Didn’t want to highjack the other thread. I’ll start.
We do not photo shop our family photos. They are what they are. It’s so easy to just take a series of pics, choose the best one and delete the rest.
I will say…the first Christmas DH and I were together, he had to work on Dec 26 at 8 in the morning, so we were unable to go to his parents’ home for Christmas and for him…that was the first time. He was also the only offspring who didn’t show up. A family picture was taken, and of course, he was not in it (first time he was missing). For years this was brought up…I wish they had just photoshopped him into the picture.
I mean, I guess it depends what you consider photoshopping. If it’s use filters, red-eye remover, change lighting - sure we do that on occasion. Especially for posting on Instagram.
Unless you are talking about formal or staged family photos. I’m just talking “photos of the family”. LOL. We don’t/haven’t done staged family photos like with a photographer in decades.
I have never photoshopped photos. DH did once…recently. My MIL had her 90th bday last month and her eyes were closed in almost every photo. DH googled how to address it and “fixed” her eyes before sending photos out to the rest of the family.
I don’t post on FB or Instagram. I only got an account on each when my kids got them a long time ago.
I haven’t done anything with people–adding, removing, etc. but I do have a pretty neat phone app that removes things like phone lines or other small distractions from photos. It’s called Retouch (it’s now a subscription model unfortunately although I get to keep the features I already have for free). I used to have Photoshop and had great fun with it removing /changing backgrounds/adjusting lighting etc but never got super good with it. I did do some “artsy” photos that I turned into Christmas cards–I added Santa in his Sleigh crossing the moon in the sky in a Key West photo I had taken. Fun stuff!
It’s so easy today to adjust photos just using your phone apps–lighting, contrast, filters, cropping etc., retouching, blurring. Those used to be basic photoshop functions that now almost everyone has at their fingertips. I don’t think anything of it. In the old days all that magic was in the darkroom–now it’s on your computer. The trick is you still need the best photo you can take to get a decent end product.
Definitely no. I photoshop funny photos here at work, and they are so terrible looking. No way do I have the talent to do anything for real.
However… a few years ago, my parents took us to Europe. Older S was not able to stay for the whole 2.5 weeks and missed our time in Rome. Younger S helped us out with our family photo in the Coliseum. Younger S took a picture of Older S and inserted him into the pic. A picture where Older S, on a dare, wore a white Speedo and posed Superhero style on the beach in Barcelona. The picture is hysterical! I put it in the Xmas letter (with an explanation). We made an ornament out of it. We randomly send it to each other from time to time. I even blew it up and hung it at work on my wall. So many people would see it and ask me “Who’s the Italian guy in your picture?!” One of my favorites pictures of all time.
My mom has been altering family photos since I was a kid. She will cut and paste (I’m talking about actual scissors and glue… ), draw on the photos, use white out, make color copies, paint on them, add cut out bits from a magazine… you name it. There is absolutely nothing my mom will not do to a family photo.
Of course once my mom found out about photoshop… the sky’s the limit
Anyway, in our family there is nothing sacred about the virgin photo!
I guess I don’t even know what photoshop is?? Is it an app? Software? Lol. So, obviously, I do not.
I sometimes increase the exposure level on my phone before taking a picture. After the fact, I will use that magic wand automatic edit thingie and crop.
My college roommate is really good at photoshop. I have sent her photos and had her blur the background or remove photobombers. But, that’s about it.
I Photoshop my photos (except ironically the ones I’ve uploaded to “Photos You’d Like to Share” thread).
I’m not much of a photographer so the digital age has been wonderful. On vacation I take easily 3x the photos I keep. Then back home I go thru and discard ruthlessly. Of those I keep Photoshop Elements is great for adding light to underexposed areas, straightening out tilted photos, smoothing texture a bit on portraits, remove haze, removing a pole growing out of someone’s head since they stood in front of it, blurring the background a bit on portraits, etc. Once or twice I’ve used the tools to change the sky from overcast to something nicer. As a last step I use this great plugin to Photoshop called Noiseware that removes noise and sharpens pictures; it has different presets for landscape, portraits, low-light shots, etc. Skilled Photoshop users can do much more of course but I try to spend a minute or less on most pictures, just some fixups.
Many years ago I photoshopped my brother into a family picture when we were (mostly) all together, except he was on deployment with the Navy. I thought it was cringe worthy. But it made my mom happy.
I did graphics for organizations with group pictures. It was a nightmare to get everyone’s eyes open. Photoshop to the rescue! So much easier now. Also used programs like Portrait Pro, which is digital cosmetic surgery.
I’m retired and only work for nonprofits now (read: free), but it’s fun to keep up with advances in the industry. No one is going to look at my work with a microscope.
Ok, someone told me to always put new BF/GF at the end (side) when taking group pictures in case you need to crop them out at some point. I wish I had thought of that with few of my kids’ BFs.
), draw on the photos, use white out, make color copies, paint on them, add cut out bits from a magazine… you name it. There is absolutely nothing my mom will not do to a family photo.
