Darkroom Controls Versus Computer Manipulation
Because computer graphics developed much faster than digital photography and because digital photography uses the same file format as computer graphics, darkroom tools, from the beginning of digital photography, came bundled with image processing tools. While there is nothing wrong with the computer manipulation of a photograph, it goes beyond the craft of photography itself and adds another layer of graphic processing to the photographic image. Yet there are a number of standard tools that photographers have used in the darkroom since the beginning. These controls are quite different from the computer manipulation of an image.
Unless you have worked with photographs for years, you might not realize that there is a difference between photographic and image tools. Some of the tools in your photo image editing program are based in photography and others are based in computer imaging.
While it's not a perfect explanation, photographic tools essentially enhance or subdue detail that is already in the photograph. Computer graphic controls tend to add elements that are not in the original image, greatly exaggerate photographic details, or add special effects.
To get the most from your photographs, it is usually best to apply photographic tools and controls first. Regular photographic tools generally involve making adjustments for framing, exposure, and color balance. Then, if necessary, you can make further changes with computer graphics tools.
For example, cutting out a background from around a person and replacing it with a completely different background is quite possible and done often with digital photography. Yet it goes beyond photography and becomes a kind of digital collage. This can be an important consideration. Newspapers, for example, have to be careful not to state that a picture is real when significant elements of that photograph have been altered with image processing tools.
You have probably seen a dazzling photograph where the light was just right and the print had a complete range of tones from dark to light. It gave you the feeling that you were looking at a real scene that had been captured by the camera. This is the lure of photography.
The best photographs often have a complete range of tones. The lightest and darkest tones do not have to dominate the picture, they may only be in small parts of highlights or shadows, but they give the photograph depth. Understanding tonal range is basic to the craft of photography.
In addition, photography has the power to tap into our emotions, in part because we believe the scene to be real. Beyond a well-crafted image, we are often moved by a photo because the quality of the daylight in the image has a special power or because the photographer has snared an elusive moment in the real world. This sense of reality is central to the art of photography.
We see manipulated photographs every day in magazines and on billboards. Computer graphics produce images that are stunning, but they are often highly manipulated and more like the shape and molding of animated movie characters than photography.
The skin on many models in glossy advertisements and in fashion magazines has been carefully retouched with digital imaging software; that is why they appear to have perfect skin. Subtle flaws such as moles may have been removed. Shadows may have been painted and backgrounds added. The addition of sparkling highlights often completes the computer imaging remake.
While computer graphics can add to the image, they tend to take away the sense of reality so important to photography. While this is not important in some work, it is very important in others. The art of computer graphics is quite different from photography. Understanding this allows the photographer to make both photographic and computer graphic adjustments.
