This is my first post from Vancouver! Although still without Photoshop, I have been taking my camera out and about a bit more lately, you can check the Flickr link above for a few sneak peeks.

So I’ve had the usual midsummer run of computer troubles. This means that I lost all my manipulations of the Major Arcana for my Tarot project. I still have the RAW files, not to fret. Since I am planning to move to Vancouver in the fall, I’ve had to reconsider my Fredericton Faces Tarot. The new plan is to release a bound collection of the Trumps and a limited edition set of just the Major Arcana. Everything works out the way it’s supposed to.

Winnipeg

And I recently returned from a trip to Winnipeg. Everything you’ve heard is true. The landscape is flat, flat, flat . . . which gives the sky a sense of overpowering presence and makes the sunsets last forever. I would have liked to stay longer and take more snaps for your viewing pleasure, but such is life.

And in case you don’t believe the rumours, I snapped a pic of the flag flying in front of City Hall.

Cheers!

I still have spots available for summer and fall wedding shoots. Drop me a line if you’ve yet to find a photographer and would like to see more of my wedding-related portfolio.

. . . but only one person comes in.

As a photographer (or photographeuse, if you prefer ) who works exclusively in the digital medium, sans film, it seems like there’s an industry expectation to have some basic photo retouching and editing capabilities. So I learned. It’s not much different from dark room magic that photographers have been doing for years. You can dodge, burn, add filters, desaturate, stack exposures, etc.

It’s also handy to remove blemishes, change the lighting effects, adjust the contrast, remove unwanted objects from the frame, change backgrounds, or almost anything you could possibly imagine.

So where do you draw the line? The skills needed in design are similar to the basic skills digital photographers are expected to have. And clients know this. They want it.

There’s a local photographer I talk to who offers classes in Photoshop at a premium rate. He spends time photoshopping each image he publishes. Sometimes a great deal of time and photo manipulation are put into his pieces.

And then there are two friends of mine who were at NBCCD for photography. Their published works are almost exclusively photo manipulation.

But all three call themselves photographers. Not “visual artists” or “digital renderers” or anything else. Photographers.

Most courses and programs of study in photography now offer some photo manipulation training. NBCC and CfA&T are both offering digital photography courses that teach you how to create complicated pieces of “digital art.” You might think by my tone that I disapprove of this quasi-interdisciplinary approach to art, but that is not the case.  I am in full support of people expanding their skill set and pushing the envelope (as well as the limits of definitions) in their chosen craft.

But it’s not me. I have fun creating digital art. I have fun taking the raw photographs that become digital art. But I am trying to get it all into the capture - lighting, focal length, contrast, and saturation are all in the set dressing, the environment, and the settings on my camera.  Sometimes I feel like I should have been using a Polaroid.

It feels like a matter of semantics, but I’m interested to know your thoughts. Which is which?

Happy ponderings

-Mae