The Club's in the local paper again this week. Many thanks to all of this weeks photographers, Clive Watkins for his report, and The Irvine Herald for putting it all together.....(click on images below to view full screen)
Post Processing can give an Image the Edge
Throughout the history of photography there has always been a lively conversation about the use of post-processing to produces images. Many purists argue vehemently that the photograph that comes out of the camera should be the final image and that there should be no additional manipulation. Others like to use the original image as a starting point for what will become the manifestation of a creative concept. It used to be that only those with access to a photographic dark room could do anything other than simply send their unexposed film away to Supasnaps and wait for the pack of prints to arrive back a week or so later. With the advent of digital cameras, smart phones and applications like Photoshop all of that has changed. Image manipulation is now accessible to everyone who would like to use it.
Although the apps are getting smarter and easier to use (think of Instagram filters) the processing of digital images does require an additional set of skills that many beginners often feel intimidated by.
So, this week, Irvine Camera Club challenged many of its members to move out of their comfort zone. We paired up with a buddy and exchanged original un-edited photographs and challenged each other to process each other’s images using whatever techniques we thought appropriate. The result of all the hard work was a fantastic evening of discussion, comparison and shared knowledge and experience. Members really pushed themselves to try something a bit different. Some researched specific techniques whilst others applied existing knowledge to add their own specific take on the photo they were given. Sometimes the changes applied were minor adjustments to colour, brightness and contrast while others took a more creative approach of cloning and moving elements.
Most notably, Sandra King really jumped into the challenge. She took Alan Kempster’s steam train image and painstakingly removed all of the unwanted overhead power cables and other distractions. This was something Sandra had never tried before and the results were outstanding, especially for a first go!
I hope you enjoy some of the results of this rather different collaboratively way of making photographs. We definitely intend to have another go at this in the not too distant future.
As always you can find out more about the club at www.irvinecc.co.uk or find us on Facebook. Until next week, take care & stay safe.
