Beautiful...8bf and dll usage...(is it ART?)

File under "sign o' the times"...  Increasingly, I'm more impressed with the 'tone' or 'feel' or 'preset style' of a photograph than I am the photo itself. What used to require some subtle skill in the technical production of a beautiful image, can now be purchased in the form of rich, vast editing programs and a few mouse clicks which can make most anything appear to be antiquated, silvery black and white or stunningly HDR that looks better than either a photo or a painting... I'm amazed with the designers of the filters we are seeing more and more of, then maybe, hopefully, the artist's eye that conceived the shot, and so far can't be faked...

There are invaluable "how to tutorialize" bits of excellent advice about composing, or polishing, or faking, everywhere... There is little on conceptualizing, staging or angling into a more provocative and interesting subject matter and perspective. As such we face a glut of gorgeous, frame-worthy cliches to match the Lowes design team's latest cutting edge color palettes for 2015, and end up confusing art and decoration.

[tutorial on enhancing creativity pending...]

Does this topic have a point or is it just another useless spam sales pitch?

hmmm...not quite sure what product you may see as being hawked. If anything, is is more anti-product than an ad for one couched in whining about the down side of graphic technology...

My point is I personally would rather see a poorly taken shot of a thought provoking and curious image than a perfectly executed image of another droplet hanging from a rose petal or ideal children frolicking on a beach... I'm not sure how to inspire people to see, then capture the world in a unique way, much less get them to pay me for a bottle of imagination.

No offense OP but a lot of SPAM does sound like this... especially if it's one of your first posts.

Why would anyone SPAM with a topic like this?

I find it to be key in the transformation of traditional, "pure" photography, into something that will be radically different in the near future...and there are some pretty profound implications in that. It's an uncomfortable subject that can hit home, hard, for a lot of people who seek out art centered forums like this one. I'm involved in a couple (that don't put much thought into it) and am definitely new here (as directed by ViewBug). The technical and aesthetic side of Photography is in the midst of an evolutionary leap (as is everything else a computer can influence)... The 'artistic', creative and unique side however, seems to be homogenizing in the process and most of the visually beautiful product is starting to all look alike... How many agree, or see it too, I wonder about. If we can do anything to preserve our individual visions and rise above the trend to seem quirky for it's own sake, is a curiosity that gently, relentlessly haunts me... So I spew...SPAM...Troll...provoke...bait...ask...talk... etc.

Define "better"?

Frankly, I don't see why we can't have both. Not that I care for IG-ish filters.  Or sun flare. Or blown highlights. Or that "vintage" look. Or selective color. Or overcooked HDR.

I'll stop there.

I'm guessing you were just sharing some thoughts? I think that's OK.

"Better' : approved by more people than previous version / closer to the lowest common denominator.

(realistic cynicism that can't keep up becomes an art in itself)


I'm more an artist who rediscovered photography as a medium a few years ago, and digital editing has become a pallet. The WOW factor in general has been exploding and common shots of rivers and streets and people have taken on a "magical" quality lately...everywhere...accomplished by "regular old", novice photogs... The filters and plugins I can get to work in whatever free programs (Paint, Gimp, etc...) have been more than enough. Photoshop overwhelms and thus insults my senses (and wallet). Recently, I was turned on to to the set of Nik filters, and noticed the same 'feel' I have been seeing proliferate in pictures as a whole... It was a disillusioning a-ha moment. The photography, the "art" wasn't improving so much as the ability to edit was...and that mostly involved the talent of punching in an accurate credit card number.

It's nothing new. Technology sucking the old school soul out of the husks that become another 'lost art', is human nature... It does replace it with new opportunity for creative expression, but THIS seem particularly...cold... That it is mixed with the ability to now also edit reality and create false impressions that have been used politically, not just sell Mountain Dew, leaves a bad taste in my mouth,,,even as I strive to use it better (nothing like embracing your own necessary hypocrisy). "Dark room" has taken on a new, slightly blacker meaning.

Now...do I want to go take some new pictures, or sit here and make old ones better?

DUH... Both!

"Problem" solved.

What a whiner...

Faking, editing, masking, cutting, dodge and burning, double exposures, editing style has been around forever.  It's nothing new.  

So it's easier now, that just means you have to raise the bar.

