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Archive 2013 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

allstarimaging
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

As I was looking through a number of posts on this forum I was becoming more and more aware of how so many images seemed to have over the top processing. Colors that are over saturated, HDR images that look like animation, are shadows allowed in an image or must every thing be shot with bracketed exposures and then stacked in photoshop? How many over saturated soft waterfall shots do you see and say to yourself "Wow..where are the elves and the trolls?

It's the same in the portrait forum. Every shot the subject has impossibly white eyes and teeth, plastic skin, and perfect lighting. What happened to natural light and showing reality as it is?

Lot's of great work on here but I was wondering if other's feel the same way. Happy 4th!!

Jack

Jul 03, 2013 at 04:28 PM

andyjaggy82
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

This ought to be good.

Jul 03, 2013 at 04:31 PM

Jeffrey
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Generally, I agree. Some members here keep those things in mind when making images. Most simply own cool cameras and software that does everything without necessarily having ever studied photography or art. It's the way of the world now, especially on the many imaging forums like this one. And, sadly the definition of art is changing, too.

I live by few rules, but one of my favorites is "Just because you can doesn't mean you should". It's truth goes far beyond just photography....

Jul 03, 2013 at 04:37 PM

Guari
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

I feel the same, however, this conversation is as constructive as trying to send a fart to the moon and expecting it to arrive...

People will do the photoshopping and will strive to push the edges in post-processing. That's just the way it is.

Edit: constructive may not be the word. Maybe fruitless or futile...

Jul 03, 2013 at 04:39 PM

allstarimaging
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Guari wrote: I feel the same, however, this conversation is as constructive as trying to send a fart to the moon and expecting it to arrive.

Classic

I'm going to give it a try but if I miss and hit Scotland apologies in advance

Jack

Jul 03, 2013 at 04:49 PM

dswiger
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Jeffrey wrote:
Generally, I agree. Some members here keep those things in mind when making images. Most simply own cool cameras and software that does everything without necessarily having ever studied photography or art. It's the way of the world now, especially on the many imaging forums like this one. And, sadly the definition of art is changing, too.

I live by few rules, but one of my favorites is "Just because you can doesn't mean you should". It's truth goes far beyond just photography....

+1, Especially that part about cool cameras & software
BTW, they are often the 1st ones to wonder when something doesn't work to complain that there's something wrong with their gear. Worse, they post a pic that's clearly "push-button-go"
processed without attempting to self-critique or understand what they did.

"I once was lost but now I'm found" Sort of went that way and quickly became dis-enchanted with that approach. I felt "cheap"

Seriously, tried a bunch of easy stuff & now have returned to film to learn something & get discipline. Not a religious thing, still shoot digital, but much more simply.

Jul 03, 2013 at 04:51 PM

Justin Grimm
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Shoot whichever style/format makes you happy, and dont worry about what others are doing with their hobby.

Edited on Jul 03, 2013 at 05:08 PM · View previous versions

Jul 03, 2013 at 05:05 PM

ben egbert
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

My standards on this change all the time. My problem is I want to see at least what my eyes can see. Granted that my focus changes and DR adjusts as I scan the scene, but thats what my mind captures.

This is more or less what I expect my image to look like. The fact that cameras still can't do this in challenging light means that some PP is required. Its not like the old slide film days where we sent the film to a lab and what we got back was as good as it gets and often unsatisfactory for non dark room guys.

The fact that we need to process at all starts us on a slippery slope and its difficult to know when to stop.

But now the camera can beat the eye at low light stuff and its fun to see where it can go.

I never HDR, but I do blend and sharpen and focus stack and use gradient filters and TSE lenses.

Now the art is knowing when to stop.

Jul 03, 2013 at 05:05 PM

Bernie
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

I generally agree, but...

All this technology gives us all the ability to experiment with unprecedented ease and relatively low cost.

Experimentation is a foundation of art of which photography is a part. 90% + of all experiments go awry. Just look at much of modern art.

That doesn't mean we should stop. The new methods and techniques that we discover will become time-tested and will endure to improve and broaden our imaginations and our art.

Jul 03, 2013 at 05:12 PM

Ben Horne
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

I find that there are many situations in nature that need little if any embellishment. It's a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and having a camera — any camera — in hand. There are many great photographers on this forum that take the time to understand a location, and create outstanding photos.

I also think that there are those who don't have the luxury of waiting for ideal moments, and feel pressured to create eye catching shots regardless of the actual conditions. As a result, they end up "forcing" the shot to be something it really wasn't by using post processing. I was very guilty of this when I was new to photography. I've since learned that the beauty of a shot often lies in the subtle nuance. A quiet, soft spoken photo is often be more powerful than one with heavy processing.

Edited on Jul 03, 2013 at 06:07 PM · View previous versions

Jul 03, 2013 at 05:13 PM

ckcarr
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Which technology?

You now have better monitors, better computers, the processing software is constantly changing and getting better along with plug ins and specialty software, lenses are getting better all the time, and of course the camera. It's a brave new world and a club anyone can join...

What I see happen seems to be on both sides of the spectrum (and in the middle). There's some with very advanced processing skills that can create the "Outdoor Photographer" look (which is in vogue, whether you like or not), or others with basic simple processing not up to the level of the equipment being used. Some buy the equipment, but never learn it, others learn a repetitive pattern of the same processing steps which seems to give them a "signature" look. And still others seem to try so hard to become minimalistic or "different" that there is nothing interesting about their work.

