If I profess to love September SOOC so much why, you might ask, do I constantly whine about not being able to tweak my shots in post. Fair question. Nobody has asked me yet but it would be fair if they did. I would answer that the fantastic software we have at our disposal (and it keeps getting better) allows us to manipulate our files to our hearts content until we have an image we are satisfied with. Never mind what we started with. As long as it was an interesting subject, reasonably well composed and the exposure was within 2 or 3 stops of being accurate we could "fix it in post". This month that crutch is kicked out from under us and we have to rely on our photographic skills in-camera. I enjoy the challenge immensely - but it doesn't stop me complaining.
Full disclosure: There was an ugly sensor spot on this frame so I took it into Lightroom and removed it. I don't consider that cheating since sensor spots were not something we had to deal with in the days of film. And it is not really editing, it's cleaning.
October 2023 - Beginning year 4. This wonderful community keeps me inspired and motivated to keep creating every day.
October 2022 - Beginning year 3. Originally...
This is a great image. Love the colors and the line of the opposite shore. I whine about the same thing, but this reminds me of shooting with film so I love it.
I think @vignouse would agree about the sensor spot. I am retiring at the end of this month and am looking forward to participating more actively in 365. Doing some monthly challenges and other challenges. I hope I feel the same way next year so I can to this challenge.
When I first began this project, I never edited anything. I had no idea how! Everything was SOOC. Now I will tweak a bit here and there because I see it as a form of art, whereas I used to feel it was cheating! Enjoy your SOOC month. I always think if you can't take it the way you want it in the camera, that's where you need to try harder and not rely on post editing to take something poor and make it better. Cheering you on!
@casablanca Thanks Cas. I like to think that I’m taking a decent shot and making it better in post. As Ansel Adams famously said “The negative is the score, the print is the performance.” Not that I’m comparing myself to Ansel Adams of course and I am certainly guilty of occasionally spending an inordinate amount of time trying to rescue a poor shot in post. Nevertheless, this month of SOOC is a wonderful exercise in getting back to basics.
I am finding this challenge a fantastic way to really look at my shots and question everything. I take loads on different settings and then happily go home and delete almost all of them. Then go out again to do 'better'. I didn't realise the difference between raw and jpeg until I came to really compare the shots once home without using editing software. Thanks for this challenge. BTW I would be happy if I had taken this shot :-)
@kametty Your approach to this challenge is perfect. There is no better way to improve your photography than by experimenting with exposure and by really studying your images and, as you say, question everything. Thanks for participating in the challenge.
