If editing is cheating, why do pros tell you to shoot RAW?

[@brian-beeler]

Ralph does such a good job on his videos. They're informative, have lots of good content with very little filler and are well shot and edited. Hopefully YT's recommendation algorithms will soon push more subscribers his way because he deserves it. Thanks for the quality work Ralph.

[@HyunRalphJeong]

Brian Beeler haha thank you that means a lot. Cheers!

[@RudyVisuals]

I always cringe when people say editing is cheating. It's like saying is it cheating if an artist can paint new layers or if an actor and film crew can take multiple shots. I don't get why this is even a debate.

[@earlfenwick]

the guy who taught me how to edit gave me a rule of thumb that I pass on from time to time.: When you find an effect you like and it's just beginning to look cool, back it off two clicks. I think it's pretty good advice. It keeps you from going to far and mucking everything up. I remember a few minutes in 1992 when everyone thought posterization was cool!

[@HyunRalphJeong]

I never thought about it that way but that makes a lot of sense haha

[@dlee13]

If you don't want an edited image, shoot in RAW and export the image exactly as it is. That way you truly won't have an edited image. A JPEG is compressed and has been edited by the camera which can't edit as well as you, so if you think JPEG is a 'real' image then it isn't.

[@ayanchakraborty642]

There is no law… Editing is the most important aspect… A still picture will not perfectly depict a mood when the pic was taken… Editing helps to pop out the mood in the picture…

[@jaycoronado3441]

I hate plastic skin but sometimes it's what the client wants. For personal work, if there is a mole or scar, I always ask the model if she would like me to edit it out or leave it in. I heard another photography say a good rule. If the blemish or mark will be gone in two or three weeks, it is safe to edit out.

[@feedmeimei]

I'm definitely team editing! My photos would be awful without editing as would many others LOL. Thanks for all the info! Cool to hear your perspective.

[@peterkwakman7440]

I think we all do it, i certainly have in me early digital days, even now i slight sharpness, but as Huyn pointed out that our eyes see better than the camera, erm so it does lie ! HEE

[@AlliandWill]

Great video of an interesting topic! You can't get something more subjective than art. For me, I think it comes down to just creating what we enjoy to create; it's videos for us and sometimes we color correct too much maybe, or sometimes not enough, sometimes we could have spent more time, or we spent too much time, but at the end of the day, it's our creative work and we put it out into the world, so whatever, we're happy either way to just be creating.

[@KimchiAndBeansVideos]

As content creators, I do think we edit the reality to some extent. For starters, we choose to focus on certain things, whether on our videos or photos. We also want our footage or photos to be appealing to our audience so we try to color correct or make the images look as clean as possible. If we're shooting things for the family, then we don't care for those filters as much. We're less Ok with people who edit photos so much that the person looks different or it's misleading in some way. Great video!

[@angelo8376]

I went to photography school in the early 80's. My special skill was manipulating b&w images with different chemical concoctions. My go-to was a variation of the original Dr. Beers film developer. Ansel Adams, Minor White, Jerry Uelsmann and a host of photographers did this too. Also the Zone system for color and b&w gave you the ability to heavily alter an image. Just my two cents 😁

[@johnbhome2]

It was brave of you to choose this topic. The only comment I would make is that more times than not less is more.

[@JoeBuiDesertTrippin]

You make a great point Ralph. Actually, you make a LOT of great points. Couldn't agree with you more, on all levels.

[@mariaandbryan]

What a nice subject to talk about... before I hear your thoughts, I would say, I prefer not to add things that aren't part of the photo. But I do like enhancing photos. Especially because sometimes when I shoot I don't have all the best settings so the post-production helps me get the best of that photo. Now let's see what your thoughts are

[@MattsMegabites]

My ex gf used to edit all the time... wait...

[@spandsbab]

For me, as long as i get what i wanted from my photo whether edited or not, i dont care what others say. If i get paid to do photos a particular way then that is different, but for my pleasure, as long as i dont get bored with my work then i'm happy

[@megane_mark]

Love your videos mate great work and well delivered

[@nickandhelmi]

Its a two way argument - i edit because i like certain colour

[@paololevy]

I dont think its cheating unless your doing photoshop. I personally dont do much photoshop just lightroom. For me its just enhancing a photo that is already beautiful and shooting Raw is the best way to have more details haha. Same with me too i think everyone is different when it comes how u edit your photos and i really dont think there is a right or wrong on how to edit becoz if thats how the photographer wants her/his photos to come out then that is right for him haha.😊 Great topic Ralph.👍👍

[@utai4571]

i always like this type of video, altough irl i tend to walk away from ANY of these type of debates because it has no end. I always say that photography debates are exactly the same i had when i was making music but it's true, when i was making music some people told me i didn't make real music because i was editing too much, using effects, and the biggest one is if you use a virtual instrument and a keyboard ... oh boy you're in for a wild ride of purists telling you that now any dumbass can make music and that the beatles were only the best in the world and that tape sounds better and bla bla bla bla bla , photography is the same, it brings the same fun, the same debates, i just throw away the debates and enjoy the fun!

