competition results

Well, I came second - no shame there! The winning shot was very nice though.

 Will wait to see what the new theme is...

manipulation vs editing

All my life I have hated PhotoShop. Ok, so maybe not ALL my life, but you know what I mean(!). Ever since I wanted to take photographs in a more serious way, I have looked at other shots, thought about how I too could produce something like that, then been bitterly crushed when I find out the shots are not 'real' they have been PhotoShopped...For instance:

Beautiful sunset shot - but it's not real. It has been PhotoShopped to look like that, and as such I would not be able to recreate it, no matter how hard I try - thus I feel tricked and disappointed. And that's before I even get on to some of the RIDICULOUS photo manipulations that are out there...For instance:

Now, what's the point of that?


However, in a shocking turn of events(!) I have begun to edit my photos *GASP* using a program not dissimilar to PhotoShop *DOUBLE GASP*. So why would I do this? Well, it turns out that (and I will sound foolish and naive here) most digital photos have been 'adjusted' in some way, and this is "not a bad thing". I've been reading digital photography magazines, and it seems the digital darkroom is fully utilised and NOONE CARES. So, I decided to venture into the muddy waters and see for myself...I downloaded a free trial of PhotoShop Elements, but decided I couldn't afford the full thing so abandoned that and downloaded a program for free called paint.net. After being completely baffled for several days, I found some tutorials, and then it was like a light had been switched on...I could make my photos look better, but I didn't have to destroy them with stupid effects!! Having decided to get down off my high horse, I set out to see what I can do. Here are some of the results...

The top image is what I actually did - the bottom is with a bit of editing, and (I think) looks much better. How about effects like these:

These aren't possible in real life (I had to learn all sorts of digital editing for them!), but look kinda cool...

So, it seems my outlook has softened on the whole 'digital darkroom' front, and I find myself going to my editing program to 'just tweak a few things' on any photo that I wish to improve. Is this cheating, however? Thoughts please...

DCW weekend comp - theme: 'a star'

so this is my entry for this competition:

i was torn between that one and this:

but went for the origami in the end...we'll see!

ok, so this is my blog(!). not sure how much time i will have to spend on here, but i'll try.

the focus is on my photography journey. in here i'll be posting photos i like, details of competitions i've entered...that sort of thing. as well as my frustrations about not being able to get that 'perfect shot'. expect a lot of that :)

before i set up the blog, i'd entered a few competitions, mainly on the Digital Camera World forums ( http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/forum/index.php ) but also for National Insect Week ( http://nationalinsectweek.co.uk/competitions/photo_competition.htm - yes, i know...) and the Matlock Bath Parish Council Photo Competition ( http://www.matlockbathparishcouncil.gov.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=192:pro-loco-photography-competition-2012&catid=47:competitions-a-events-2012&Itemid=100 ). i won one of the DCW weekend competitions with this shot (the theme was 'vanishing point') :

that's my only win so far...but at least i'm getting votes now :)