I remember once when I was shooting film and turning it over to a lab to process and print, and there was no retouch being done, a client said, "This is not portraiture! It's simply a photo. Portraits are retouched to make the subject look their best, and usually there is dodging and burning done!"

PS is the most awesome tool for this.

I've read in photo mags profiling some great shooters where they say they see an image the way way it will be finished in PS, B4 they take the picture. Often that is how I work also. It's simply the artistic prerogative.

I used to use a big bellows and filter holder, and create vignettes and multiple exposure images in camera. Now I shoot a DSLR unencumbered with add ons and extra weight, and do all that stuff in PS.

It's not that (for me and many others) that the image isn't 'got right in camera', but rather a choice to enhance after capture. Its ART, baby!

Aloha,
SPC II

Stan I totally agree, Photoshop is meant to be a TOOL not a Crutch for bad photography. My goal is to strive to get the photo as close to perfection in the camera as possible and then if i choose to use photoshop it's the icing on the cake or to create some creative alternatives to my images.

However i am finding with Lightroom now I can stay within it's confines without ever really going into PS.

Cris...

With digital there will always be a need for some post-processing no matter how right the image is captured. Of course you need to get the exposure as close as possible in the camera. If you're not up to speed with PS you're gonna keep bumpin' heads with digital capture. I love the freedom and creativity that comes with PS, it goes way beyond the wonder I first experienced in the darkroom as a teenager in the 60s.

When I started shooting weddings in the early 90s it was the same lament but the argument was between how much was done in capture -vs- how much was done in the lab. Common complaints at the print competitions was that it often appearred to be a battle of the labs and not the photographers.

David,

I have two comments: You are spot on about the need for post-production with digital. I am an exposure freak [ask my assistants!] and still have to do color correction in post. Second: Yes PS blows my darkroom away...but who can forget the first time you put a white sheet of paper into a tray of stinky liquid...and...saw...this...image appear! I worked in "wet" darkrooms for 25 years [YIKES!!] and never got over that fascination.

Here's an assignment for those of you who have never been in a darkroom: find a film camera and shoot some black and white film. Go to a college or community center and process and print your own stuff. You'll get a real feel for creating images start to finish AND a huge appreciation for Photoshop.