INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, the issue of photo processing is very popular, especially among young people. Social networks are full of photos processed both in Photoshop and in other photo editors, and most often with the help of mobile phones.
There are no restrictions in photography, because each photographer has his own creative vision of the image, and it is up to the Creator to decide what the final result of his work should be, a natural frame with its natural shades, or modified by various technical means.
In this paper, we consider the processing of photos in Photoshop, although photoshop in this case can mean any program for processing graphic images.
The purpose of the work: to find out whether the processing of photos in Fotoshop is useful or harmful.
Tasks:
study articles, Internet resources, and opinions of their authors on this topic;
conduct a survey and find out the opinions of our College students on this issue;
find out the advantages and disadvantages of photo processing;
draw conclusions.
Object of research: photography, photo art.
Subject of research: photo processing using Photoshop.
Hypothesis: photo processing in Photoshop is useful and in demand in our time.
Method of research:
comparative method;
allocation of material;
generalization;
analysis;
practical work on photo processing.
The relevance of the work lies in the fact that nowadays the issue of photo processing is very popular.
CHAPTER 1. Photo processing
1.1. The history of the emergence and basic concepts
The appearance in the middle of the last century of a new, hitherto unknown type of fine art – photography-seemed to put an end to traditional painting. In fact, of course, it turned out somewhat differently. The first photos were of mediocre quality – the contours were often blurred, the background was not uniform, and spots were visible in the most inappropriate places. And it was the artists who helped the photographers bring their images to the condition that allows them to give such products to customers.
At first, the technique of drawing blurred or over-illuminated details of the image spread, and after a few years it reached such perfection that the photographer's work on the "corrected" image was almost invisible.
The next stage in the development of image processing was the technique of portrait photography, in which the background was completely white. Then, on this background, the artist drew everything the customer wanted - from Buckingham Palace to the South American jungle, from the ruins of the Parthenon to the Australian savanna.
But the real boom in retouching began after the invention of the airbrush-the first device designed specifically for image processing. It made it possible to make a black-and-white photo card color, applying paint over the contours of the image, and also for the first time made it possible to adjust the contrast of the photo.
In the twentieth century, new techniques and methods appeared, both for photographing and retouching images. Combined photography allowed you to create images with a previously unavailable level of image confidence.
The practice of retouching inappropriate interior details and photographer's flaws was also widespread, and in the USSR and China there was also a tradition to remove repressed or simply fallen out of favor officials and party figures from photos that depicted the first persons of the state.
A historical anecdote is widely known, when Trotsky was removed from all the pictures of the leadership of the CPSU (b). Moreover, the party leadership was so eager to clean up everything that was associated with the party opposition that a number of photos printed in Newspapers and books of the period give the impression that Lenin or another party figure of high rank is talking to an empty place, which before retouching was placed by Lev Davidovich himself (Fig.1).
Rice.1 Retouching photos in the USSR
However, the real development of retouching began with the advent and spread of digital photography and, at the same time, personal computers. This is understandable – the capabilities of even the simplest program designed for photo processing are much higher than the capabilities of even a very talented artist-Retoucher, not to mention such a factor as saving labor and reducing the cost of products.
Since the first version of the world – famous editor, Adobe Photoshop, appeared in 1988, digital image processing has spread so far that it is impossible to imagine not only the sphere of advertising, design and printing, but also the daily life of a person without it.
At the moment, for the correct processing of digital photographic images, in addition to a set of mastered relevant knowledge and skills and direct hands, you need a little bit-a graphic editor, the most popular of which is Photoshop, and, what is often forgotten, a correctly configured computer monitor. If the editor is needed directly to work on images, then a properly configured monitor is necessary in order to get an adequate view of the original image and the final product of the design effort. [2].
Photo processing-changing the original image. The term processing includes several basic concepts:
converting a RAW file to a JPEG or other file;
correction of frame parameters;
artistic effect;
retouching photos.
Correction of frame parameters – minimal changes aimed at ensuring maximum plausibility and reliability of the image, namely changing parameters such as:
White balance
Exposure compensation
Noise reduction
Lens correction
Detail
Contrast
Composition
Size
Sharpness
Saturation
Artistic effects are ways of processing an image that change its brightness, color gamut, sharpness, and other parameters.
Examples of such effects include:
Coloring
Postcrop
Convert to Sepia or black-and-white images
The HDR effect
Split-toning
Crossprocessing
Apart from everything else in the processing of photos, retouching is distinguished.
Retouching is the process of editing an image, which eliminates various defects in the image.
Retouching can be simple and deep (art, magazine).
Simple retouching usually eliminates defects such as:
temporary skin surface defects (wounds, rashes, scratches, etc.);
extra objects on clothing (thread, garbage, etc.);
small objects that distract attention (cigarette butts, cans, cigarette packs, etc.);
red eye effect".