True...it is not new, it is just now rampant...dare I say a necessity. It used to take some real skill and equipment (a studio and education), now, a few practiced clicks... But also true, the learning and skills curve is bottomless.

And yes, the bar also has no ceiling.

I guess this is all just more about my want to see a tutorial on being more creative...and that isn't a click away.

Awediot wrote: True...it is not new, it is just now rampant...dare I say a necessity. It used to take some real skill and equipment (a studio and education), now, a few practiced clicks... But also true, the learning and skills curve is bottomless.

And yes, the bar also has no ceiling.

I guess this is all just more about my want to see a tutorial on being more creative...and that isn't a click away.

I think you're generalizing too much.


A lot of work out there is mediocre.  

Try out www.davehill.com , www.lik.com , art wolfe etc for some skill.

I'm definitely generalizing, and know there are exceptions out there that are so good, they seem nearly like proof of aliens living among us... But it is those stuck on the verge of real talent and mind expending creativity that can't get over the hump of letting the tools do it for them that interest me... Shoot UP at the next flower you take...show your next architecture only by reflection or shadow...make a still life of your camera taking a secret photo of itself in the middle of the night while you are asleep... Shoot your smart TV...

Do you want your viewer to think 'great photograph' or 'amazing shot'?

Do we consider the difference often enough?


[oops...or "mind expanding"... Some freudian slips work to well to correct...]

Awediot wrote: I'm definitely generalizing, and know there are exceptions out there that are so good, they seem nearly like proof of aliens living among us... But it is those stuck on the verge of real talent and mind expending creativity that can't get over the hump of letting the tools do it for them that interest me... Shoot UP at the next flower you take...show your next architecture only by reflection or shadow...make a still life of your camera taking a secret photo of itself in the middle of the night while you are asleep... Shoot your smart TV...

Do you want your viewer to think 'great photograph' or 'amazing shot'?

Do we consider the difference often enough?


[oops...or "mind expanding"... Some freudian slips work to well to correct...]

It's just a tool.  It's more accessible now so you will see a flood of one click editing.  

I see it as more doors have been opened though.  Nature of the beast.  


Welcome to the boards btw.

Agreed... "flood of what exactly?" has become an increasingly relevant and expanding question in my mind as reality goes virtual in ways, and with implications, I think we are underestimating and rushing headlong into. The impact on Photography is a drop in the bucket, but also where it rises to the surface.

Editing (global enhancing a pic, like I'[m talking about here) leads to the topic of real chopping and manufacturing images that can be done so well that it is deceptive. The wild trend of creating crazy hyper-realism we all knew as computer art is fading as a more sophisticated ability to add people to a political rally, chop out the garbage surrounding an Olympic venue or make you look super hot, young and datable is done intentionally to manipulate the masses... Photoshopping is getting political, and these simple one click fixes do open the door to that world I don't see being discussed...even among those like us who are greasing the hinges.

Okay...spam done...narrow focus, check...generalized into broad brush stroke... Commence mountaining from molehill...

And thanks. Glad to find a large community of artsy types who actually like to chat as well... Worth1000 doesn't appreciate my apparent DRAMA...

Awediot wrote: Agreed... "flood of what exactly?" has become an increasingly relevant and expanding question in my mind as reality goes virtual in ways, and with implications, I think we are underestimating and rushing headlong into. The impact on Photography is a drop in the bucket, but also where it rises to the surface.

Editing (global enhancing a pic, like I'[m talking about here) leads to the topic of real chopping and manufacturing images that can be done so well that it is deceptive. The wild trend of creating crazy hyper-realism we all knew as computer art is fading as a more sophisticated ability to add people to a political rally, chop out the garbage surrounding an Olympic venue or make you look super hot, young and datable is done intentionally to manipulate the masses... Photoshopping is getting political, and these simple one click fixes do open the door to that world I don't see being discussed...even among those like us who are greasing the hinges.

Okay...spam done...narrow focus, check...generalized into broad brush stroke... Commence mountaining from molehill...

And thanks. Glad to find a large community of artsy types who actually like to chat as well... Worth1000 doesn't appreciate my apparent DRAMA...

Well that's just wrong.  Obviously the shut brass declines with your molecule. HDR is merely the manifestation of said shut brass molecule of indignation that, while combining a cacophony of parody and cliche, is really the decay that retracts throughout another comprehensive angle. A battery of evidence rolls against this concrete fallacy of yours.