All Photography is “Photoshopped”

A pretty bold claim but what do I mean by it. Well I do not mean “photoshopped” in the sense of someone going through their photo collection post divorce and removing their ex-spouse from all their family photographs. I mean something more subtle than that.

The appearance of every photograph is the direct result of decisions taken by the photographer starting even before the photo is taken and finishing with film or digital processing.

With film photography it starts with the choice of the film and even the choice of the camera. Different films have distinct differences to the point that some modern digital editing software has options to emulate different types of film.

And then there are the camera settings. My 35 mm film camera allowed me to change the film speed or depth of field for different circumstances or different effects. As well, different coloured (or other) filters can be placed over the lens to change the appearance of the photo. That cool flowing water effect on waterfalls is the direct result of the settings chosen by the photographer.

Modern digital cameras have even more control over setting with different type of exposure zone settings, white balance and specialized settings for close-ups, moving objects, night or indoor photography and on and on.

Of course most people think of post capture editing when referring to “photoshopping” even though a lot of photographer decisions before that stage affect the appearance of the photo.

There are a lot of reasons besides deception to use photo editing software to change or enhance a photograph.

A major reason to use photo editing software is to make photos appear more like what the photographer actually saw. Others include enhancing a photo taken on a dull day to look like a photo taken on a bright day, or to remove distracting elements like power lines that are not the main focus of the photograph.

The filters a film photographer might place over the lens when taking a photo can be applied afterwards in the “digital darkroom”. Doing it after talking the photo allows for a lot more experimentation to see what creates the best result. There are even filters designed to make a photograph look like a painting or drawing. Photo editing extends into the photographer/artist’s own sense of creativity.

When I first started into serious amateur photography I was very much a realist, the photo should be what you saw and not enhanced. Indeed I was even criticized for taking too many “record shots” rather than doing more creative photography. I would have described my philosophy of photography as one that believed that composition was 90% of photography – it is to capture what is there. After getting into digital photography I have gradually changed to seeing it as more of a creative process where the editing process afterwards is almost as important as taking the photo. Now i would say that composition is 75% of photography.

This is all to say that a photograph should not just be what was there but also what the photographer saw with both their eyes and their minds.

For some examples of how photo editing can provide different visions of the same original subject see PhotoVersions Created with Franzis Color Projects and Photo Versions Created with Franzis Black & White Projects.

Fernbank Road Pond Photo Versions

Slideshow of photos taken along the Fernbank Road Pond in Stittsville in July 2023 with my Panasonic Lumix FZ100 camera and edited with Photoshop Elements 2023, Simply Good Pictures 5, Franzis Color Projects 6 Professional and Franzis Black & White Projects 6 Professional.

 

(View in YouTube to view full screen)

More Fun With Photo Editing

I imagine most people have a favourite photo editor that they use for all their photo editing. Sometimes I like to mix it up and use different software for the different abilities each has. I will usually save my photos as lossless PNGs when transferring between different programs to avoid compression degradation.

Original Photo Taken with Panasonic Lumix FZ100 Camera

Cropped to 16X9 with JPEGCrops 

Auto Optimized with Simply Good Pictures

Red Channel Enhanced with Photoshop Elements 2023

 

Kaleidoscope Effect Applied with Franzis Color Projects

 

Object Removal with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023 – The De-urbanization of a Pond

Back in the day, Inpaint used to be the standard for removing objects from digital photographs. Then I discovered Photo Stamp Remover which I found to be much better and easier to use. That all changed when I upgraded my Photoshop Elements 12 from 2013 to Photoshop Elements 2023. The interface has improved and the capabilities increased, not the least being it’s object removal capabilities, which are better than any other program I have tried. Photoshop Elements 2023 states “Adobe Sensei AI technology* and automated options do the heavy lifting so you can focus on the fun stuff”.

This project demonstrates the object removal capability of Photoshop Elements 2023.

The location of the photo used in this project was at the pond along Iber Road in Ottawa, Ontario, a block from the Trans-Canada trail.

Google Earth Aerial View of Site

The photo used in this project was one I took on November 14, 2012 with my Garmin GPSmap 62sc GPS camera which I had come across going through my GPS photos for my wallpaper project. I use my own photos for my Desktop PC wallpaper and change them weekly.

Original Photo

 

The original photo was cropped to 16X9 using JPEGCrops and then enhanced using Simply Good Pictures automatic optimization process.

Cropped and Enhanced Version

The result was a very decent photo but the first thing I noticed was the tree in front of the pond was distracting, even if it was a natural feature. So I thought why not try removing it since I had already been surprised by the object removal capabilities of Photoshop Elements 2023. I did not expect great results, the tree with it’s many branches being unlike a straight hydro line or telephone poll. I used the auto select function and surprised that the results were not bad, though they needed some tweaking with the brush function. I then took my shadow from the photo and a couple of culverts and voila the finished product.

Object Removal Version 1

Then I looked at all the buildings along the pond and thought let’s see if we can get rid of those and make this look like it’s not in the middle of a city. The first attempt to remove them all with the auto select function was quite unsatisfactory. So then I tried doing smaller sections using the auto select and brush functions and success.

Object Removal Version 2

 

That was it I thought but then I realized the railing along the pond still gave it’s urban location away. However, I thought with all the lines from the individual railings this was going to be impossible to remove and still have the photo look natural. First attempt using auto select on the whole railing confirmed that. But using the brush function and going a little bit by bit resulted in a decent image. The only giveaway was the apparent pattern among some of the apparently cloned geese. Some pondering and further editing attempts resulted in my removing some of the geese to break up the pattern and create a natural looking photo.

Final Object Removal Version 3

 

The moral of the story being when it comes to photo editing don’t be afraid to try things you do not think will work, you might surprise yourself.