Photo Manipulation
- Thread starter Brad
- Start date
Will Hayward
New Member
I would say post production is standard in the majority of nature photo contests.
I would frown upon Colour enhancement for the simple fact it is misrepresenting the chameleon which is the goal of the contest: To show the chameleon in the best possible way.
However because the camera often perceives light differently than our eye/brain does, it's standard to alter the hue or colour temperature that is caused by different types of light sources in attempt to restore it to a more natural state.
Also, Post production is used to clean up undisireable traits that come with certain situations when shooting photos. For example when shooting in dim light, you will need to raise the ISO (When in Film camera terms, this is the amount of metal in the film that responds to light, and similarly the same in digital) but what this does is makes for a really grainy image, rather than a nice smooth image. There are programs and procedures during the post production that removes some of the grain and makes for a much nicer photo.
Some camera equipment affect photos differently. Some glass in lenses make for sharper photos or some for softer. Usually the aveage consumer of camera gear will opt for the lens that is 1/10th the price, knowing that they can sharpen the image in post production to get close to the same quality of the much more expensive product.
I would frown upon Colour enhancement for the simple fact it is misrepresenting the chameleon which is the goal of the contest: To show the chameleon in the best possible way.
However because the camera often perceives light differently than our eye/brain does, it's standard to alter the hue or colour temperature that is caused by different types of light sources in attempt to restore it to a more natural state.
Also, Post production is used to clean up undisireable traits that come with certain situations when shooting photos. For example when shooting in dim light, you will need to raise the ISO (When in Film camera terms, this is the amount of metal in the film that responds to light, and similarly the same in digital) but what this does is makes for a really grainy image, rather than a nice smooth image. There are programs and procedures during the post production that removes some of the grain and makes for a much nicer photo.
Some camera equipment affect photos differently. Some glass in lenses make for sharper photos or some for softer. Usually the aveage consumer of camera gear will opt for the lens that is 1/10th the price, knowing that they can sharpen the image in post production to get close to the same quality of the much more expensive product.
BIGGUN
Avid Member
I've found in photographing my corals that you can do alot with light filters.
If I use a pale blue tupperware lid in front of the flash it makes the photos the same as the tank appears to the naked eye.
The photo in my avatar is a good example. It is taken under grow lights that really make Icefyre glow. They have a very pink hue to them. When I use just the flash it washes everything out. Under his UVB lamp he loses his red tones because the light is very blue.
Just the different lighting in the cages makes these guys look different. I was trying to get a good pic of a friends yellow bodied blue bar and still can't figure out how to get a true depiction of his color.
Alot about the true colors of the animal has to do with the light that is used for the pic.
Kevin
If I use a pale blue tupperware lid in front of the flash it makes the photos the same as the tank appears to the naked eye.
The photo in my avatar is a good example. It is taken under grow lights that really make Icefyre glow. They have a very pink hue to them. When I use just the flash it washes everything out. Under his UVB lamp he loses his red tones because the light is very blue.
Just the different lighting in the cages makes these guys look different. I was trying to get a good pic of a friends yellow bodied blue bar and still can't figure out how to get a true depiction of his color.
Alot about the true colors of the animal has to do with the light that is used for the pic.
Kevin
Will Hayward
New Member
Even lens filters (which alter the perceived light entereing the lens) or flash gels have their downsides. They make the need for lighting to be more intense.
But really, the whole thing is based on trust.
I could take a blue filter and make a chameleon look really blue, then use an orange flash behind the chameleon to conteract the affects of the blue filter on everything behind the chameleon, and no one would be the wiser.
But really, the whole thing is based on trust.
I could take a blue filter and make a chameleon look really blue, then use an orange flash behind the chameleon to conteract the affects of the blue filter on everything behind the chameleon, and no one would be the wiser.
Will Hayward
New Member
You could do it with lights instead of flashes. And It could take one or two flashes.
Will Hayward
New Member
In an ideal world. However people like to advance themselves by altering things. There have been plenty of photos of chameleons for sale that were altered, and entries to the photo contest too. Proves that some people don't follow what you have suggested.
Kent67
Retired Moderator
Well said. The online reptile community as a whole agrees that altering the photos of animals you are selling is dishonest. Yet....I see the same sellers with doctored photos of animals for sale day after day.... It really is too bad some sellers take the trust that their customers place in them for granted.
royden
New Member
I don't agree with that. Our eyes actually don't have the ability to focus on something that's an inch or two away from the lens, yet that's the essence of macro photography.
The goal is a good photograph that is an accurate representation of a subject, but I'd argue that it's still a representation. I do level correction on every photo I take because I'm just not skilled enough to get the exposure right. The difference is when you cross the line between conveying a representation, and actually falsifying through imagery.
That's my opinion but I'm far from experienced.
BIGGUN
Avid Member
Of course macro lenses gives you a better view of the subject. You could take a pic of 5 scales on your chams head and blow it up so then look like lemons. I don't think that enlarging is a problem. I think the problem is mainly in color manipulation......all I'm saying is that to get a pic to look as "real", color wise, as I can I filter the flash because if I don't the colors are reflecting the yellow that the flash gives off and this isn't how I view my corals or my chams.
