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Featured Photographer - gintaras kasperionis

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Avoiding Excessive Use of Photoshop

Photoshop is one of the greatest tools to ever be introduced to the world of photography. With its robust interface and irreplaceable tools, many modern photographers would be lost without it. While the benefits surely outweigh the costs, many photographers rely too heavily on Photoshop for finalizing their work. Just about every commercial photographer these days uses the program to boost their results, but how much is too much?

Purists believe that it doesn't take much at all. In its heyday, black and white photography was all about the personal touch - everyone's prints looked different depending upon their individual style. The tools and tricks of analog manipulation were more art than science, and interesting results relied not on computer algorithms but instead on experimentation and the careful use of the human hand. While many photographers still use these techniques to this day, Photoshop and other types of augmentation software have all but replaced traditional techniques.

To be fair, the program is incredibly versatile. Most of the time, a raw image needs a little help to reach the point of being all that it can be, and Photoshop is a user-friendly, versatile program that can more than do the job. Some of the most beautiful printed images in photography have been subject to various degrees of alteration via Photoshop, and to great effect. The problem arises when photographers use Photoshop not to enhance their work but instead to cover\ flaws and make up for isn't there. When used as security, Photoshop can be a dangerous tool.

We've all been witness to prints that have been so overly "Photoshopped" that they look more like cartoons than photos, and no one wants to claim ownership to these prints. Yet, so many people are victim to the same crime, whether they want to admit it or not. Anyone who is concerned with the quality of their works has likely used Photoshop as a band-aid, and more often than not this results in ruining the photograph altogether. Photoshop is a great enhancement tool, but it is not a magic solution to an already dead photograph.

So next time you fire up Photoshop and start playing around with your images, remember that restraint will yield quality results. Overusing Photoshop is like putting on way too much makeup; do what you can to avoid it at all costs.

" My inspiration comes from a variety of sources. In addition to photography, I am drawn to poetry, literary fiction, music, movies and nature. I am always amazed by the sheer fact of existence, the fact that we- and all that is around us- even exist. "

The Upanishads tell that the only thing worth knowing is the self. Nathan Wirth, a native San Franciscan, shoots the landscapes of the self, framed by the uniquely Californian patterns of sea, sky, and architecture living and dead. Nathan manipulates the weather in surprisingly structured patterns, that retain the chaos of the ever-changing beach. Seriously shooting since 2007, Nathan evolved into a selective eye that advantageously brings the coastal play of shadows and shades of grey into his frames. A pier jutting ghostly and populated only by the mind of the photographer, like strange alphabets written on tidal sands and the fog rolling in from the pacific is a self portrait of the aloneness of man.

" I have become much more calculating about what I photograph, so I go out much less often, and take fewer photos. The right weather, which, for me, is cloudy or foggy days, is very important to me. I rarely go out on sunny, clear days. "

Mood and drama, captured but not imprisoned, the rugged Northwest helps, but the self that knows itself knows it best through the image drawn by the lens. The B+W ND 110 filter helps to see the play of weather and sea. What do you like to shoot Nathan? The poetry of bad weather days in the hours before, during and after sunset or sunrise.

" I have never wanted to capture "things as they are"; instead, I want to express mood. The possible tones, contrasts and textures that monochrome photography offers give me a wonderful palette of expression to play with. "

What was your first camera, and what do you use now? When I began taking photography seriously in 2007, I started with a Sony Alpha 100 and now I use a Sony Alpha 700. What impels you to shoot? I am drawn to poetry, literary fiction, music, movies and nature. I am always amazed by the sheer fact of existence, the fact that we- and all that is around us- even exist.

by Osvaldo Menegol

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