The Real Thing

Perhaps it was all the years I spent as a darkroom technician but I’m not embarrassed to divulge that I love photographic post-work.  I think in part it’s that post-production or photo editing is a constant process of experimenting and tweaking.  It’s great fun to try different techniques in a perpetual effort to make your photographs really pop.  Some attempts are raging successes and others are dismal failures but each is a learning experience and therefor valuable.  Post is most enjoyable to me when a photograph is saved from the rubbish bin.

Sometimes a photograph seems like a good idea when you take it but then when you get home and upload it to the computer it’s as disappointing as a QVC acquisition.  That’s where the similarities end though, because with photography you get a second chance (in truth I don’t know if you get a second chance with QVC–can you return that crap?).  Post can uncover hidden beauty in a seemingly unremarkable photograph or make an uninteresting scene compelling; it gives photographs a second chance.  Given how often in my life I’ve benefited from the kindness of someone willing to give me a mulligan, I’m a pretty big fan of second chances.