Too far?
On the left, the un-retouched photo of the snow covered trees through window.
On the right, (a crop of ) the version I posted, modified with these adjustments:
1. Shadow and hilights: dark parts brightened, light parts darked
2. Lens correction: perspective and curvature
3. Background stretched: to fit into format (keeping integrity of window proportions)
4. Slight rotation
I don’t feel too much guilt about this, but there is some. I don’t go this far very often. A goal is certianly to improve my process to minimize or eliminate “fiddlin.”
For the web, for different monitors, and for the aspect ratio, I think the adjustments work okay. It’s also an experiment, understanding the tools available.
But there’s something about the original that seems to be lost.
2 responses to “tweaked”
As far as quality, you did a great job with the retouching. However, the original contrast of shadow to light makes you want to step forward and look out the window–to get a closer view. When you remove the shadow, it doesn’t have that effect. Perhaps it would look more intriguing with retouching in the opposite way — making the edges of the photo darker to emphasize the light coming in the window? Just a thought — love your work as always.
Heather brings up some good points.
I would say not to worry about it. I concern myself with photographic integrity as part of my work (I’m a freelance journalist), but I take more liberty on my website. As long as you aren’t making any claims as to the authenticity of the photos, you’re fine.