For simple retouches, they are not subject to change:
permanent skin defects that are a distinctive feature (scars, birthmarks, wrinkles and other skin folds, etc.);
deviations of appearance from beauty standards (thinness, excess weight, size of individual parts of the face: nose, ears, lips, etc.);
objects of the surrounding space in which you are shooting.
For simple retouching, standard editor tools are most often used, as well as various additional plugins that simplify and speed up the processing process. The disadvantage of using such plug-ins is that they can lead to loss of image quality and most often this affects the texturization of the skin (the effect of blurring, a dead face).
Deep retouching uses more time-consuming photo editing processes that allow you to get rid of defects while maintaining the quality of the original image.
The main focus for deep retouching is on:
Processing using frequency decomposition;
Processing by the Dodge&Burn method.
These two methods allow you to get a beautiful image while preserving all the important details of the image, such as the structure of the skin.
Separately, the concept of retouching distinguishes restoration or restoration of photos.
Photo restoration is the most time-consuming process in the entire process and is often associated not only with removing photo defects, but also with restoring destroyed parts of the photo [1; 3].
1.2. Benefits and harms of photo processing in Fotoshop
In the course of the research, I analyzed the opinions of various authors on this issue. It turned out that this problem has been around for a long time [4; 5].
Most authors believe that you can do without photo processing if the photographer has a high-class technique at his disposal. In this case, photos are obtained without noise, with a beautiful blur, accurate color reproduction, high contrast, and in General, the picture turns out to be alive.
In other cases, you simply can't do without photo processing, even if it is quite insignificant. Therefore, we can safely say that most of the authors ' opinions are similar: photo processing only benefits.
Photo processing is not often harmful. This happens when the photographer is not able to take pictures. No editor in this case will not help.
Also, the processing of photos is harmful if you do not observe a sense of proportion and are unable to stop in time. In this case, the photos are too unreliable, and few people will like it if it is not a photo for a fantastic masterpiece.
CHAPTER 2. Practical part
2.1. Sociological survey. Research result
Students of our College were presented with processed photos and their originals. The guys voted for a particular photo, arguing their choice. Here are the results.
Photo 1. Original
Photo 1. Correction
Students ' opinions were divided roughly in half. About half voted for the original, because "it's more interesting".
Photo 2. Original
Photo 2. Processing
The majority of votes were given to the original photo, because it is more vivid and realistic. In the processed photo, according to the students, there are too many effects.
Photo 3. Original
the fourth photo is unusual , directly related to the interests of a large number of students . Therefore, most of them voted for the processed photo.
Photo 4. Original
Photo 4. Processing
The majority of votes were given to the processed photo, because it is stylishly and interestingly designed.
In total, 56 students of our College took part in the vote. I conducted a survey To determine whether processing photos is harmful or beneficial.
A single question was asked: do I need to process photos and why? Here are the results:
you need to Process photos
Processing allows you to transfer the real world, not the flat world
You can restore old photos so that the future generation can see the real era of our ancestors, the uniqueness of those times erased by time.
Even a good photo often requires a small adjustment to improve its quality
Nowadays, processing is often needed in special cases: for shooting video (otherwise distortion will occur), for creating postcards, memorable photos.
Sometimes when taking a photo with a large approximation, the quality of the photo is lost. Photoshop allows you to make them the most focused and high-quality.
When publishing images to the Internet, you can't do without correct compression at all
You don't need to process photos
It's better to take the time to prepare everything correctly and make a single image that doesn't require post-processing, than to suffer in the editor with unsuccessful frames.
Natural photography is closer to the heart
An edited photo of a person sometimes makes it difficult to see the real person
Despite various opinions, many believe that photo processing is not always necessary. There are cases, nuances, when it is simply necessary. And sometimes just a small correction is enough.
The survey showed that not all students see the benefits of photo processing, but still the majority adhere to this position.
I believe that the hypothesis of the study was partially confirmed.
CONCLUSION
Opinions about the processing of photos are different, some for photos in their original form, while others on the contrary believe that natural photos are boring, and in order for them to become more interesting and effective, it is necessary to process them in graphic editors, starting from changing color correction, retouching, and ending with various multi-layer illustrations.
The question of using a graphic editor as a means of working with a photo, in my opinion, is different in different situations.
Reading an interesting book, few people think about whether the author typed his text on a typewriter or wrote with a gold pen? It is the same with a photo, no matter what camera and post-processing tool was used, it is important what the result was. Moreover, the depth of this processing is a matter of taste.
What I agree with is the opinion that you can't make a masterpiece with Photoshop and other similar tools. If the snapshot is unsuccessful from the beginning, no processing will help it. But still, processing is sometimes useful for any successful image. Even the most minimal.
Learn to take photos first – without this skill, you are not a photographer,but a photographer!