Wow ... you think you take good photos and then ....

TomSweeney

.... you see this !!


https://blog.flickr.net/en/2019/12/19/top-25-photos-on-flickr-in-2019-from-around-the-world/?utm_campaign=yir-holiday-2019&utm_source=Flickr&utm_medium=email&utm_content=yir-launch




Amazing shots!




disheartening actually!!

Damien360

Too many set up shots in that for me. The dog running and all the owl shots, maybe the caribou are beautiful. After that no. Maybe it’s just me but I prefer a more natural image with as little filtering as possible.

slipperyox

All look wonderful.
I don't normally post in this section, but.

What percentage of those photos have been edited to the point that the event the photographer is recording, actually happened?

Just curious.

TomSweeney

slipperyox wrote: »

All look wonderful.
I don't normally post in this section, but.

What percentage of those photos have been edited to the point that the event the photographer is recording, actually happened?

Just curious.

IS a good question, was thinking the same ..

Sonics2k

TomSweeney wrote: »

disheartening actually!!

Exactly the opposite for me. I fell out of photography for years after my kids were born and I'm only getting back into it since last July and seeing these makes me want to go out and get better.

magicbastarder

(excepting the nature shots) most of those shots leave me cold. they're superficial, all sparkly with no real depth. real 'motivational poster shots'.
nothing new to come back to after the first glance.
one of the tests i use is the 'would you hang it on your wall?' question. a few of them, maybe.

120Filmshooter

If they are the top shots on flickr what are the bad ones like !

dory

Damien360 wrote: »

Too many set up shots in that for me. The dog running and all the owl shots, maybe the caribou are beautiful. After that no. Maybe it’s just me but I prefer a more natural image with as little filtering as possible.

I agree. I hate that very-set-up look you get on Instagram a lot. Perfect example is barefoot woman in green dress in green surroundings in Photo 1. :rolleyes:

fritzelly

While some of the pics are nice they are certainly staged and a lot of editing afterwards
How many times did that the poor dog have to jump over the log
Reminds me of the plane above the ladder/fire escape

DaireQuinlan

I mean, seriously, I'm all for people doing whatever they want with their shots. Photoshop away. Not necessarily a photograph anymore but that's a whole other argument. But this knd of fabricated bull**** ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegen/32249620217

-edit- this is what it actually looks like in the dock

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123653963@N02/48277287897/

r3nu4l

I thought it was just me but a lot of posters so far are expressing my own feelings. I detest modern 'photography' that in the end is nothing more than excellent photo editing skills.

Editing should be a last resort, not a 'go to'.

Photoshop and Lightroom have a lot to answer for imo.

Some great pics there but not many.

fritzelly

The German taxi rank with the old fella is for sure fake - he has been superimposed there - a good few tells if you zoom in on the photo (actually don't need to zoom in)

Snotty

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

I mean, seriously, I'm all for people doing whatever they want with their shots. Photoshop away. Not necessarily a photograph anymore but that's a whole other argument. But this knd of fabricated bull**** ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegen/32249620217

-edit- this is what it actually looks like in the dock

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123653963@N02/48277287897/

Watched a few videos on YouTube of people showing their photoshop and lightroom skills. One guy basically takes a photo that could be best described as "meh" and basically transforms it into something with almost none of the orgional characteristics, the skills are impressive but feel like their should be 2 categories, raw and edited.

Weepsie

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

I mean, seriously, I'm all for people doing whatever they want with their shots. Photoshop away. Not necessarily a photograph anymore but that's a whole other argument. But this knd of fabricated bull**** ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/clairegen/32249620217

-edit- this is what it actually looks like in the dock

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123653963@N02/48277287897/

The actual photo is to my uneducated eye way better.

Quantum Erasure

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

-edit- this is what it actually looks like in the dock

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123653963@N02/48277287897/

i mean...

fritzelly

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

i mean...

Are you saying the green line around everything in the first comparison is not normal?

Quantum Erasure

altough, in the first one it looks like the sea level has risen 15 foot, but not brought the ship up with it, that's why you can't see any dock, and the mooring chain just disappears into the water

Jellybaby1

I never post in here and I'm certainly no photographer but the photos are lovely! I'm aware that purists wouldn't care for them of course. Yes, they are all 'overworked' and there is little of any natural element in them, but I still think they are lovely. If someone dreamt up these for a fantasy film set they would fit perfectly. My tuppence-worth.

