Photographers rely so much on their “digital friend” rather than invest their time, money and effort into learning how light actually behaves (I was quite shocked to find out, the other day, that a “professional” photographer did not understand basic physics - that the link between light and colour vibrancy and saturation was simply not even considered), how their equipment works (I think how modern digital cameras measure and evaluate light is still akin to alchemy or magic to most photographers - and I’m not even referring to different measuring modes) or - and this is even worse - how the triangle between light, technique and subject works.
Read Morepost-processing
Don’t do it - there is no reason for it! Simply stop!
Images have been processed since the dawn of photography - even the most die-hard street photographer or film aficionado, more often than not, make creative choices about how to interpret the images they captured. This can be as simple as pushing or pulling the film sensitivity or cropping, others may extend to dodging and burning and more. These techniques - which are by no means simple - have resulted in the amazing pictures the previous analogue generations have bequeathed us. Jump to today and what do we find?
Read MoreOn the passion of amateurs (and why it can be their downfall)
How would you react if you were a passionate amateur photographer and someone told you that, despite your $60,000 worth of equipment and your recent trip to India with a “professional photographer guide”, not ALL your images are actually worth something? Probably you’d be disappointed and might even react badly - right? The thing is you’d be wrong and if you want to improve, you need to take a moment and think of what I’m trying to say here - the truth is 99% of your images are NOT great. In fact, chances are they’re not even good. No matter how much you like them. Or your friends like them and heart them in Facebook or wherever.
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