Nature Travel & Street Photography

The one biggest technological advance in imaging so far has been the creation of Photoshop ™by the geniuses in Adobe™. The artists, or at least their minds, have progressed so far ahead that Photoshop™ has emerged as one of the strongest factors in the success of the photographic art. Average photographers and point-n-shoot camera owners have started branding Photoshop™ Effects as “their” creation.

Most of the imaging community websites have started showing up that perfect picture - with the perfect lighting and colors and sharpness, capturing the perfect moment, where the bird of prey is just snatching the prey from water, the the landscape with the perfectly balanced morning light and the green of the grass as never seen before. So where does the credibility lie?

Photoshop™ isn’t a debate any more. To the professional studio photographers, it’s just the much needed tool to save time and money, to make the right image in their digital dark room, to the journalist, its just the right encouragement to make sure that you have not missed the shot, to the editor, its the perfect tool to make the image available right in time no matter where its shot. And to the amateurs, its just the right software to help them emerge out of mediocrity!

So while the difference is like between the user of a computer and the brains behind creating it, the competition between two such amateurs now depends on whether the creators in Adobe ™or Corel ™ could create such an effect with just the click of a brush and whether such a software would be made available to the enthusiast for an affordable price off the Walmart™ shelf!

While the software developers in these leading imaging corporations are expanding their minds, so is the photographic community. The ability to judge an image based on its merit and that of the photographer has returned and the initial wow of the amateurs’ ability to manipulate and master Adobe and such softwares have subsided considerably. These softwares have brought out another new genre of talents. The people who have so longed to express themselves through abstract art have found the perfect way to bring their creations to the table. They have not only mastered the software, but have started to push the limits by their constant effort to dive deep into the abstract world. And over the years, the corporations creating the imaging softwares have listened to them and have oriented their products to enable them move forward. A perfect synchronized effort of the mind and the technology!

So where does it leave the pampered amateurs? It looks like they will always be amazed by what these softwares can do. Some that perfect the ability to exploit the abilities of such softwares will spend considerable time on their computers and the others will keep fiddling with the saturation, hues and the brightness levels instead of spending more time on the field with their subject and camera.

I am also sure of doing a portion of my work in digital media. I would be doing some editing in Adobe™ softwares. Like it has been since ages, the print is the final art form. And the creation of the negative and the final print have to add to the success of the final art. The darkroom allowed the artist to expand their creation through burning, dodging, cropping and the like. I would definitely perform these activities on my digital editor as well. At the same time, since my primary interest is impressionistic art form, I would continue to do that on fim, as long as Fuji continues to make their chromes!

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