Saw a post arguing that editing astro photos is 'cheating' - where do you stand?

I was scrolling through an Instagram thread yesterday and this guy kept saying that using Photoshop or stacking software takes away from the 'realness' of the photo. But like, isn't the camera already making adjustments? My girlfriend said it's no different than a chef using a food processor instead of chopping by hand. What do you all think? Do you edit your shots or try to keep them as raw as possible?

2 comments

2 Comments

alice_wilson733d ago

OH MAN this is such a tired argument, I remember having this exact fight with my uncle at Thanksgiving two years ago while he was literally using a filter on his phone camera to make his turkey look better. The thing is, even back in the film days people dodged and burned in the darkroom and nobody called Ansel Adams a cheater for that. Like, your camera sensor is already making a MILLION decisions about white balance and contrast before you even see the file, so where's the line really? I stack exposures sometimes for astrophotos because my camera just cannot capture the full dynamic range in one shot, and that's not cheating, that's just working WITH the limitations of the gear you have. It's like saying using a tripod is cheating because it helps keep the camera steady, it's ALL tools to get the final image you want.

aaronf401d ago

The camera sensor is already making a MILLION decisions" - THIS. People forget their camera is basically a tiny computer processing the image before they even see it. If computational photography is "cheating" then every modern camera is a cheater right out of the box.