Photo Contest

thanks for the votes!

 

Congrats NoctuVide... I voted for yours

Surprised mine did as well as it did. I was split between which Ram photo I liked better.

 

congrats NoctuVide, we had a pretty close Ram-off going there

 

very good photos both of you, yours too lemon, congrats noctuvide

 

Congrats noctu,, Haha lemon I voted for yours ^^ It just had something

 

I didnt see anything about croping photos, is that allowed?

 

I agree with anthony, no cropping, no playing around on photoshop etc.

 

Agreed, within reason though... I HAVE to go through Photoshop as I shoot my photos in CR2 format.

I think the rules should be like this in Photoshop as it is fairly standard to allow the following uses:
Minor cropping - No using cropping to create a false "close up" but it is ok to trim a tad off the edges if you dont want it.
Alignment changes - It should be ok to level your shot if need.
Saturation - IF you choose to over-saturate it should be OK. If you saturate too much it WILL make the photo look ugly anyhow. Some cameras though (ie: Canon) do not saturate photos correctly while others (ie: Nikon) saturate the photo at the proper levels off the camera. (Canons do have their advantages with focus and Depth of Field)
Unsharp Mask - As some cameras do this effect inside the camera, if you use Photoshop to do it it should be OK. (I use it in Photoshop and NOT in my camera). Again, overuse will cause you to loose anyhow by making your photo look unreal.
Clone Stamp - Again slight use. Not using this tool correctly will result in an ugly image.

As far as any other changes they should not be used. These are typically
and almost always allowed changes. They dont really give you an edge up at all and actually if not used correctly cause more damage to the photo than straight off the camera. Usually any usage past this goes into another category called "Digitally Enhanced" and if entered into the standard photo categories will be disqualified.

If you dont know what these tools are look them up Anthony. They can be used to drastically change the image (clone stamp) but most of them cant change the image too much.

 

DQ!

 

I'm with Lemon on that, I shoot Raw (CR2 files) and ideally like to shoot the picture as i want straight out the camera but with my macro lens there is always a need to crop a minor odd angle and convert to jpg. I don't think any of us are talking about cropping to create a false close-up, that's no fun, that's what macro lenses are for! my submissions won't touch Photoshop but all my pictures run through my simple post production Lightroom workflow before going anywhere.

 

Mine do run through Photoshop.... I dont have Lightroom, I have Photoshop CS3 Extended. So I run mine through Adobe Camera Raw and set my White Balance, Brightness and Saturation/Vibrancy a tad. It then moves to Photshop to Unsharp Mask the photo quick, Clone Stamp out the scratches on the tank if seen, and convert to JPEG.

Unsharp Mask = Sharpness in the camera.... I dont use the camera to do this.

 

If you have a decent enough camera you shouldn't really have to photoshop. Most of the time all the settings you really need should be right on your camera. For example, the pics I take I use my Cannon powershot sd1000 digital elph 7.1mp (which definitely isn't top of the line but it does the job). I switch it to manual settings, then I set it to the macro setting, and turn my flash level all the way down. If you use full flash, being that close you end up washing the whole image out. Then it's just a matter of getting a pic of the fish at the right time. I don't understand how cropping could get you a better pic unless your cropping the fish, copying it and pasting it to a different background, which unless you're really good at, it'll come out looking horrible. As for adjusting colors, wouldn't you want the natural colors of your fish to show? If you have to adjust the colors of the pics, then you're either using to much flash and washing out the image, or you're fish isn't to healthy and doesn't have the nice coloration it should have. but then, this is all IMO.

 

Well, I actually shoot with a DSLR Canon Rebel XT.... I just prefer the post-processing. I run full manual mode, with all camera enhancements turned off. Then move to Photoshop to do what the camera already has built in. Difference is I have been trained in school how to professionally use Photoshop and have not been trained on the camera. I have been using Photoshop from Photoshop 7 and been using it ever sense.

Just me, but I prefer to work in Photoshop and not in my camera. To each their own though.

 

I would love a Rebel SLR. My cousin has one and he showed me most of the different settings etc. that they have. Amazing piece of technology. I wasn't saying photoshop is a bad thing. I love the program for other types of things (graphic design etc.)

 

Photoshop makes a great all-around tool. Honestly, I work as a graphic designer/web developer, and Photoshop/Illustrator/Indesign are the big 3 for Graphic Art.

Photoshop does make a great tool for final touch ups on photos too. Actually it is GREAT for doing those "digitally enhanced" photos amnd manipulations....

Here is a link to some wicked manipulations!! <a class="postlink" href="http://abduzeedo.com/crazy-photomanipulation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://abduzeedo.com/crazy-photomanipulation</a>