My point is that, to me, controlling and bending light, shadow, color and tone to my will is usually easier on set than it is in post. Shaping that will with an artistic sensibility is a separate discipline that is far superior to both but I keep running into photographers who regard someone with strong post processing skills as if they were a leper who might infect the entire body of photographic work with the rotting stench of that insidious disease – PHOTOSHOP.

Come on guys, let’s be honest, the good old days of formaldehyde hardeners were far more toxic and the perfume of sulphur toning could affect your social life for days. Photoshop is a welcome breath of heavily “filtered fresh air! (groan… again)

In the end, it comes down to the story though and there are technical (technique – al) skills there as well. They all have to be mastered and they all have to be in harmony or great images will elude you but the story telling skill set deserves the most attention. There will never be a powerful man, woman or child on this Earth who lacks the ability to tell a good story in a way that elicits a strong response in others. It’s not the nuclear weapons scientist who wields the power, it is the story teller, working with the nuclear scientists, who compels others to contemplate the application of that technology. Sometimes I think it might actually take a rocket scientist to master both digital capture and digital manipulation but the true genius is the one who can capture and manipulate the minds of others.

For those of you who stuck with me all the way to this sentence, wow, that determination will take you places, thank you. My thoughts on this just keep erupting. I’ve got to stop. Wizwow, this whole article and comment string is the bomb dude – Thanks again!

To be able to work within Photoshop as a knowledgeable worker, and not one who takes the skill set lightly, I also think that without understanding photography to begin with, it is still a bit challenging to do something great in Photoshop. Especially of a ‘crappy’ image.

Let’s examine what we could do with a crappy photo… one that lacks emotion, gesture, composition, lighting or ‘correct’ exposure settings. I can change the composition, add some lighting, redo the exposure – and by doing that, create a totally new image… one that MAY actually work to bring out the first two. That may mean that the original wasn’t really an image on its own, but fodder for making a photoshop ‘collage’ or illustration. And there is NOTHING wrong with that. But we haven’t made ‘a crappy old photograph great’, we may have created a pretty cool photo illustration using a multiplicity of imagery, some of which may be crappy on their own merits, but wonderful within the new illustration.

And I don’t really want to argue about photo-illustration being or not being a photographic art. To me it is a photographic art. Just as Jerry Uelsmann’ s wonderful darkroom created montage/collages were. And I have seen Ansel’s negatives and the notes on printing for some of his work. Manipulation of the negative? You bet your ass, they manipulated the negative. Most of my time in the darkroom was manipulating some negative/paper/chemistry/after-print manipulation/toning/split toning/acids…. sheesh.

I understand what you are saying, and agree with you wholeheartedly for the most part.

I just don’t want to define a great image as something purely technical. Whether PS was used or not, does the image connect with the viewer, tell a story, divulge a secret, generate a response, create an interest… To me, that is what makes the image truly great.

I recently read on a forum this statement “…anyone with some knowledge of Photoshop can take any old crappy picture and make it great.” I was simply stunned…

I heard that! Show me. I bet you could tattoo the Photoshop manual on that poster’s forearm and they still wouldn’t know where to begin backing up that claim a year from now, not even close.

I started digital manipulation back in the DOS days working scans of my slides in Altimira Composer and a little program called Photostyler. Photostyler was later purchased by Adobe and became what we know today as Photoshop. I’ve been at this a while. My 10,000 hours in Photoshop came and went a while ago. In the process I have made some pretty ugly camera work look fairly good. Some of that crappy camera work was mine and when I couldn’t tolerate that of myself any more I set out to bring my camera skills up to par with my post processing skills.

The camera and studio lighting skills were harder to learn than I expected but I submit to you that between the hardware and the software, Photoshop offers the greater challenge (gasp!). At this point I’ve made a HUGE investment in both of them and I don’t make that claim lightly. I can’t imagine forfeiting either skill set and being able to make up for it with the other, but man-oh-man, has anyone ever counted the buttons in that software? Why do so many of the people who don’t have a clue how to make Photoshop truly sing look down on those who are able to use it proficiently?

The guy that can “take any old crappy picture and make it great” in Photoshop has likely invested a huge amount of time and energy mastering that part of his craft. I’m simply amazed that so many people continue to look on that discipline and ability with such contempt. Were print and darkroom masters ever subject to that kind of scorn from photography “purists?”

I disagree about the word “Passion.” I don’t see it used that much these days. And I don’t believe a word can become trite or diluted. I think the use of the word by people who may misuse it is a shame, but I hardly think that I am misusing it here.

You say there must be another word. If there is, I don’t know what it may be. “Enthusiasm” may be a good choice but it doesn’t have the emotional or scalable ability to mean the same thing. I may be enthusiastic about playing soccer with my kids, but a passion runs deeper. Enthusiasm is a momentary emotion usually devoted to a single endeavor, while a ‘passion’ for something is an over-arching, deeply felt need to do something.

Passion:
n.
1. A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger.
2.
1. Ardent love.
2. Strong sexual desire; lust.
3. The object of such love or desire.
3.
1. Boundless enthusiasm: His skills as a player don’t quite match his passion for the game.
2. The object of such enthusiasm: Soccer is her passion.
4. An abandoned display of emotion, especially of anger: He’s been known to fly into a passion without warning.

I don’t see courage, determination or confidence as having the same, deep emotional meaning as the word passion. If I said that “John is passionate about reading”, it would certainly be a more powerful statement than “John is determined” about reading. And one can be courageous and confident, without being passionate.

The question is can one be passionate about something without being courageous, determined, brave and enthusiastic. Then answer as I see it is no. All of those emotions and feelings must be present to be passionate, while by themselves they may be less powerful.

Not sure I agree at all with the statement that it is easily spoken of by someone at the top of their game. I think it is something that is harder to have while at the top, and much more a trait of someone getting there. Once there, maintaining that passion may be more challenging than getting there to begin with.

“But when the stack of chips is gone ( when the chips are down) and you are wondering what happened to your success, you’ll likely find that all the passion in the world wouldn’t have kept it from happening.”

True, but I certainly do not believe, nor advocate, that passion alone will win out. Skill, deterimination, perseverance, will, good business practices, risk, safety nets, planning, marketing, branding, keeping fresh, staying relevant, working hard, playing hard, balance, health, and a list of more too long for this reply – all go into success. Passion is one of the elements that help keep one focused on doing all of those things without going bonkers… the glue, so to speak. Can it alone stave off disaster. Of course not. And sometimes, as the famous bumper sticker says, shit happens.

Passion can help one stay focused and productive through those times.