[@Ranblv]

Optimizing a photo is editing. replacing the sky or adding new things is not editing. cheating is a strong word. it's just not photography it's graphic design.

[@WhoIsSerafin]

Ran Bar-Levi I like that.

[@loriskaufmann9575]

If you say you do art, you can do whatever you want, if you say you do photographing I wouldn't replace the sky

[@ghostofgw7781]

Well said Sir. Who define what best ,whats good or wrong .

[@Klovicevic]

Being able (and to know how) to edit a photo is to take the game to a whole new level.

[@MrRensan404]

Everything in moderation is okay. You gave a great analysis, you pointed out the good and bad of both sides in the debate about editing.

[@WhoIsSerafin]

I despise editing, I try to make it all in camera and practice to make the best shot. The less time I have to be editing the better and that’s why I purposely do my editing on a tablet for my street photography. As for everyone else do what you enjoy.

[@TheCanadianBubba]

Great topic Hyun, and nice to hear you be open to each individuals interpretation of what their work is.

[@dps6198]

Editing software is not a substitute for talent. If you want to be a better photographer learn the basics of photography; aperture, shutter speed, lighting, composition, etc. If you take time and actually learn these basics you will become a much better photographer and you'll spend less time in front of a computer. Look at the photos of Vivian Maier. She learned the basics of photography and her images are amazing. She used a medium format Rolleiflex TLR back in the day way before DSLR or computers. Look at the spectacular images that were taken before digital cameras and editing software came out to see what's possible. If you spend more time in front of a computer fixing your photos than taking them are a very poor photographer.

[@jaaycesholiday388]

Agree. I always try to get it right on camera first.

[@LifetimeTravelmates]

good topic. if we agree that photography is an art, then we might agree that there are no rules. just like a painter can move from using some specific materials no others, and evolve using materials as techniques and products develop, same goes with photography. photo editing got a big push with digital photography and "democratized" (i mean, got affordable to everybody) and just let us all be artists just like a kid can go buy some watercolors and create art. so, editing is not cheating, is just making the photos more your style or personal. all in all, i think we are pretty much on the same page ;) that being said...there is some filters and techniques that one can get tired of seeing (specially nowadays on social media...) the moment those techniques are applied to all works, I think it all becomes less fun, less creative and more "industrial". all those "lightroom presets" are some of the most boring things ever created surrounding digital photography. what about the fun of editing oneself, tweaking here and there until you are getting the result you had in your mind?

[@VibeGuyAndy]

I tend to liken editing photos to editing movies. We have a vision for a photo and, for some people, editing helps them reach that vision. I think the reason people debate so much about editing is cause it may be seen as taking away that organic aspect of a photo, as we are using computers to enhance it.

[@FoodandFootprints]

Very interesting topic here! Can apply to video editing as well.

[@bfs5113]

First, pros only state their personal opinions based on their comfort zones or experiences. Recommending to use RAW is like preferring to use negative/slide instead of the Polaroid, shot with a Polaroid Back, since there is more information to work with. Only certain genres or type of photos may require limited or no editing, such as photo for government documents, photojournalism, forensic, for competitions, etc. Otherwise, there is a thing called Artistic License. We know that in the past, HCB didn't even like to crop his images while Ansel Adams & Fan Ho did extensive darkroom work. In fact, cheating starts from makeup, plastic surgery, high heels, etc. 😊

[@dementegg]

I had taken a gorgeous photo of my wife and daughter. And sadly I didn't had enough time to focus longer, so it had some blurring and the color was a little off. So I took it to LR and cleaned it up, went with BLK n WHT, pull r the highlights and played with the shadows and contrast and saved it and it's perhaps my favorite pic of them.

[@HyunRalphJeong]

I have many photos like that. We are all humans and we make mistakes and cameras do too.

[@anthonyharris955]

Photography is a creative medium. You can do what ever you want to your images.

[@realitylicker]

Every magazine ever uses edited images, even the photography magazines.

