Of course one should acknowledge and use the possibilities of PS and computers in general. There can be no doubt about it. I was referring to that phenomeonn that lets students think, they don't have to read their math books because the have a great calculator. Or makes guitarists think that they don't need to learn how to play because they have a great amplifier.
Turning again to photography, the dawn of electronic retouching has opened the door to a new kind of arts that is not photography and not painting but something inbetween. The new possibilities are huge but we are not going to use them in a *conscious* way if we don't "read our books" first. A work of art is not the result of random application of effects of PS (or anything else) but *conscious* work of the artist for achieving exactly what his/her vision is. Even Pollock disapproved and destroyed many of his works, though they were "nice", simply because they were not what he wanted. It was that the result didn't match the vision!
So, for being able to use PS for this new art, the knowledge of those elementary things is necessary, which of course also includes the possibility of gaining that knowledge by experimenting. But while I experience much experimenting with PS I can't say the same for camera and lense, which is a very suspicious thing, since this way any shot would be nothing more thank the result of some automatic settings of a camera, leaving any personal touch, any vision of the photographer aside. Or how can we expect a photographer to present, say, a wonderful sunset, if he/she "corrects" the histograms in PS because he/she doesn't know that this is the very best way to destroy the special warm light of that time of the day? This is what I wanted to make aware of.
Have a nice (rest of the) Sunday, and keep up trying things out on your camera.
Dear Nick I know what you mean about forgetting old trades almost. Still I think that itīs also important to acknowledge new ways of doing things that open up for so many new ways and possibilities. What if we denied using computers for calculating because we wanted to hold on to the old available methods? A combination is preferable I think:-) Have a nice Sunday Annemette
The reason for knowledge of the main gear is that we simply forget the fundaments of photography, expecting then that some sophisticated software will take the place of knowing what a small aperture does, what an EV correction is, and the similar. It's way not point and shoot, it takes much more!
The best photographers on this world use just their camers and that's all. This is the reason why the incomparable photos of such magazines like National Geographic are always printed just as they come from the camera of the photographers. No manipulation whatsoever. Either the photo is good, or it doesn't even have a chance for getting printed.
You can't even work with PS in a concious manner if you don't know what sharpenning does, and to know that you must first master optics and light. It is much like learning the alphabet before being able to write an essay.
And unfortunately many people do not want to learn that alphabet first, as the complete wrong usage of terminology shows so often.
Dear Nick I felt exactly like you when I started posting images on UF, but now I think that itīs fantastic what PS and other programs can do to an image. I see no reason anymore to only do it the oldfashioned way because it also takes a lot of knowledge and skills to make fascinating photos on PS. I think that we should appreciate whatever new tools become available which makes photography to an even more fascinating and varied artform. Best wishes, Annemette
Just hoping to influence the scene a bit back towards photography and a bit further away from photoshopography! ;-)
But even photoshopography can profit from knowledge of our main equipment which is still: camera and lense. A simple manipulation of this photo with Painter can convert it to an even more naturally looking painting-like picture, which I think reveals that the most important step is the shot itself.
So, my friends out there, let the camera be our brushes and the light be our colors, and let's paint the world!
Yes, this really looks like an olipainting! A very fascinating and appealing affect youīve made by use of this triple exposure. Good work. Best wishes, Annemette
0 
