NZPhotographer Issue 34, August 2020

HOW FAR IS TOO FAR?
“There is a difference between what looks
Photoshopped and what has been Photoshopped.”
Not only do photographers have to consider how
real they want their images to feel, they also have
to consider how much is too much in terms of
directly altering image content. Is it acceptable to
remove something from a photograph during postprocessing?
Is it acceptable to put something in, or
to move something around? This is a question only
you can answer for yourself. It depends on what
you’ve set out to create, and on the end-use of the
photograph.
For me personally, if I find a small twig poking into
the corner of my frame, I’ll happily edit it out when
producing a fine art print. You could even argue
this is more acceptable than snapping off the twig
to remove it during capture. I have no hesitation
removing small distractions, like rocks that account
for 1% of the total image area. But I don't feel
comfortable editing out a permanent part of the
landscape – something you’d see no matter when
you visited. I also don’t feel comfortable replacing
the sky in a photograph, although some feel
differently in that regard.
Regardless of where you draw the line, there’s a
point at which alterations turn a photograph into
more of a digital creation, and this is not what I set
out to produce in my own work. Heavy alterations
are appropriate if your images are presented as
digital creations, but if you’re presenting your work
as photographic, there is a grey area in terms of
how much altering is too much. Also keep in mind
that when entering photo competitions, the rules
may state “nothing added or removed” – in that
case, even the little twig must remain in the frame,
unless it can be cropped out
August 2020 53