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If you think about it, photography is a lot like cooking. Let me explain what I mean....
In cooking, like in photography, you have several levels of involvement and expertise, ranging from beans on toast (the party JPEG snapshot), through the family meal (commercial photography for mass consumption), all the way up to five star cordon bleu (the limited edition, high priced 'art' photograph, lovingly worked on in PhotoShop).
However, a cook with a reasonable amount of skill can add a bit of seasoning and presentation to a family meal and turn it into something a bit special. Maybe not five star, but definately more appetising and attractive than the basic effort.
So to with photography. This photo, taken on the Dachstein glacier in Austria, has all the makings of a decent utilitarian photo. It's in focus, correctly exposed (tricky under the cirumstances), and reasonably sharp.
But what I've done with it is to add a bit of seasoning by playing with the colours to emphasise the red in the hikers jacket and in the rocks behind. I also waited to press the shutter until the hiker was just in the right place relative to the rest of the scene.
When I compare this final image with the original RAW file (the ingredients) I can see how much more interest and 'pop' this little bit of seasoning and presentation has added to the final outcome.
I hope you agree, but as with cooking, not every dish is to everyone's taste!
Filename - climber glacier 02.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 45mm
Exposure - 1/250sec @ f11, ISO100
Location - Dachstein Glacier, Austria
This image - 640x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Image overexposed to compensate for the brightness of the snow.
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