[@Revolution-tl5wo]

Thank you for all your content, your channel has been really great. *Question,* if I'm just practicing my skills and getting to know my different lenses, would shooting in JPEG force me to be a more accurate photographer on site? I don't want to over-rely on editing, but at the same time I get some practice shots where I love the composition and artistry and would like to fine-tune the image later on, but can't since I've been shooting in JPEG. At the same time, hundreds of these shots are throwaways. I'm never sure which are which til I see them on a computer screen. Even though I'm shooting on an older crop sensor camera, I've invested in pretty good glass- not topline glass, but not kit lenses either, and the widest apertures I could buy (I have two f/1.4 lenses and a continuous aperture f/2.8 zoom). Please advise, thanks!

[@HyunRalphJeong]

Thanks for your comment. If you're not sure, I'd always shoot both. Storage is pretty cheap nowadays, and sometimes I go through my old photos and find shots that I didn't think were great before, or try new technics that I learned or wasn't possible before. And being "accurate" is not so much about getting the "correct" exposure and etc., it's about developing your own style and getting the shots YOU want. And as you edit your photos, you may also discover some different ways to shoot. Maybe you like how the certain things look when you over/under-expose your images, maybe cropping your images give you more ideas of how to compose your shots next time. And once you get to a level where you are confident enough you can get the shots you desire in different situations, maybe you can start shooting just jpegs if you think raw files aren't necessary. Hope this helps.

[@Revolution-tl5wo]

@@HyunRalphJeong Yeah, it does, thanks for responding. I wasn't sure you'd even see my comment this long after you uploaded the video. To your 2nd point about prioritizing getting the shots YOU want, this is really helpful. I've been finding that after watching tons and tons of lens reviews and photography tutorials about things like: lenses being too soft at different focal lengths or in certain parts of images; chromatic aberrations; ISO and other noise; blown out highlights; lens flare; shadows in the wrong places; not sharp enough; good vs. bad cropping etc. I'm now so self-conscious about whether something is going to be objectively "good" according to these external standards of what makes good and bad photography. I have photos I've made back in 2005 on a point-and-shoot while traveling that I still love, even though it now irritates me when I look at them and see how poor quality the gear was. Even more, I have photos I took on a Nikon D3100 with kit zoom lenses that I'm still in love with, but again the image quality bugs me. Unfortunately, they're all JPEGs so I can't do much with them, otherwise some of these I'd really love to blow up and put on canvas. I find that I like lens flare and ghosting in certain instances because of the dreamlike feel it gives. I think underexposure ups the moodiness of a look. And I worry people won't think these images are "good" even though I like them, or want to pay me for my work because of it. I ALSO reaaaaaallly like intense, saturated color but all the editing tutorials are scoffing at that now; especially with travel and landscape stuff. Do you mind elaborating on this point, or maybe you've done a video on it? After all, famous photographers that are still legends, like Annie Leibowitz and Ansel Adams shot on equipment far less sophisticated. Leibowitz' images are all super-soft, sometimes grainy, and often look almost like they were shot on a Polaroid, but still compelling. So I guess my question is, how much emphasis do we put on a) technique, b) gear and lens quality; c) investing in accessories (like lighting setups, reflectors, etc) and how much emphasis do we put on just creating images that we like? What determines taste? Is it mostly subjective or an objective set of standards? How does this impact our marketability for paid work vs. just shooting for pleasure? Do clients even notice things like the chromatic aberration that lens reviewers nitpick at when they zoom way in to an image? Finally, how to stop ourselves from obsessing over buying and upgrading gear and insight-crunching tutorials and get out there and take risks? Thanks, Ralph!! --For reference, I most enjoy shooting street, candid portraits, and travel photography, but since I'm not traveling right now I want to work more on portraiture and capturing ordinary things in extraordinary ways to develop my photographic eye. Shooting on a crop sensor Canon body with Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and 50 mm f/1.4 Art lenses, Tamron 11-50mm f/2.8, and the Canon 18-135mm 4/3.5-5.6. I *definitely* cannot afford to start over with mirrorless...

