Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

  New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site
  New Feature: SMS Notification alert
  New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist
  

FM Forums | Photo Critique | Join Upload & Sell

  

Archive 2011 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"

  
 
Bob Jarman
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


Sometimes torn by the extent to which "photoshopping" removes an image from the reality, the NYT has in interesting article on research to measure the extent to which an image varies between the before and after versions.

NYT link

Bob



Nov 29, 2011 at 10:41 AM
dmacmillan
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


Interesting read, Bob. I've seen similar articles in the past.

It made me think of George Hurrell and other Hollywood glamour photographers of the past. I've seen some before and after prints of Hurrell and it's amazing how much sculpting was done when retouching the negative. I also had an instructor in school who did work for Playboy and he brought in some unretouched images. The young ladies were far from the physical perfection as presented in the magazine.

The job of the portrait photographer, at least in most instances, is to present the subject in the most flattering way. Removing a blemish seems acceptable to almost everybody. Photoshop now gives us the tools to go even further with little effort. While we're removing that zit, should we also save off 15 or so pounds? There's no clear answer. I attended a session with Vincent Versace and he did a fair amount of facial restructuring as a matter of course. I found some OK, but others I felt went too far. I err on the side of caution.



Nov 29, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Bob Jarman
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


I'm often puzzled by liberties taken with commercial art versus the strict rules applied to photojournalists. See this article

I guess purpose and context set acceptable boundaries.

Bob



Nov 29, 2011 at 01:07 PM
cgardner
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


Photoshopped models and actors in the Star? I'm shocked. Let's hope those Dartmouth guys didn't get a Federal Grant for that study.

But I wonder what percentage of articles get published in the NYT without any text editing? Also you gotta love the irony of the embedded ad for Portrait Professional on the right hand margin.

Writers have editors, painters have always edited what they see with their brushes. The idea that a camera accurately captures what is seen by eye is an illusion. A camera doesn't selectively adapt exposure and sharpness as it scans the scene like the human eye and brain to. Part of making a photograph more like the in person viewing experience has always involved some form of manipulation in the form of lighting control or dodging / burning during the print making process.

A common practice in newspaper photos before Photoshop was to create a ghost mask to gray out a distracting background to make the foreground contrast more. Even in the '60s you had to be pretty naive to think the women in Playboy really looked like that in real life. Those before and after body building shots have been around for years. Before: flat footed and square to camera, gut distended, shoulders slouched. After: Oblique dynamic pose, gut sucked in, shoulders back, chest out. The only difference now is powering the airbrush with electrons instead of compressed air and most photographers don't know how to pose and light effectively. Want to make a subject look 10 years younger and 20 pounds lighter? Stand on a chair to take their photo. That forces them to look up which tightens and slims the neck and puts head over body foreshortening the torso. It also puts better light in the eyes, a trick Joseph Mehling who shot the photo of Hany Farid in the NYT article never learned.

There are some forms of photography such as scientific, forensic and reproduction of artwork where modification is inappropriate and even lighting is tightly controlled to prevent it from biasing the impression the photograph creates. But even within those disciples there are modifications like sharpening required to overcome the limitations of the recording medium. Color reproduction accuracy is limited by fact the image is recorded in RGB and limited at output by the gamut of the device displaying or printing the facsimile reproduction. One of the reasons process control targets like the Kodak Q13 separation guide and gray scale or the MacBeth color checker are included in those types of photographs (or should be) is to allow fidelity of the reproduction process to be monitored.



Nov 29, 2011 at 05:38 PM
RustyBug
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


My pet peeve is the use of PS, lighting and technique in beauty ads to render flawless skin, touting it as though the product (i.e. makeup) is doing the heavy lifting, when in reality it is the photographic & PP technique that are displaying an image that is unattainable by use of the product alone.


Nov 30, 2011 at 12:11 AM
oldrattler
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


Having just watched a video lesson on Kelby Training, Retouching by Calvin Hollywood. I am not surprised... He states that on a model shoot he gets 8 hours pay for retouching an image.. He goes on to say that 4-6 hours on skin, sculpting, eyes and hair is common.. Why do we exercise, & eat right when to look great all you need is CS5 and skill??


Dec 06, 2011 at 12:02 PM
Bob Jarman
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


oldrattler wrote:
Having just watched a video lesson on Kelby Training, Retouching by Calvin Hollywood. I am not surprised... He states that on a model shoot he gets 8 hours pay for retouching an image.. He goes on to say that 4-6 hours on skin, sculpting, eyes and hair is common.. Why do we exercise, & eat right when to look great all you need is CS5 and skill??





Bob



Dec 06, 2011 at 12:12 PM
AuntiPode
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


oldrattler wrote:
Why do we exercise, & eat right when to look great all you need is CS5 and skill??


Exercise? Eat right? Hah! I'm a sloth who craves chocolate and dotes on fattening foods. Plastic surgery is expensive and painful. Give me Photoshop any day.



Dec 06, 2011 at 02:36 PM
AuntiPode
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


Quote of the day:

"Whenever I must say exercise, I want to wash-out my mouth with chocolate."



Dec 07, 2011 at 01:33 AM
mrchile
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · OT - The verb "to photoshop"


AuntiPode wrote:
Quote of the day:

"Whenever I must say exercise, I want to wash-out my mouth with chocolate."



I don't need to say anything to want to wash my mouth out with chocolate.



Dec 07, 2011 at 10:39 AM





FM Forums | Photo Critique | Join Upload & Sell

    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.