Photo by Holly Webb
This week I started to practice shooting some candid shots at a local indoor climbing gym, as well as the post-production editing process that comes with the shots. I have already completed some independent research on the post-production process (read here), and did some practice editing in RAW and JPEG (read here) so I was excited to start experimenting with some photos that I might end up using for my actual project.
I decided to edit the RAW format of my images as I feel as though you have a lot more control over how the image turns out. I also edited the images to be in both colour and black and white, as I haven’t decided yet which will look better in my project.
These are some of my before and after shots:
In this image, I liked the composition and the use of aperture to focus on the coffee mugs, however I thought that the focus of the mugs logo made it almost look like an advertisement for the company Cafeology.
I decided to experiment with Photoshop to make this look better. I’m not sure if this is a practice that photojournalists use or encourage, but I think the ‘after’ photo is significantly better than the ‘before’.
I think that there is no harm in editing like this, as the meaning behind the actual image isn’t changed. I don’t think I have edited it too much or that the edited image in any way forces the viewer to feel a certain way – I simply wanted it to look a little nicer. I also changed the contrast and saturation etc. and straightened the photo as it was slightly on a slant.
In this next image, I decided to experiment in Photoshop and Lightroom as the photo was significantly underexposed. I decided to see how much you can change in an image like this, and I’m proud with how it turned out. Although I will try and get my next shots perfectly exposed, it is comforting to know that if you have a great image that is slightly too dark, you can still fix it to include it in your work.
This next image is my favourite from the shoot – and I am also very proud of the editing I did with it after. I loved the shot and how candid it was – it almost looks as though I asked him to stand in that place and look up at the wall like that.
I also loved how the framing of the archway focuses on the person, however the chalk bag that was left on the floor kept distracting me when I looked at the photo. In the future I will look out for things like this in the frame, as I now know that things like this can distract you from the focus of the image.
Because of this, I decided to see if I could get rid of the chalk bag on the floor. Luckily the floor is quite uneven, and I think that it looks so much better without it. Again, I think that editing like this is harmless for this photo as it doesn’t change the meaning or message in the photo at all, if anything the viewer is now more inclined to look at the main subject of the photo.
These are some more before-and-after shots from this week:
I think that doing this was really good for me, as it made me think more about when I’m taking photos. I think that when I go out and take photos again, I will be more wary of things that will distract from the subject of the photo, as well as thinking more about exposure.
I’m still unsure whether I want my images for my project to be in black and white or colour. Last week I was almost fully convinced that I wanted black and white images, however now I’m not so sure.
I think that while black and white images can be very effective in some pieces of work – the colour in some of these images is very unique and I think adds to the photo. The colourful walls and bright rainbow or holds on the walls almost makes the climbing gym look like a playground or Willy-Wonka-esque place for adults.
I think next week when I go out and take more photos, I will be sure to edit them in both ways again until I am convinced with what I want to do.
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