Readers Digest version… Because I don’t have to. I’m not saying my photographs are so amazing that they come out of my camera perfect as if Harry Potter himself snapped them. I don’t believe in magic. What I am saying is that I believe that if you learn your camera and some general rules of thumb about photography you can capture a picture the way you’d like it to look without having to “doctor” it up. Photoshop is an incredibly powerful tool that can do some really amazing things to a photograph post process. I don’t dispute that.
But John, you’re not a professional. No, not in any sense of the word when it comes to photography. I am an enthusiast, an amateur photographer if you will (and you will). Two years ago I would have told you that my iPhone is the best camera I would ever need or own. Right? Don’t they tell you the best camera you own is the one you have with you? They do, I read that somewhere… take my word for it. I get that, it makes a lot of sense. All I am saying is that I enjoy the challenge of taking a great photo without the help of Photoshop. There is an amazing feeling when you get back from photographing whatever it was that you were photographing and you sift through your photos and see some that you can’t believe you took, ones that jump out as if it were someone far more talented that took it. You know the feeling.
So I’ll leave you with this challenge… Go one month without Photoshop. Really try to master your camera in a way that produces the picture you’re really looking for right off the SD card. Try taking multiple shots at different exposures to be sure you get the one you’re looking for. I think you may find that you prefer this method to Photoshop because the time you put in up front ends up saving you a ton of post processing time.
Update: Someone much wiser and better looking than myself reminded me that for graphics work it is a necessity. I’m talking about for the use of purely photo enhancement.
Leave me a comment, change my mind… I am open to hearing what you think and why I should use Photoshop.
I might take that challenge. Thanks!