Editing assignments??

[leanne]

When sending in assignments, are you allowed to edit them. Crop or change to black and white? or you send the picture in as is.
Thanks

[ladyups]

Hi Leanna...I believe you can do anything you want with them. They are your photos and if you think cropping them or adjusting the exposure or color will enhance them, then you should go ahead and do it. Remember you want to send your best interpretation of the image!

[dkippen]

I agree and think someone else asked the same question in the last week or so.

[wecosoft]

Leanne

I just submitted my photos over the weekend and the one comment from my tutor was that the one photo needed to be cropped. I wasn't sure we could either, but I know better now. So, crop away!!!

[coffee]

You should edit your assignment images like you might normally do otherwise so YOU are happy with the overall photo. The first thing the instructor will check for is if you completed the assignment at hand. Then they will look for other unrelated issues that they think take away from the overall image and will mention it. They look at everything that is photography in your assignments.

I can't swear to it, but I've always assumed if other elements are considerable out of wack, points are taken away from your overall grade. Especially if you are beyond the section that covers the unrelated problem, and you should have checked on it. As you progress through the course, your images should also progress.

[beautyfusion]

Hi there

I'm a little surprised about this. I took hundreds of photos to produce one that would fullfil the assignment requirements. I love photoshop, but have found that the more photos I take, the better I get. My favourite is when I put my photos in photoshop and apply the "auto" options and nothing changes on my photo! I think, "phew I got it right"

Also, when composing the shot, I do it so as NOT to have to crop, I check to make sure there are no phone lines around (dreaded things). I'm not saying this to be uppity :) and I'm not anti-photoshop, but I think that when I can take allllllll photography techniques into consideration just before I take the shot, the less time I have to spend in the digital darkroom touching up and more time to spend in the digital artroom, artifying my photo...if I want to.

I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this.

[coffee]

Sure, I think we all strive to get them as right in camera as we can. I'm not sure what part you are surprised about though. That you can edit your assignment photos? If so, I'm sure everyone including the instructors want to see as little editing as possible, this goes without saying. But there are many times when editing is necessary. Like in bird photography for instance. It would be nice if they could pose for you, but they don't. So you set you camera up like you think the conditions call for, then you go "fishing" for your shots. And nothing comes your way, then BOOM. A duck comes screaming in from the other direction you hadn't planned for. He's coming in fast too. You aim and get him in the view, compose best you can, and try like hell to keep him on focus as you pan like a mad man. He's flying in and out of the shadows playing havoc with your exposure. You fire away and hope you don't fall in the water.

The point here is when you have all the time you need to get a single shot of a posed or still life, and still find yourself post working the heck out of it to make it technically right, then you have to ask yourself if there's more you can learn. But you are right. When you bring an image up on the computer, and you find it doesn't need much, you are very satisfied.

But also, the more time you spend in photography, the more things you see in an image that might make it better or more interesting, even if it's technically correct. In this day and age, post work to an image is a huge part of photography, but you still have to know the basics.


Hi there

I'm a little surprised about this. I took hundreds of photos to produce one that would fullfil the assignment requirements. I love photoshop, but have found that the more photos I take, the better I get. My favourite is when I put my photos in photoshop and apply the "auto" options and nothing changes on my photo! I think, "phew I got it right"

Also, when composing the shot, I do it so as NOT to have to crop, I check to make sure there are no phone lines around (dreaded things). I'm not saying this to be uppity :) and I'm not anti-photoshop, but I think that when I can take allllllll photography techniques into consideration just before I take the shot, the less time I have to spend in the digital darkroom touching up and more time to spend in the digital artroom, artifying my photo...if I want to.

I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this.

[ladyups]

Well said, Joseph. No matter how we strive to be technically correct, some times our best images are a matter of being there at the right time and the right place.

I've noticed that always thinking of the proper way to take an image, sometimes takes away from the fun of the capture. Not that I don't try and do it correctly. I wish I could say I did every time but I'd be lying.

[jaydi]

I find that my best shots are the ones that I dont think about too much, and are really just spur of the moment pot luck.

But saying that the best advise I was ever given is practise, practise,practise..and also try and isolate and simplify what you are showing in the viewfinder.

I really think we should try to take pictures without depending too much on altering on photoshop, hdr etc. Dont get me wrong these tools are great but we sometimes lose the real feeling of the photo.

[beautyfusion]

But there are many times when editing is necessary. Like in bird photography for instance. It would be nice if they could pose for you, but they don't. So you set you camera up like you think the conditions call for, then you go "fishing" for your shots. And nothing comes your way, then BOOM. A duck comes screaming in from the other direction you hadn't planned for. He's coming in fast too. You aim and get him in the view, compose best you can, and try like hell to keep him on focus as you pan like a mad man. He's flying in and out of the shadows playing havoc with your exposure. You fire away and hope you don't fall in the water.

Hi Coffee

Okay, so this made me laugh. And I get your point. I see I have a lot to learn and I'll definitely have a rethink. Now I'm wondering two things, do I have GREAT photos that i've ignored because I've not photoshoped them to look technically better and 2. have I missed out on a great shot because I didn't take advantage of the unexpected?

I've definitely got a lot to learn and am glad to hear people questioning and feedbacking

Oh, and I guess I was surprised that it was ok to edit the photos because I assumed that the tutors would be looking at the meta data of the photos as well as the photos themselves to determine if I had "technically" carried out the assignment correctly. Like I said, I have a lot to learn! ;)

[dkippen]

Beauty - Joseph has made a very good point. Another example, I have a shot from last weekend that I couldn't pass up, but the light wasn't quite there and I took the shot anyway with the hope that I could tweak it a bit in PS. And yes, your goal is to get it right the first time. If you start looking around at other photography works, you may find many of them "tweak" just a bit.