I like to see what I like to see. As ambiguous as that might sound, it is a very individual thing. If by photoshopped you mean heavily processed with lots of blatantly unrealistic additions, yeah I have seen some I really like and others that don't suit me. I have seen (and shot) plenty of un-edited photos that I really don't care for and others that are great, and I would hate to see touched up. I have had two shots make it to the Popular page. One was almost SOOC aside from a small amount of sharpening that I almost always do when I process. It probably didn't even need it to be honest but I did it anyway, just because. The other was an obviously edited shot but looked natural. Don't shoot for everyone else, shoot for you. Try stuff out to see if you can do it, try to come up with ideas inspired by something besides another photograph i.e. a song, poem, thought, dream, etc. When you are happy with a shot, it will translate to others and you will get enjoyment out of that, after you get enjoyment out of purely photographing for yourself. If you are intimidated by buying/using an editing program there are plenty of free ones to try and plenty of tutorials on how to use them and achieve the feel you want.
*Edit- I noticed English isn't your first language so if something doesn't make sense, please ask and I will explain as best I can
For my pics I prefer very slight editing (with some exceptions, for fun), but I appreciate looking at highly processed pictures done by others, as long as the editing makes sense, or is artistic. I'm not fond of editing for editing, with no story behind or with no aim.
I love any approach if well done. I like to play around with editing - for what I hope are artistic effects not a bunch of gimmicky stuff. I don't like writing about the photos except in response to questions for the most part. I do love trying to get a good title and making that my story. I find that even what I used to consider SOOC - now believe there's actually no such thing - can almost always use something to make it look better even though not processed looking. I'm thrilled when I make something that pleases my eye and doesn't necessarily look like a photo. I love all the variety in what others here do and how so many develop their own approach and "look" to what they create.
Depends on the photo, and how I want it to/imagine it to look!
Sometimes SOOC is perfect, and matches what I *actually* see.
Most times though, no matter what my camera settings (exposure & white balance), I just can't get the photo to look quite how it looks to my eyes in real life, or how I imagined it to look, so I use Photoshop to achieve that. :)
I feel exactly the same way as @pocketmouse, sometimes I look at the photo and think "that doesn't look at all like it did when I saw it" so I edit it to make it look like it did in my mind when I composed the photo. Mostly though I crop and adjust the exposure a bit and sometimes bump up the colour. It's probably more related to my lack of full understanding of how my camera works than anything.
I like a little bit of everything- although I think I prefer closer to natural state than highly processed. If it's an excellent photo, it stands whether it's been processed or not. Sometimes, processing brings out a hidden element that makes a photo better. But other times, the subject is powerful enough as is. I think you have to develop a sensitivity to know when or when not to edit and add the "bells and whistels". As many others have already said, explore and try things out. That's one of the fun elements of photography and it helps develop your observational skills too.
Although I like the beauty and amazing things photographers do with photoshop, I think it takes more talent to get out there and take a great picture and post in in it's natural state. Depends on what you are looking for.
I think I am about to sound like I'm getting on a soapbox...
I agree with @reba that I'm not sure there really is a SOOC anymore because today's cameras do so many wonderful things that you can do a lot of "editing" before you even shoot... and though that is technically SOOC, it's certainly not the same thing as SOOC when I was growing up and taking pictures with a Brownie that you looked through the top of in order to see what you were taking a picture of, then sent off somewhere to be printed, or even the more basic cameras many people use either from necessity or need. To me that's the definition of SOOC and anything else is edited. But, seriously... does it really matter? I shoot for me... and some times I have fun with a photo and heavily edit it ( http://365project.org/marilyn/365/2011-09-08) and sometimes just do a minor crop ( http://365project.org/marilyn/365/2011-09-12). If it is really important to look at only SOOC or only edited, I'm sure one can google those terms and find websites that cater exclusively to one or the other of those types of photos and do sharing and/or browsing there.
I mostly take photos with my iphone whilst on my morning walk, and post them directly. This means I tend to take many, many early morning photos around near where I live. Might seem boring but in fact has become interesting for me to see the moods. have decided that the iphone photo could almost become anew artform. sometimes it is grainy, sometimes it pics up odd light. Don't use effects often but sometimes play with instagram and hipstamatic.
This means the pics that I take are generally unedited, but in the end does it matter?
@peterdegraaff As long as you personally like them,ofc,it doesn't matter.
@buttercup I agree with you,I also believe that people that don't really change the pictures after they take it are the ones that know better how to capture something.Also,sometimes I see some photos that have been photoshoped,and I am trully amazed by the work from there.
@alecio Well that's an answer at which nobody can change someting!
@jessicaelaine That's what I also do,I'm not so good at taking photos,I admit,because I don't have so much free time to learn new things,but one things I sometimes do is to change the coulours a little bit.
@pocketmouse I am following you for so time,and photoshoped or not,I want to say that your photos are really realy great!
@scatcat Thanks for your answer,I got it all.I like to think I'm preety good at English,and this year I have to take my Cambridge exam,so..:)
So I was just curious about this question and I'm surprised to see that everybody has a great point of view
@manek43509 You are hereby awarded "post of the week" and 100 NoHup points.
@marilyn I almost agree with you. But, with film, if you sent it to the lab it just means you let someone else do your editing. Though, you still chose your film, and that is part of the editing too (it creates a certain type of image that is different to other film).
You know, I don't mind seeing SOOC shots (even though they are not truly SOOC, as they have been processed from the raw data taken by the camera sensor), as it shows a unique, uninhibited skillset. It means I can see what someone did, without wondering what was in their viewfinder. This is especially helpful when working out what lighting was used, as edited shots can be very deceptive in this regard.
