THE WONDERS OF PHOTOSHOP

“Digital touch-ups - often extreme - are standard procedure”.

That was the subhead in a newspaper article a short while back. “My belief”, says Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, “is that every single major magazine cover is retouched.” The article goes on to say that while many laud the abilities of Photoshop, there are those who say that it contributes to the culture of perfection. Apparently the sculpting of models’ figures is quite common.

Well, maybe so. I have news for you. (Or as the mama gnu said to the papa gnu, “I have gnus for you.) Every photograph you have seen on my blog have been run through Photoshop. Many, perhaps most, have simply been cropped, but even that can make one cropped photograph look quite different from the original.

I change the brightness to a level I prefer, and lighen or darken shadows. I do not, however, “sculpt” other people’s bodies. I often remove the glare from eye glasses, and I will, on occasion, delete or coverup things in the background that I find annoying. Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what I do:


Here is the original photo of pepper and chipper.

Now look at Pepper as well as the bars in the cage in this enhanced photo. Can you see the difference?



This next one is very obvious. This is the pic of the ice cream social tables as it came out of the camera.

And here is the enhanced shot I used. No need to ask if you can see the difference.



Non- photoshopped humor:
THE GIFT
A husband walks into Victoria Secret to purchase some sheer lingerie for his wife. He is shown several possibilities that range from $250 to $500 in price; the more sheer it is, the higher the price. He opts for the one that is most sheer, pays the $500 and takes the lingerie home. He presents it to his wife and asks her to go upstairs, put it on and model it for him.

Upstairs, the wife thinks, "I have an idea. It's so sheer that it might as well be nothing. I won't put it on, I'll do the modeling naked, return it tomorrow and keep the $500 refund for myself." So she appears naked on the balcony and strikes a pose. The husband says, "Good Lord! You'd think for $500, they would at least iron it!" He never heard the shot. Funeral on Thursday.