overcooked and even juxtaposition of objects which could never happen in real life are daily posted.

In one image on Facebook this morning the photographer described how he shot a bright red sports car in the foreground on his film camera and then added an attractive tropical scenic background from his digital files using PhotoShop.

The actual image looked great and I suppose if you were shooting it for a marketing agency that was using it to sell sports cars it would be okay but regardless I wouldn’t call it photography. It’s more like a graphic design.

In another case a photographer shot an entire series of semi-amateurish shots of a couple of young women. The young women clearly weren’t professional models and the overall look was one of a young man taking shots of his girlfriends. There’s nothing wrong with this and it’s done all the time and it’s how we learn.

The photographer in this case reported that the images had been manipulated somewhat in PhotoShop to eliminate some distractions (including a couple of people in the background). The actual manipulations were very smooth and if he hadn’t said anything I would never have guessed. I’m okay with this and think his work made for a better photograph. I would think his girlfriends would have been thrilled.

Then there are photographers like my fellow Toronto Film Shooters who often shoot images on the street and print what they see with no PhotoShop whatsoever.

It’s the naked truth (often literally) and in competent hands can make for very powerful street photography.

So when you’re asking yourself how much manipulation or PhotoShop is too much remember the Ansel Adams print with all those dodge and burn instructions to his printer and how they turned a so-so image into a masterpiece.

It’s up to you where you draw the line and I think the answer may come down to why are you shooting this image and what do you want it to say about you as a photographic artist?