My corals are under 14,000 K MH bulbs that are much bluer than any flash so they look like crap when the pic is taken with a regular flash and are too dark and too blue without a flash. So I make the flash mimic the lighting that I use and the pics the depict the corals as they actually look in the tank.
Icefyre is under a yellow heat lamp, a blue UVB bulb, and I put the grow lights on because they make him GLOW really nicely. If I take a pic in the UVB his blues and turquoises stand out if I take a pic under the yellow he looks more green and burgandy, and under the grow lights his reds stand out.
I have all three lights on the cage and they all make a difference when he's fired up or when he's calm.
It sounds like we are saying the same thing so I'm not sure what you don't agree with. I said that it's about trying to show what the subject looks like if you were standing there looking at it yourself. You said that you try to convey a representation without falsifying. That sounds like the same thing. ????
Kevin
My corals are under 14,000 K MH bulbs that are much bluer than any flash so they look like crap when the pic is taken with a regular flash and are too dark and too blue without a flash. So I make the flash mimic the lighting that I use and the pics the depict the corals as they actually look in the tank.
Icefyre is under a yellow heat lamp, a blue UVB bulb, and I put the grow lights on because they make him GLOW really nicely. If I take a pic in the UVB his blues and turquoises stand out if I take a pic under the yellow he looks more green and burgandy, and under the grow lights his reds stand out.
I have all three lights on the cage and they all make a difference when he's fired up or when he's calm.
It sounds like we are saying the same thing so I'm not sure what you don't agree with. I said that it's about trying to show what the subject looks like if you were standing there looking at it yourself. You said that you try to convey a representation without falsifying. That sounds like the same thing. ????
Kevin
DarkRapture
New Member
IMHO, the truest pictures are taken outside during the day where there is mild cloud cover or full sunlight. it has the complete spectrum of colors of light and gives the most dependable representation of color and contrast.
i agree with others that it really comes down to honestly representing the animal as you perceive with your own eyes. macro lenses are definitely artistic, filters on the other hand are debatable. i don't disagree with them but maybe they should be avoided for contests and selling the animals.
i agree with others that it really comes down to honestly representing the animal as you perceive with your own eyes. macro lenses are definitely artistic, filters on the other hand are debatable. i don't disagree with them but maybe they should be avoided for contests and selling the animals.
BIGGUN
Avid Member
I have a few more monthes before I can photo Icefyre outside. The snow just melted and he wouldn't fair well at 40 degrees
. I can't wait to see what he looks like in sunlight. The grow lights are alot more pink than the sunlight is. I know that corals and especially clams look fantastic in sunlight.Filtering to make something appear different than it should is not the same as filtering to make someting appear AS it should. I can't put filters on my fuji but I can filter the flash lighting with my high-tech tupperware lid
to diffuse the light and get the picture colors to look like they should. Tomorrow I'll try to get some of my coral pics off of my old PC to show the difference.Bedtime......Goodnight,
Kevin
DarkRapture
New Member
I have a few more monthes before I can photo Icefyre outside. The snow just melted and he wouldn't fair well at 40 degrees
Filtering to make something appear different than it should is not the same as filtering to make someting appear AS it should. I can't put filters on my fuji but I can filter the flash lighting with my high-tech tupperware lid
Bedtime......Goodnight,
Kevin
apparently i have to type something outside the quotation because a message pops up and says that i have to have at least 10 characters here! lol
Petmason
Member
All digital cameras are programed to sharpen and color adhance automatically specially shooting in formats like jpeg. Some cameras have camera raw formats. People choose to shoot raw so they can apply the color correction and sharpening them selfs, that the camera would automatically apply shooting in jpeg. My camera raw file is a 12mb file after resizing and lowing the resolution the quality changes drastically and some modification is necessary to make it "normal". Even saving a picture file in certain formats jpeg, tif, gif etc can change the digital information usually resulting in a loss of information because of compression. I agree purposely altering a photo to deceive someone or people for personal gain is wrong and should be discouraged. We also have to understand how many things affect a photo. Everything !! Some people need to do modification to create a better representation of there subject matter.
BIGGUN
Avid Member
Here are two pics taken on the same evening of the same cham (Icefyre).
The first is under the pinkish aquarium grow lights.....the second is taken under the UVB light which is much more blue.
I'm still working on getting the other pics off of my old PC.
Grow lights
UVB 5.0 Bulb
What do you think of the differences?
Kevin
The first is under the pinkish aquarium grow lights.....the second is taken under the UVB light which is much more blue.
I'm still working on getting the other pics off of my old PC.
Grow lights
UVB 5.0 Bulb
What do you think of the differences?
Kevin
DarkRapture
New Member
Here are two pics taken on the same evening of the same cham (Icefyre).
The first is under the pinkish aquarium grow lights.....the second is taken under the UVB light which is much more blue.
I'm still working on getting the other pics off of my old PC.
Grow lights
UVB 5.0 Bulb
What do you think of the differences?
Kevin
it think that they're so different! i definitely enjoyed the first one more, it seemed to intensify the blues and reds dramatically. in your opinion which picture is more true to life the way you see it through your own eyes then?
