Manipulating digital photos - revised
04/10/22 17:08
WHY SOME MANIPULATION OF DIGITAL PHOTOS SHOULD BE ALLOWED … EVEN EXPECTED
Digital photography is now the standard in construction documentation but, because digital photos can be altered, specs frequently contain a clause that prohibits any and all software manipulation. The intent - to ensure that photos show the true state of progress and site conditions - is unquestionable. Everyone agrees that the content of a digital photo must never be altered. But, a clause that prohibits all manipulation prevents photographers from delivering photos that exhibit the detail you want and need.
In my opinion (20+ years in the making) prohibiting non-destructive manipulations encourages mediocrity and prevents photographers from delivering professional-quality photos. Handled professionally, non-destructive manipulations are easy to do and improve the quality of a photo without altering the factual content; that should be the goal.
How digital photos are manipulated
All digital photos are made up of tiny discreet "picture elements" that we call pixels. Pixels can be manipulated in a couple of ways; "Destructive" and "non-Destructive."
• Destructive manipulations move, create or delete pixels and change the actual content of the photo. In doing so, they falsify the photographic record and must be avoided entirely. The "any-and-all" prohibition should only target "destructive" manipulations.
• Non-Destructive manipulations adjust the values of original pixels and can improve the clarity of a photo without affecting its content. They can enhance detail in shadow areas while preserving detail in the brightest areas of a photo … all without changing the content. Using non-destructive methods, a professional photographer can:
• adjust the exposure (light-dark)
• adjust the contrast
• adjust the color
• straighten vertical elements and the horizon
• minimize lens distortion
Lens distortion is unavoidably introduced into almost every photo because there is no such thing as a perfect lens. And, since we're rendering a 3-dimensional scene in two dimensions, something has to give. These common types of distortion can be adjusted quite simply … and "non-destructively" … with the proper software:
• Skewed horizons that occur when a camera is not level.
• Perspective distortion (the "keystone" effect) occurs when the camera is pointed sharply upward (or downward), especially when using a wide-angle lens. The keystone effect causes vertical lines (like the walls of a building) to skew inward (or outward).
• Wide-angle lenses can cause steel columns, beams, door frames, etc. to curve or bow. If the distortion is not corrected straight objects will appear curved the photo, and that is misleading.
A professional photographer can produce an image that gives a truer representation of reality than the camera might have captured. If there is ever any question about the original content of an image, the original image … as recorded by the camera, without any manipulation … should be available from the photographer.
Digital photography is now the standard in construction documentation but, because digital photos can be altered, specs frequently contain a clause that prohibits any and all software manipulation. The intent - to ensure that photos show the true state of progress and site conditions - is unquestionable. Everyone agrees that the content of a digital photo must never be altered. But, a clause that prohibits all manipulation prevents photographers from delivering photos that exhibit the detail you want and need.
In my opinion (20+ years in the making) prohibiting non-destructive manipulations encourages mediocrity and prevents photographers from delivering professional-quality photos. Handled professionally, non-destructive manipulations are easy to do and improve the quality of a photo without altering the factual content; that should be the goal.
How digital photos are manipulated
All digital photos are made up of tiny discreet "picture elements" that we call pixels. Pixels can be manipulated in a couple of ways; "Destructive" and "non-Destructive."
• Destructive manipulations move, create or delete pixels and change the actual content of the photo. In doing so, they falsify the photographic record and must be avoided entirely. The "any-and-all" prohibition should only target "destructive" manipulations.
• Non-Destructive manipulations adjust the values of original pixels and can improve the clarity of a photo without affecting its content. They can enhance detail in shadow areas while preserving detail in the brightest areas of a photo … all without changing the content. Using non-destructive methods, a professional photographer can:
• adjust the exposure (light-dark)
• adjust the contrast
• adjust the color
• straighten vertical elements and the horizon
• minimize lens distortion
Lens distortion is unavoidably introduced into almost every photo because there is no such thing as a perfect lens. And, since we're rendering a 3-dimensional scene in two dimensions, something has to give. These common types of distortion can be adjusted quite simply … and "non-destructively" … with the proper software:
• Skewed horizons that occur when a camera is not level.
• Perspective distortion (the "keystone" effect) occurs when the camera is pointed sharply upward (or downward), especially when using a wide-angle lens. The keystone effect causes vertical lines (like the walls of a building) to skew inward (or outward).
• Wide-angle lenses can cause steel columns, beams, door frames, etc. to curve or bow. If the distortion is not corrected straight objects will appear curved the photo, and that is misleading.
A professional photographer can produce an image that gives a truer representation of reality than the camera might have captured. If there is ever any question about the original content of an image, the original image … as recorded by the camera, without any manipulation … should be available from the photographer.