10/31/2023
Do you ever wonder if the images you are seeing are actually anything close to what is really out there? The reality is that cameras, even the ones on our phones, have the ability to gather light and create high dynamic range shots like never before, but light and color range are expected in today's modern digital photography world.
What you might not expect is a completely different sky or a complete change in colors. Fall colors are probably one of the easiest to manipulate, especially with the newest editing software. Every year around this time, since I have shot thousands of Holy Hill images, I get asked if I have seen the colors another photographer captured on a certain day because they were just amazing. This is usually followed by, "You should have been out there."
Each photographer edits their images in a certain way. When I know a photographer well, I can usually identify images they have shot without knowing it was them. We sort of have a fingerprint. If you ever wonder if what you are seeing is real (or at least not a composite), check out the rest of their work. If they tend to use fake skies, then you'll sometimes see the same sky repeated in multiple photos, or you might notice that every single shot has an absolutely epic sky, often perfectly framing the subject.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing any of this in your photography, but it can be disingenuous, in my opinion, if your audience is not aware. Not all landscape photographers would agree with me, and it's okay if they don't. I feel that if fewer people would like a shot you share, if they knew you completely changed out certain important elements, then you might have an obligation to share that with them. They may then still really love the image; it just might be for a slightly different reason.
Here is what Holy Hill might have looked like last week if I took some digital liberties. In this case, I added a lot more red and included a new sky.
Thanks for looking at my fantasy pic!
Holy Hill Dream Scape
Holy Hill
10/23/23
Model: DJI Mavic 2 Pro
Lens:28mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f4.5
Shutter: 1/100
Program: Manual
White Balance.: AUTO
Quality: RAW
Edited in Lightroom and Photoshop