So I guess there's really all kinds that post here. You are probably just focusing on one brain worm that is bothering you, because although it exists, isn't totally representative of all the work here. But, with all the choices out there, some people here like trying different things.

Actually what bothers me is when five pictures get posted that are for all practical purposes are exactly the same. Like one's going to stick... Rather than just one excellent picture per month.

Jul 03, 2013 at 05:25 PM

Camperjim
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

It is certainly not just this forum that has a lot of highly processed images.

I belonged to a camera club and the images got out of sight. Everyone wanted more pop and impact and unfortunately the judges continued to reward those highly saturated, over the top images.

I have visited galleries of well-known landscape photographers such as Tom Till's gallery in Moab and Michael Fatali's gallery outside of Zion. What sells to the tourists are heavily saturated prints on aluminum glowing under spotlights. I am certainly not putting down either of these pros. They have great works of art but they need to feature what sells and what sells is over the top.

Take a look at Outdoor Photographer magazine. Maybe part of the problem is magazine print quality, but I have never seen worse oversaturated blown out red colors.

I am certainly not complaining about what others like. Everyone needs to pursue their own interests and vision, but I do try to pass on my positive comments whenever I see a strong image with a realistic style.

Jul 03, 2013 at 05:42 PM

JimFox
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Is technology ruining landscape photography?

How? Technology isn't ruining my landscape photography, how about yours?

What others do doesn't change how I do my landscape photography. We still have freedom to photograph and process shots as we each desire. So, no, technology isn't ruining landscape photography.

For all the shots that you are referring to that appear with too much saturation, there are still plenty of people that stive for producing landscapes as realistic as possible. So how is landscape photography ruined? It's an art form that is performed by individuals. If one doesn't enjoy a certain stye of landscape photography, well then don't try and duplicate it. And don't go spend money to support it.

Jim

Jul 03, 2013 at 05:43 PM

andyjaggy82
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

I've never understood why so many people are against saturated colors. The camera in my experience has never done colors justice, and they always feel more saturated in real life than what I see when I look at the raw files back home. If you are outside in the right conditions colors can absolutely blow your mind. Perhaps it's my mind idealizing what I saw, but I always have to bump the saturation up a touch for it to remind me of what I remember seeing.

Jul 03, 2013 at 05:53 PM

camboman
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Another way to look at it is this - we are in the Golden Age of digital photography. There has never been a better time to be a photographer! We should exploit and cherish this technology while we can since we'll all succumb to the zombie apocalypse anyway.

Jul 03, 2013 at 06:17 PM

allstarimaging
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Maybe what I should have asked is: Has technology ruined our Perception of reality in landscape photography? When you see a celebrity on a magazine cover you know the shot has been processed to perfection and hopefully you understand that in real life no one actually looks like that. But so many people see those images as reality. Can the same be said of landscape photography. The publics perception of reality is being altered by hyper processing of images

Jul 03, 2013 at 06:20 PM

ckcarr
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Well, I don't want to see reality with most people!

But with good landscape photography, often times you are seeing a very brief slice of time. A time period that is perhaps less than 5 minutes of a 24 hour day. That time at the cusp of daybreak or nightfall when most people are asleep, or home watching TV. Many people have never seen it in their lives. It is so brief... that is what many landscape photographers wait for. And go back for when they fail. To try again.

You don't just go out with a camera whenever you want and expect a great image. It will never happen.

Perhaps not where you live, but I can guarantee that if I can be out in the dark, and I get lucky with a great sunrise, there are moments where real life is better than any crazy processing that you see here.

Edited on Jul 03, 2013 at 06:29 PM · View previous versions

Jul 03, 2013 at 06:28 PM

Justin Grimm
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Jul 03, 2013 at 06:28 PM

JimFox
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

allstarimaging wrote:
Maybe what I should have asked is: Has technology ruined our Perception of reality in landscape photography? When you see a celebrity on a magazine cover you know the shot has been processed to perfection and hopefully you understand that in real life no one actually looks like that. But so many people see those images as reality. Can the same be said of landscape photography. The publics perception of reality is being altered by hyper processing of images

To Andy's point, the cameras we use when shooting raw actually don't capture the scene with the contrast and vibrance of colors that we actually see. When I look around and see photos in travel magazines, etc, the photos to me still seem to represent reality very well. I don't recall seeing any photos say of Yosemite, and then when I get there wonder where it was, or how it was the photo I saw looked so good because I am so disappointed by seeing Yosemite in reality... Not... Yosemite still in person blows away any photos you might see... And the same goes with most places we go. Yeah, the photo's people post here are awesome, but the reality of actually being there, whether it's Canyonlands, Yosemite, Glacier, etc... make the photo's you had seen pale in comparison...

I have never stood at Tunnel View in Yosemite and heard anything but "wow's" and seeing people's jaws drop at the beauty... in all the years I have been there I have never had anyone come up to me and ask me where Yosemite was... The beauty of the original so out weighs any attempts we make in capturing it.

So I totally disagree with you that people are being ruined by or that peoples perception of reaility is ruined by the current processing of landscape photographs.

Jim

Jul 03, 2013 at 06:33 PM

Camperjim
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Is technology ruining landscape photography?

Jul 03, 2013 at 06:38 PM

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