It's Not Cheating

I'm having a conversation a few weeks back with a good friend regarding the taking of a group portrait. A third person is present ... you know, there's always one of those. He pipes up, "My daughter takes good pictures. She's in a club. I always judge the quality of a picture by how sharp it is."

I pause briefly and then respond, "Do you mean how in focus the picture is, or how it's been sharpened in post processing? Because, you know, that's part of the equation in digital imaging these days."

"Ya, well," he grumps, "if you want to cheat. That's Cheating."

No statement could possibly advertise one's ignorance with regard to modern photography more effectively. It's not cheating. It's part of the digital darkroom workflow, and a normal element in processing digital images.

Can you "over-sharpen"? Of course. That's where "personal taste" comes in. Can you "fix" a blurry image? No. Interestingly, images that benefit best from a whisper of sharpening are images that are already quite sharp. Digital sharpening focuses on better defining edges.

But, let's go back and make a sensible argument to the accusation of cheating. Was Ansel Adams a cheater for using large format negatives, tilt-shift techniques and sturdy tripods to attain his tack sharp images? Was it cheating for him to use burning and dodging in the darkroom to "tweak" his black and white prints? Was his Zone System cheating? Wasn't he simply using what was available to him to bring his own vision of an image to fruition?

For those who wish to live in the now vintage world of film photography, I admire you all, and wish well of you. As for me ... I ain't goin' back. I get to have my own darkroom now, and finally, I am able to have complete control over my images. That darkroom is now a powerful image editing program. I'm not slacking on trying to get the best image I can when behind the camera, but you can bet I'm going to pull it into my darkroom and make it as professional as I am able, because I want my images to be the best they can be. In other words, I will try and tastefully use the tools I have available to try and bring my vision of an image to fruition.

Today, Ansel would likely still be using his beloved large format cameras, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he'd have been dabbling in digital too. He'd have understood the beauty of the technology ... right down to the ground. And I think he'd have liked it.