W
e’re in an era where technology has given photographers the
ability to do more with their images than ever before. If we’re
not careful, though, it’s possible to get so wrapped up in post-
production possibilities that our camera work gets sloppy. It’s easy to think,
“I’ll just fix this in Photoshop later.” I’ve been as guilty of doing that as the
next person. But think about it—is that why all this great software exists? So
we can patch up our mistakes? So we can get lazy?
Way back before digital photography, I was attending a workshop, hosted
and taught by Michele Gauger, of Whitewater, WI. “How much custom
printing do you need to do?” I asked her. “Almost none,” she answered.
“You need to get it right in the camera. You want it on the neg so you can
print it auto. You’ll never make any money at this if you can’t. I want to keep
that money instead of paying it to labs.”
Even with today’s technology, this is still true. Your original camera files
should be saleable. This means composing correctly in the camera, being onAND ENHANCEMENTS. 6. DIGITAL TECHNIQUES
6. DIGITAL TECHNIQUES AND ENHANCEMENTS
Photoshop is a great tool—an image presenta-
tion like this would be much more difficult
without it. It should not, however, become a
time-consuming crutch.