However, taking the photo is only half the story. And that is how it has always been. Photoshop has taken over from darkroom editing - nothing more. I have here on my desk three prints of the same file. This one, in fact:
And they are all different. Same file. Same editing. Three different papers. One tiny, simple choice, and the whole mood of the image is changed. And that's just paper! In a darkroom I would have had to choose from several developers, even fixers. That is like choosing different printer profiles now! And not choosing one just means you're choosing "generic", or letting someone else decide for you. It isn't any less "edited". And don't get me started on dodging and burning...
But editing for editing's sake? I don't care much for it. Some people are brilliant at editing. Me? I just like to create my image, from the photograph I carefully constructed, and get it to a point where it looks "finished". I like the whole process. There is no point editing a rubbish photo, imo. And, there is no point leaving a great photo unfinished.
"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships." ~Ansel Adams
@alecio :-DDD so you do all your editings with your cam ? ;-) btw, I love most of your editings!
@michellina oh, this wasn't me who pointed out about English. This is not my language either :-) Anyway, it was interesting to read everyone's answers!
@bkbinthecity In my own humble opinion, when you see unedited shots... you see what the camera took... not really what the photographer saw. :)
Imagine if I forgot to change my setting from shooting manual the other night, and shot in broad daylight the next day... I'm pretty sure the picture there is not what I saw... So, unedited pics does not equal what I truly saw.
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FWIW; most pictures can do with some editing. Not necessarily a lot but some in the form of cropping or brightening or color adjustment.
To me it doesn't matter one way or another.
*Edit- I noticed English isn't your first language so if something doesn't make sense, please ask and I will explain as best I can
No, really - the more the better!
Sometimes SOOC is perfect, and matches what I *actually* see.
Most times though, no matter what my camera settings (exposure & white balance), I just can't get the photo to look quite how it looks to my eyes in real life, or how I imagined it to look, so I use Photoshop to achieve that. :)
;) just kiddin'
I agree with @reba that I'm not sure there really is a SOOC anymore because today's cameras do so many wonderful things that you can do a lot of "editing" before you even shoot... and though that is technically SOOC, it's certainly not the same thing as SOOC when I was growing up and taking pictures with a Brownie that you looked through the top of in order to see what you were taking a picture of, then sent off somewhere to be printed, or even the more basic cameras many people use either from necessity or need. To me that's the definition of SOOC and anything else is edited. But, seriously... does it really matter? I shoot for me... and some times I have fun with a photo and heavily edit it ( http://365project.org/marilyn/365/2011-09-08) and sometimes just do a minor crop ( http://365project.org/marilyn/365/2011-09-12). If it is really important to look at only SOOC or only edited, I'm sure one can google those terms and find websites that cater exclusively to one or the other of those types of photos and do sharing and/or browsing there.
This means the pics that I take are generally unedited, but in the end does it matter?
@buttercup I agree with you,I also believe that people that don't really change the pictures after they take it are the ones that know better how to capture something.Also,sometimes I see some photos that have been photoshoped,and I am trully amazed by the work from there.
@alecio Well that's an answer at which nobody can change someting!
@jessicaelaine That's what I also do,I'm not so good at taking photos,I admit,because I don't have so much free time to learn new things,but one things I sometimes do is to change the coulours a little bit.
@pocketmouse I am following you for so time,and photoshoped or not,I want to say that your photos are really realy great!
@scatcat Thanks for your answer,I got it all.I like to think I'm preety good at English,and this year I have to take my Cambridge exam,so..:)
So I was just curious about this question and I'm surprised to see that everybody has a great point of view
@marilyn I almost agree with you. But, with film, if you sent it to the lab it just means you let someone else do your editing. Though, you still chose your film, and that is part of the editing too (it creates a certain type of image that is different to other film).
You know, I don't mind seeing SOOC shots (even though they are not truly SOOC, as they have been processed from the raw data taken by the camera sensor), as it shows a unique, uninhibited skillset. It means I can see what someone did, without wondering what was in their viewfinder. This is especially helpful when working out what lighting was used, as edited shots can be very deceptive in this regard.
However, taking the photo is only half the story. And that is how it has always been. Photoshop has taken over from darkroom editing - nothing more. I have here on my desk three prints of the same file. This one, in fact:
And they are all different. Same file. Same editing. Three different papers. One tiny, simple choice, and the whole mood of the image is changed. And that's just paper! In a darkroom I would have had to choose from several developers, even fixers. That is like choosing different printer profiles now! And not choosing one just means you're choosing "generic", or letting someone else decide for you. It isn't any less "edited". And don't get me started on dodging and burning...
But editing for editing's sake? I don't care much for it. Some people are brilliant at editing. Me? I just like to create my image, from the photograph I carefully constructed, and get it to a point where it looks "finished". I like the whole process. There is no point editing a rubbish photo, imo. And, there is no point leaving a great photo unfinished.
"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships." ~Ansel Adams
@michellina oh, this wasn't me who pointed out about English. This is not my language either :-) Anyway, it was interesting to read everyone's answers!
Ohh! But this is so unexpected!
I'd like to thank my parents, for always believing in me, my agents, and my wonderful co-stars, for making this all possible...
Imagine if I forgot to change my setting from shooting manual the other night, and shot in broad daylight the next day... I'm pretty sure the picture there is not what I saw... So, unedited pics does not equal what I truly saw.
Peace. :)
haha, definitely! I would hate to feel I'd been responsible for some hot beverage ruining all those big monitors. ;)