Homer

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I never post in here and I'm certainly no photographer but the photos are lovely! I'm aware that purists wouldn't care for them of course. Yes, they are all 'overworked' and there is little of any natural element in them, but I still think they are lovely. If someone dreamt up these for a fantasy film set they would fit perfectly. My tuppence-worth.

There’s always a lot of begrudgery because people are jealous of the photos posted in that link. Plain and simple. People just lack imagination sometimes.

CabanSail

I was looking at putting some images forward to a Salon or two. However when I look at the results it is all this sort of stuff which gets into the results. Most of the Mono images seem to be the product of Silver FX Pro with settings maxxed out. So many others are these online creations. It puts me off sending in images.

I do edit images in Photoshop but try to make them representative of what I saw when I was there. The camera does not record things as we see them and hence the processing and retouching. This recent image is an example.



That is what I saw when there was an impressive sunset and I had just arrived at the Yangon Makers Markets. Lucky the Pergoda was also there. It was low light & I did not have a tripod. I just had my 24/70 f2.8 lens. Where I was was on a wooden platform and so I tried to use a fence post to steady the camera. There were lots of kids running around and it was not steady. So I then ramped up the ISO and relied on the VR of the lens. I think this shot is cropped out of a shot handheld at 1/8th second. The RAW file did not look like what I saw and the fountain was all but invisible. Some editing recreated the spectacle I witnessed. To me that is Photography. Creating someting which was never there is Graphic Art. Both have their places but really should not be confused.

magicbastarder

Homer wrote: »

There’s always a lot of begrudgery because people are jealous of the photos posted in that link. Plain and simple. People just lack imagination sometimes.

what a bizarre conclusion to draw; that people dislike it because they're somehow deficient.
how come there are photographers whose skill and output i am jealous of, but whose work i like?

anyway, i'd skimmed over it and didn't spot the second photo was a fake. if it is, that's kinda odious given the explanatory text.

lawred2

Am I missing something?

All of those look layered and post processed to death.

That's not the work of a camera - most of those are the work of a design studio

magicbastarder

a lot of the nature ones look reasonably untouched.

120Filmshooter

Homer wrote: »

There’s always a lot of begrudgery because people are jealous of the photos posted in that link. Plain and simple. People just lack imagination sometimes.

Unfortunately in our modern world we are being conditioned to accept mediocre as a benchmark. This includes pretty much everything including photography.

magicbastarder

i'm not quite sure what the point is there, but i will say this in relation to a hell of a lot of those shots, and again it's an unfortunate thing about our modern world - just because you can it doesn't mean you should.

twowheelsonly

fritzelly wrote: »

The German taxi rank with the old fella is for sure fake - he has been superimposed there - a good few tells if you zoom in on the photo (actually don't need to zoom in)

I don't think it is. Looking at the photographers page the same style is prevalent throughout.

What are the 'tells' that you're seeing ??

magicbastarder

it's very possibly just the way that the figure in the shot was processed, to make him stand out more from the background. the highlights on the face are noticeably brighter than the (presumably white) posters and signs behind, and they're facing the same direction.
he's more contrasty than the rest of the shot would be, so ironically the photoshop skills may be letting the photographer down here.

fritzelly

twowheelsonly wrote: »

I don't think it is. Looking at the photographers page the same style is prevalent throughout.

What are the 'tells' that you're seeing ??

The sharpness of the image in certain areas compared to the rest of the photo which is grainy and very grayscale, top right shoulder is evidence of the image being cut out and superimposed, the very black hat, the shadow seems weird when nothing else is casting a shadow

r3nu4l

Homer wrote: »

There’s always a lot of begrudgery because people are jealous of the photos posted in that link. Plain and simple. People just lack imagination sometimes.

What a lazy conclusion: someone doesn't like it, must be begrudgery. Millions of people bought and loved, the cheeky girls 'touch my bum' song, I didn't, does that make me jealous and begrudging of the cheeky girls?

More seriously, CabanSail made the case for where photo editing tools should be used in photography. In a lot of those photos, the editing crossed a line for me, turning it into a piece of graphic design. Looks great but it's no longer photography*. Begrudgery had nothing to do with it.

* In my opinion, I know others may not share that

fritzelly

The fake image I was referencing earlier about the fake plane - in case anyone was wondering or couldn't find it

https://petapixel.com/2016/01/29/nikon-awards-prize-to-badly-shopped-photo-hilarity-ensues/

slipperyox

A photographer is a custodian of records.

Documenting something that happened.

In 20 years time, people will look back at their family portrait, where the wife blinking was replaced with another shot, and the child looking away was replaced with another shot. In other words, a picture of an event/moment that never happened.;)