Photo Tip #40 By Bruce Kirkby Jun 1, 2008

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Most people know that digital photographs can be manipulated, yet the majority of amateur shooters never take the time to fine-tune their images. Two myths perpetually get in the way: first, that it’s cheating, and second, that post-production of digital images is costly, difficult and time-consuming.

Let’s dispel both notions. First, tweaking isn’t cheating. Since the black-and-white era, photographers have been altering what their camera recorded with the use of filters in the field and by “dodging and burning” in the darkroom. Your goal as a photographer is to emotionally engage your viewer, and anything that brings a recorded image closer to what your eyes saw is perfectly acceptable.

Cleaning up dust spots, adjusting exposure, increasing colour saturation—all are okay. But, I should note, there is a line: cutting a phone pole out of the background or, worse yet, plunking a shark fin behind your buddy in the lake—it’s still okay, but you’d have to call that digital manipulation, an art form of its own. The crucial point is disclosing what’s been done to your image.

Regarding the second myth, the software required to touch up images has traditionally been limited to professionals. (The granddaddy of the genre, Adobe Photoshop, tips the scales at $1,000.) But recently, an exciting new contender has burst onto the scene: free, online photo editors.

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