Photo edits - more fake in a fake world?

Theres editing and theres editing, when I see an average looking girl who clearly isnt a model on a reality tv show end up in a mens magazine (im refering to big brother in australia here and FHM/Ralph magazine) looking super super skinny with perfect skin etc etc, Lighting and good makeup & hair is one thing but when they use photoshop to do heavy changes to body shape, facial structure, eye size etc etc and present it as if thats how the person really looks it's just bad.

Dolls on the other hand look great to begin with, so you don't need to do much except adjust the contrast etc.

 

I don't care that much for edited photos, but I think it seems so unnecessary to me. Other people probably take photography much more seriously than me, but I just shrug and try again if a photo does not come out the way I like it. If there wasn't enough light the first time, I'll get more light the second time. When I start putting pictures of my dolls online eventually, I will probably make icons and use my photo editing software to cut the pictures down, but that's probably it. I'll chose the photo based on what I like about it, not what it can become.

Plus, I've seen too many edits that either look weird or somehow obscure the doll. Yes, that's a pretty dress on a pretty doll. Too bad I can't really see either since you ran the picture through the filters so much. I'm one of those people that focuses on the craftmanship of the doll, clothes, and accessories.

 

Editing is unless your doll is ugly that your selling(talking retailer) and you know if he nose didn't look so big and his eye weren't so far apart he would sell more. That is when editing is wrong.
As far as editing for a good photo, more power to you. Just don't make your doll or item so different that it isn't recognizable if you saw it in person. Gallery photos as well, unless you disclose it. Why? Because many of us look at those photos before we purchase a doll and if your doll looks really good in the photo and c**p in person someone is gonna be mad, and they are gonna blame you. So just disclose the edit.

 

I would hope someone would look at more than one set of photos when deciding if they want to purchase a doll or not given that even different face ups can make two dolls of the same sculpt look VERY different. I think it's a bit over the top to want to blame someone who edits their photos on the off chance someone might be disappointed because they didn't do enough research.

 

i don't have a problem with people or dolls being heavily photoshopped just as long as they own up to the fact that the image has been altered.

 

Editing a photo for your personal collection is fine, but editing a photo for something you are selling, I think is wrong. That's pretty much the same thing as lying in the text. If you leave the photo how it is, you probably will still get a buyer anyways, especially for the dolls themselves.

 

I don't see anything wrong with brightening a photo, to help with selling an item, and show details and colors more accurately.

Of course, actually altering the features and transforming it to the point where it is unrecognizable in seller's photos is going too far.

But personal photos - that's their own decision; it's personal. And in such a personal hobby, it's really whatever makes the owner happy.

 

I wouldn't say it's wrong to edit photos especially for a gallery post or something similar. For the most part, no one can get an abosolutely 100% perfect shot just using the camera. Being able to edit the picture to adjust lighting, contrast, ect allows you to use more creativity and turn the fairly boring before shot into a picture that you really enjoy.

On the other hand, editing sales pictures is a no-no. If you're trying to sell something little to no editing should be used so that you don't mislead the buyer into thinking they're buying a beautiful white, flawless head when what they'll really end up with is a dingy yellow scratched one.

 

Photos have ALWAYS been edited - the fact that we're doing the changes on a computer instead of in a darkroom doesn't make it a bad thing. Photography is an art. That said, I am trying to improve my photography skills so that I only need to do a bare minimum of post-production work on my photos, but I have no qualms about brightening, adjusting contrast, editing out distracting backgrounds or stray hairs, or doing occasional effects like changing the background to B&W. I am actually kind of shocked when I get photos that DON'T need some tweaking. I don't see any need to label gallery posts that've been edited unless a head has been digitally added to a body or something drastic like that. I've seen a few photos on the forum that I actually wish I could edit for the person, because the composition is beautiful but the contrast or color cast needs adjusting.

Pretty much any photo you see published anywhere has at least been checked over in Photoshop or Aperture. I'm currently working on a brochure for a singer, and the photos he brought me to use were badly clipped from their background and so Photoshopped that my dolls look more realistic than him! I can fix the clipping paths, but the rest, not so much. I expect published photos to have had some work done, and it only bothers me if it's selling something and is misleading.

Editing out flaws in a for sale photo is a certain no-no, but other than that I expect most photos to be edited. For sales photos I would only edit to make the photo look closer to reality, and carefully note where any editing is done.

 

I see no reason why you can't edit a picture for personal reasons or a gallery display. However, if the editing was done to sell the doll, no. Just no. I would spam the seller with bad feedback and hound them until the ends of the earth and then some.

 

I'll admit I've edited sale photos before, but it was to make the colour look more like it does in real life, so this is a good thing.

 

I find photo-editing is often to IMPROVE the real-ness of the photo. You know, that feeling you get when you preview a digital photograph, stare at the setup in disbelief and yell "THAT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"

 

Sometimes photos need some adjusting to look more like the real world, but as far as extreme editing goes . . . I'm a digital artist, so it's kind of what I do. I would own up to a manipulated photo being manipulated tho.
The only place I feel it is "illegal" is in sale photos. Those should show exactly what you are getting.

 

I like editing , but no CHANGE.

:I people usually get it wrong

 

........................................................

 

I think that editing to improve a photo is fine when the photograph is for personal use but I don't quite agree with editing a photo of a doll that is for sale and then using that edited photo to sell the doll. In such an instance, once is essentially marketing a false product.

 

I agree with you. Except that some big companies edit the photos of their dolls with photoshop and still display their dolls as they would be sold. A lot of the commercial pictures of many dolls have been clearly edited. However, to use photo editing software to disguise a flaw in a doll that is for sale, in my opinion is fraud.

~Gus

 

I dont think its wrong to edit the photos. somethings have to be edited in like smoke or glowing. but I do draw a line with some things.

 

Well obviously most people agree that it's wrong to edit sale photo's beyong 'touch up' (ie: adjusting color, contrast, ect). Now for gallery/personal image I think it's all fair game. I enjoy creating photomanipulations and I have future plans to make phtomanipulations useing my dolls which will of course require heavy amounts of editing to my photo's (beyond adding words/effects ect).

Now I love photography, and I'm hoping to expand my photography skills starting with a simple camera and frequently using my doll(s) as a model. However, there are limitations to what I can create with photography and I plan to use photomanipulations along with photography to fully bring my visions to life (I dream big ^^).

This might bother some people, because I know some people dislike photomanipulations for various reasons but to me thats just another outlet.

 

If it is for art, fine. You can make it whatever you want it to be.

However, if a company does it to get you to buy it...makes sense but depends. If it is just basic edits as a photographer, it's fine. If it becomes really different, forget it.