Before and After originality
This is a Before and After from a shot I took the other day at the cottage. This is a pretty quick edit I did today while I had a moment to spare but it is close to what I was going for when I took the original photo. I wanted something moody that I could use for various kinds of posts.
Normally, I try to keep the image pretty original but normal doesn't really suit for every purpose so I occasionally 'over-process' images. It isn't to everyone's taste and I am not the greatest at editing images but I quite like the result and, I do like playing around with images to see what comes about.
After:
Before:
Besides the crop to narrow the frame, it has a cross-process that added some blues into the scene to cool it a bit, some contrast and darkening on the clouds to add depth as well as some desaturation and reduction in vibrancy to wash the colours out.
I wanted it to feel depressed and lonely, as if my wife and daughter are experiencing loss and only have each other to console one another. I like images that tell stories by themselves but because I nearly only exclusively use my own images in my posts, it is hard to have the range I need for the range of content.
It would be much easier and likely fit the content better if I crab some creative commons images but, I like to keep everything mine if possible. For me, it makes the post more meaningful and I hope that it is appreciated that I go to the effort to bring something unique to the Steem table.
There is so much 'borrowed' and 'spun' content here that I think I might overcompensate and go out of my way to provide as much originality as I can offer. The challenge is that I am not great at everything but for me, that is also part of the enjoyment and ride. Although not everything is polished, I think that I am improving my skills and I know that what I post, is mine.
In my head, originality has value in itself and I would much rather read the work of people rather than the retelling of what they learned from a better thinker than themselves. Those great thinkers and scientists of old didn't get to be that way by chance, nor by being parrots.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
The image is quite dramatic after the editing process.
Yeah, it's apreciatted, specially with the number of posts you put out there, taking the time to take personally all the photos for your posts is amazingIn my amateur opinion the original photo looks better. I edit smartphone photos a lot with snapseed, but on my last post I "went" with the original ones and they look pretty good. I even had someone commenting that the post would be worthy of the trending page which sounds legit considering the quality of some posts over there 😁.
It isn't about better or worse, it is about purpose. The image used can change the feel of the text. The image is a primer of sorts.
Often people over process and then use them for the wrong reasons I think.
The processed image is undoubtedly more dramatic and filmic.
It looks like an image from Nicolas Roeg's frightening seventies movie, "Don't Look Now," which is all about loss, and features water, and an uber mysterious Girl-in-a-Red-Coat. :-0
I thought the same thing, though I was thinking something along the lines of "Shutter Island".
I like your proposal, @tarazkp. I think it's valuable in the sense that you're always looking for the original and authentic. Your photos are excellent and if it helps you in your publications, so much the better. I think that many of us use images borrowed as quickly as possible, but it would be interesting to have our own image bank that we can use according to our needs. I'm leaving with a good idea. Thank you. Thank you.
A simple edit can make such a difference. Did you use Lightroom? I think it looks very good. The sky makes it look more dramatic, and also adding a little bit blue, which helps with your story. I'm curious on how it would look if they sat down at the edge, and you standing further away from them. What camera and lens did you use? And I totally agree with you on using your own photography, it makes the post more personal. I do that myself. Good job! Keep it up! :)
I like the idea of originality. It will help this community to grow much better with a lot of rare content.
It is not easy to produce an original content but it is worth the effort.
Nice pic you have there. It doesn't give me the feeling of depressed and lonely but it does give me the feeling of their strong bond to face any obstacle ahead. I meant their courage and how strong they are when they are together.
I think your approach is refreshing. Nothing wrong with originality. Because you are a fine photographer and take a lot of photos it will, in time, become easier for you to find photos to support your stories with your growing personal stock of photos.
The 'Over processed' image looks like it has far more details..........it kind of looks better than the original.
Over done and even refurnished are not necessarily bad things. When a serious content creator tweaks something you know that its creativity but when a habitual spammer/plagiarist does it, then you know its just one level above copy and paste.
I get a lot of great post in my feed and some of the artists make ten post about just working on one picture and in each and every post you can see the effort they put in and plus you enjoy the post. Theses guys are serious about their work and if they made 15 posts instead of 10, they'll probably make them enjoyable too :-)
Nice writing , i really like it .
Beautiful photgraphy .
Thanks for sharing @tatazkp
Upvote you .
I see what you mean with the overprocessed picture. To me, the picture feels like there's a storm brewing or that something bad is about to happen or has happened. Like they're waiting for someone in the docks, but instead of who they're expecting, its something ominous that's coming.
Whereas, with the original picture, it feels like the end of a sad day. Nothing depressing, just not happy, if that makes sense.