[@HyunRalphJeong]

@@Revolution-tl5wo As long as the technique is there, meaning as long as you get the focus right, the composition is decent, and you know how to use light, most people won't care about the difference in sharpness or bokeh, etc. Spending some money is obviously necessary so you can try different things and learn their effects, but other than that, it's mostly for the photographer's own satisfaction, not the clients' needs. Sure, some types of photography do require extra sharpness and resolution, but the difference in lenses or cameras nowadays are almost impossible to notice unless you see them closely side by side. When it comes to how to edit, to understand what is subjective, you just have to look at a lot of other examples, trends, and historic contexts. Maybe something that we weren't supposed to do 10 years ago is "cool" now, or the other way around because it's so overdone. Grainy photos were bad before, but film grain is cool now so many people are shooting film again, even professionally. At the end of the day, what matters the most is your own intention. What mood or message are you trying to express through your images? That's why you have to define your style first, and then get the gear that will make your job easier. You can't just rely on your best gear to set yourself apart from the rest because that means anybody with the same gear can do the same or better.

[@PeterandYen]

I think honestly people just do what you like it's no big deal 😂 people wanna debate everything these days

[@PogiboyProductions]

Good question! Maybe they want to fix an error on a photo.. or make the photo pop out more. I don't think it's cheating, but you'll get a good debate out of it 🙂

[@CheensCreationsUK]

Interesting topic. Thanks for sharing.

[@jimtipton8888]

Photo editing is a form of therapy. I shot to edit.

[@michaeldidomenico7]

I do edit mine, but I do my best to make light changes, without making it look like an animated photo

[@TheHungryBlackPanda]

I think true cheating would be paying/ buying rights to the photos ..then saying you you took it yourself.. Haha. I wouldnt think editing your pic is cheating.. Its just a simple exhancement correction to make it better.. Great reason behind this tho!!

[@theemunkbrown]

I’ve never heard this argument before, but I have always been against editing people. I would argue the use of other photographers Lightroom presets as opposed to developing your own look and style.

[@alolkoydesigns]

I edit relatively heavily because it gives me the luxury of owning more affordable cameras. With 30 years of graphic design under my belt I'm very comfortable with the process.

[@sjplato]

Are there any free photo editing programs you would recommend?

[@MattsMegabites]

I know quite a few people that edit photos to make them look nothing like the original. Hard to say if that makes them a good photographer or just a good editor.

[@HyunRalphJeong]

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of that but you could also say the same for a lot of hollywood movies as well where very little of what you see is actually shot on camera. Most people won't care about them being real but there are also people who still appreciate the old ways.

[@vianditya]

Why not both?

[@coldfiresamurai6333]

So you can't be both?

[@MattsMegabites]

@@coldfiresamurai6333 you can absolutely be both. Just harder to distinguish

[@loriskaufmann9575]

It makes a good artist I would say

[@kryo4412]

Photo editing is still a part of photography.. Things like double exposure were invented ages ago, and now that you're doing it on a screen it isn't the same? Yes, editing and photography are two separate things. But if you're the one taking the picture, and editing it to create a new scene, I would not call it "Cheating". Who cares how the photo was processed? It's an artistic expression, originating from a camera. Editing allows us to take pictures of places in our world, and bring the viewer to a whole new universe. That's not cheating. That's skill.

[@axley8652]

Art is a personal taste and should not feel like it has restraints. People that say its not real photography I guess want to be purists but even back in the film days people would edit photos to get the image they want. Not sure what the big fuss is.

[@LunaSmithArt]

💙 Awesome talk, editing photos is very useful 💙 Great video 👌 Big Like 👌

[@he4dhuNTeR2311]

Some people do overkill in post processing in my opinion. Mostly less is more. Composing is real cheating.

[@nickandhelmi]

But i like ur edit ralph

[@jeffchastain2977]

Because editing is not cheating. The chip in your camera is editing before you even trip the shutter. Everyone edits. The "editing is cheating" crew just dont know how to do it properly. Jealousy is ugly.

[@peterkwakman7440]

To this, your eyes do not lie, but the camera ?

[@peterkwakman7440]

My first reaction was dark rooms, and you hit it early on, then you went down the 9 yards, Do we not by itself alter reality with ISO, DEPTH OF FIELD, F STOP, our eyes are the shutter, and our brains are the perfect sensor, or ASA film speed...HEE, but yes i agree, btw if one uses auto mode, then manipulation is required...........RUBBISH mode

[@juchuva]

thank you for letting us watch this for free

[@spandsbab]

Also, the person who said editing is cheating probably shoots with their favorite simulation on lol... no editing is funny, it's like saying create but dont be creative

[@Enrique-the-photographer]

Great point of view, I agree with you so much that I am going to unsubscribe from your channel just so that I can subscribe again. LOL

[@nickandhelmi]

Its not cheating! But hacking hahah 🤪

[@PeaceStudioNepal]

good

[@apnipathshala5024]

Please Sapoort kar diya hai sub.. Please Sapoort brother