We all love Photoshop; having the ability to right click our way to the perfect picture is greatly satisfying. The pondering question is: When does Photoshop (a.k.a. the fictionalizing of a documented moment) become more important than the act of taking the original photos? My current project has me photographing out doors city landscape. The problem is that first Mother Nature has to be on my side for good lighting and second I am working towards a dead line. It is April in Pittsburgh and we do not have dawn or dusk only graying skies to light and graying skies to dark. How can Seattle get the wrap for being the rainiest city in Untied States? What to do? Out door photography and bad lighting equals boring flat photographs. Photoshop to the rescue: bright blue skies sharp distinctive tones completed a project with a happy client.
In many aspect of my creative process I keep a balance of extremes on how I use technology while keeping true to the essence of the discipline. In music I play a classical nylon guitar, no pick or cut away and also I play a hybrid classical guitar with a two pick up system that I run through a Roland synth into Pro Tool on MAC. For writing I keep a moleskin journal (coolest notebook in the world – get one) and also this blog: which gives me all the tools I need for correct grammar, hyperlinks & spell check. In photography I totally embrace the digital culture at the same time only allowing myself to use Photoshop as a tool.
When fiction becomes photography I have to keep a constant reminder to myself that art is the practice of composition. I will continue to embrace the idea of stepping away form Photoshop and that photography is the art of painting with light.
