Do Photographers Edit Their Photos?

Photo editing is also known as “Image manipulation” or “Post Processing”.

This decade is the age of photo editing, let alone professional photographers, but also ordinary people who take a pics are editing their photos.

Any entry-level or professional photographer edits pictures after photo shooting. Editing pictures is the photographers’ time to show off their skills and talent.

Do not think that photographers change everything from top to bottom while editing. They are just touching some details to make the picture appear perfect.

Editing photos let the photographer do some tricks that the camera can’t do.

Photo Editing vs Photo Manipulation

What is Photo Editing?

Photo editing is when a photographer or an ordinary person refines the taken image and recovers the colors and removes the unwanted objects.

There are basic editing skills, for instance

• Cropping the photo size and cutting out the unwanted objects or people who photobombed the shot.
• Adjusting the black and white colors. Changing the color tone between “flash”, “daylight”, “shady” or “cloudy to find the balance.
• Exposure is used to lighten or darken up the photo because every environment doesn’t have the same lighting condition. Contrast is used to highlight more details and make the picture appear in darker tones.
•  Sharpening is another photo editing feature. It makes the photo appear much more clear and details pop out more.

What is Photo Manipulation?

Photo Manipulation in the photography world is using multiple methods and approaches to accomplish the intended level of results.

Photo manipulation in a brief is when you create imaginary scenarios in your head that by logically is not possible. When you see the picture, you will immediately understand that it cannot be true in a real life.

When a photographer manipulates with a picture, the reason behind it is to build a creative content. They usually have a different meaning in the eyes of the creator.

Why Editing is Important in the Photography?

Some people who don’t know how the photography world works may say that photographers lack natural aptitude and they are using the editing apps to disguise their lack of skills.

There is nothing wrong editing the pictures, on contrary, it attracts the viewers and increases the story viewers on social media. Who says otherwise is a liar. We double check the pictures that catch our attention, don’t we?

Imagine this scenario. Going to the movies and seeing these beautiful stunning colors and how they flow. The colors in the movie presents meanings, right? It is the same with editing pictures.

Don’t go too far thinking that photographers are doing life changing photoshops (lol, they sometimes do). All of them just play with exposure, brightness and color or maybe remove the unnecessary objects from the frame.

Is Photo Editing & Photo Manipulation Art?

Even though the photo Editing and manipulation can be torn apart, the artist behind the camera has a chance to show off his imaginary world. So yes editing and manipulating pictures are truly art at some point.

Photo editing (retouching) is considered an art because it brings to life the true exposure, light, and sharpness of the shot. By editing an image, you don’t violate the photography rules, you just play around with the colors and details, so the final product come out as real and smooth as possible.

On the other hand, photo manipulation has a reputation of deliberately causing the viewer to believe something that is not true. The opinions are personal, there is not only one answer to this question.

The photography world is all about pleasing the eyes, it is just like painting or drawing. Sometimes little changes should be done in order to be more unique and stand out among other artists. As a result of that, the final product come out as an art.

With photo manipulation, you have no limits, invent your world how you imagine, go beyond your limits, and have fun with it because you have all the rights to create something completely distinct and be the only one of your kind.

The Magic of Photo Editing

The difference is immediately spotted with a single glance.

Editing/Manipulating the pictures afterward can create magical results. These results are born by highly Photoshop skilled photographers. You can notice how basic and ordinary they were before. No photographer, absolutely no one wants to be basic and simple in this world. Thereby, editing or manipulating the pictures is considered a talent or skill.

Why Photo Editing & Manipulating is an Issue?

At some point, you have every right to judge the retouched pictures especially when it is used on humans. The photographer is like gives you the illusion that is something wrong with you and you need to look like the edited pictures.

Believe me, the models don’t even look like themselves, a lot is going on, not only retouching, everything is professionally prepared, starting from their clothing, make-up, hair, location and after all this care, the editing and manipulating with the pictures is the final stage that comes in.

The issue is born when everyone was hurt because of their looks. The basic formula of photography is to create art, and as nobody is too perfect and artistic, the simple or sometimes complicated touching is a must-done.

Photo editing and manipulation are aimed at advertising purposes. Mainly to target the specific needs of the customer. Be honest that if the product isn’t looking its best, we would buy it.

Final Thoughts

In brief, photo editing and photo manipulation serve us different angles of the photography world. Editing is more simple which even ordinary people use nowadays. The editing part of the photography is not a big deal, you don’t violate anything, just simply retouch the picture to look better than before.

Photo manipulation is a little bit different topic, this time is all about the photographer’s imaginary world and how he/she perceives the meaning of the photo. It is either about the hidden message or the imaginary world that the photographer lives in.

This topic became such a huge deal when people started to compare themselves with the picture used for advertisement purposes. It is just basically the photographers showing off their skills and talent.