I know, and have met quite a few photographers in the short time that I have been shooting, and, for the most part, we all have one thing in common.... We're "Gear Heads" or "Gear Junkies". If there is a new camera body, or lens, we know about it, and know the specs before it even hits the shelf. We've read a blog from a "Pro" who has been shooting with it or using it for months, and we just have to have it..or we really want it. For most of us, those are just pipe dreams, but for those with untold amounts of cash, they get whatever they want, while the rest of us drool. I'm no different. I love gear, I love techie things, if it's got "bits and pieces", I want to know what those "bits" are, and how those "pieces" work. I personally am not yet a "Pro", or a "working photographer"..but who knows, someday my path may come to a crossroads where I get to take that road. In my "normal" job, I work with gear everyday, climbing gear to be specific. Climbing and outdoor gear. There are just as many "needs" and "wants" in that business too, but luckily, through my job, I've gotten over that stage of the industry.
Now..."where the @%*$ is he going with this?" is what you may be asking..Here we go... Over the past few months, the geniuses at Adobe have been releasing small videos of the upcoming features of their new Creative Suite, CS5. Being the nerd that I am, I've been keen to check out the new technology. A few weeks ago, Adobe officially released CS5 to the masses, and now it's glorious tools are available to the whole world.
The first day it came out, I was there.. at adobe.com downloading the trial version of Photoshop CS5 Extended to check it out to see if it will be worth adding my desktop on a permanent basis. There are two things specifically that I wanted to check out, Content Aware Fill, and HDR Pro. Content Aware Fill is an amazing new tool that will allow you to select any part of your frame, say a tree that's in the way of a mountain, and then you use the Fill Dialog Box (Shift+Backspace (PC)), select Content-Aware, and within seconds, BLAM, the tree is gone and you have a seamless mountain. WOW..the first few times I used it I was blown away. It took a little bit playing around with to get good at making the proper selection for each "problem", but the results are amazing considering that it would take most people much longer to get that done by various other methods.
Second was the HDR Pro tool. I'm a huge user of blending images together. I make grungy images from the city, and I bracket my landscape shots most of the time to get the best tonal range. For the past few years I've been using Photomatix Pro, and I love it. I have recently started using Photomatix's "Fuse Exposure" method, to blend my images, and, for landscapes, I find I get much more realistic looking images, and people say "Oh...that's an HDR?" and that's the response I'm going for. I have only done a few tests with the HDR Pro, but so far...I'm sticking with Photomatix.
Above is a comparison of an image that I originally didn't like, and was not going to edit, until I got CS5 and used Content Aware. The difference is amazing. The first problem was that I was trying to handhold my ND filter in front of my Blue/Gold Polarizer, and you can see the filter and my finger in the shot. With a quick selection around the problem area, a few seconds wait..presto.. problem fixed. Second, was a big grease spot on my sensor....just as simple, and fixed quicker.Third was the tree..totally blocking that beautiful mountain in the distance. Stupid tree...wait a minute... Content Aware Fill to the rescue...ahhh Fixed!! So there ya go, an image that was on it's way to the trash was saved by technology. And that brings me to my final point, and the point of this whole post, that I have been planning and thinking about for days now, which is.. Is this even a photograph anymore?
I love filters, I have no problem with blending exposures to get the best tonal range the scene provides, but using Photoshop to fix stuff that should just be avoided in the first place. I don't know how I feel about that. I would never alter an outdoor scene to make an image better, I want to bring the beauty of the land to people through my photos, but never at the cost of damaging that place. So does it make me more "environmental" if I just "remove it in post"? All I'm getting at is that I don't want to see this technology abused by people who know how to use a computer, and don't want to put the time into learning to take proper pictures in the first place. I for one will always enjoy an image that was created and captured "on location" or "as I remember it", before I take the time to learn to be a better "Photoshopper". That's my rant for today..and most likely the last one for a long time! I for one will most likely not be upgrading to CS5...but it's mostly due to the fact that I don't have the money right now....I'll need a new camera before I'll need new software!
PS...in case anyone is wondering...the last image was did not touch CS5. It is three images blended in Photomatix Pro, then I added a little saturation and contrast. I also used a Polarizing Filter, and a 2 stop ND Grad Filter.
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