How photoshop saved the day!!

Over the years I have been able to see first hand how effective and critical a tool photoshop can be. Now, that is not to say that I try to make up for poor photography habits with a whole bunch of post-processing. I try really hard to have a good eye on site to spot potential items that will later have to be removed digitally, and of course I know the technical aspects of lighting/composing a shot in camera. However photoshop can certainly help, to enhance or correct images where certain factors just couldn't be avoided.

Here are 4 stories of triumph! [use the slider over each image to see the before and after edits]

First ... a creative that never really .. popped! This was a project I set up many years ago that involved quite a lot of effort and collaboration to set up, but the final product , well , left a lot to be desired. The makeup application was a little boring and the model had facial piercings which I thought would add to the look but then later decided it detracted.

For this equine portrait, the dad was enlisted to help still a fidgety horse, as a safety precaution. It saved me from having a shot of a frisky pony dumping it's 2 riders but it also sort of ruined what otherwise would have been a lovely image.

This shot is an example of HDR , which isn't available in-camera on my Canon 50D. I decided to try it out in post-processing to see what sort of look I would achieve. These sorts of adjustments are very much analogous to what we would do in the old days when selecting a film to use, choosing the processing method, and perhaps making and developing the print. For these sorts of adjustments, Photoshop is a thoroughly legitimate choice.

Finally this large family portrait grouping didn't work for me as the dad and his wee daughter were just too far outside to my liking. So I digitally shuffled them closer to the group, removed a distracting pair of sunglasses from grand-dad and then adjusted lighting and noise.