Broadly speaking, I loath shots that are digitally altered. I like my natural history as nature intended, not with twee faux-atmospheric sepia tones, or bits cloned out and comp'd in. You can call it enhancement as much as you like but that don't make it so. It's kind of a moral guideline for me. Sad, but true.
In a cruel and ironic twist of fate, though, years spent working in advertising have had the unfortunate effect of making me go all gooey at the knees when I see a really striking graphic image. And sometimes, late on a Friday night when long suffering Dilly is out with the girls, I give in to my urges, open up photoshop and fiddle with my Jpegs. There. I've said it. I've outed myself.
Nothing heavy, you understand- I just like to experiment occasionally. And only when the image isn't degraded by it. A heavy vignette here, grayscale there. A tweak of the contrast slider. An irregular crop. It's still the exactly the same scene that I shot. It's just...well, enhanced, dammit.
But if I ever post a sepia shot, even late on a Friday night, you have my permission to shoot me. And not with a camera.
It may be Art. But I'm not convinced it's Fine.
 |
| Marbled White butterfly |
 |
| Beetle on Daisy |
 |
| Tropical swallowtail (captive) |
African Monarch against sand dune
 |
| Beautiful Demoiselle |
 |
| Small Tortoiseshell |
