Photo Editing Recap

I want to thank everyone for the feedback and discussion on my photo editing blog. Photos are indeed powerful tools. I find it interesting just how much we value we give them, when often they don't provide us with much in return. With concept staging, Photoshop, and doctoring, we should never be too sure if the photo we're looking has any truth to it at all. I'd much rather have the whole picture, the just merely a snap shot. 

I'm still on the fence with the crash scene photo (here's the photo). Out of respect for the grieving family, I wouldn't have run the photo. I don't know these people, and neither do you. They never asked to be in the spotlight, so I wouldn't force them to be.


Ask yourself this question: let's assume you're the photo editor (or the editor-in-chief) of the Winnipeg Free Press. The same Dugald Road crash scene photo comes to your desk. But this time, the pained faces you see in the photo belong to someone you know. Maybe you're even related to them. Do you still run the photo?


Judging by the way the image appeared in the printed version of the WFP, a similar debate must have taken place within the confines of the editor's office.


The pressure on a photographer or photojournalist is huge. With all the variables that go into photography, a lot of good things have to fall into place for a photo to turn out. Couple that with trying to snap a photo on maybe one seconds notice, then I can see why some turn to photographic manipulation.