The two photographs above show in very clear fashion what typically happens in landscape photography. The topmost image shows what my camera captured, in this instance the Canon 1DsMk2. The image below it shows what I remember the scene to look like -what I saw and felt in a way. To go from the first to the second image complex and careful image adjustments had to be conducted. These adjustments, in this specific instance, took me two days of work. At this point the image is ready for web display. However, I have not printed it yet (it was created approximately a week ago). When I print it further image adjustments will be necessary in order to create a print that makes me feel the way I want to feel when I look at this scene.
For years I have been asked to teach what I do in terms of image adjustments. I was going to say "what I do in Photoshop" however I use software other than photoshop to do my work. I also consider matting and mounting the print an inherent part of this process. In fact, I could not achieve the quality I seek if I did not know how the print was going to be matted or on what paper the image will be printed.
If you are interested in learning how to conduct this complex, careful and creative process take a look at my just-announced Photoshop Seminar. The purpose of this seminar is to show you how to work on your photographs so you can take what the camera gave you and transform it into what you saw and remember.
After careful image adjustments