Hi guys and girls, Im new to this forum, actually discovered it 20 minutes ago while looking for HDR images. Anyways I wanted to start of with a introduction and a problem I have been faced with.

So anyways my name is Adam and I freelanced as a photographer/graphical artist in sweden where I was born. Now Im in Tokyo to study japanese.
So to my problem:

I got a job offering to go to Hiroshima and take various photographs for a local magazine. Among these images there was a photo on the Hiroshima Memorial Museum. However the weather was really bad and there were some really nasty buildings behind the main building itself so I though I would clean it up a little bit. But as I progressed I thought to myslef that maybe I've manipulated the photo too much. Actually I did not manipulate the building itself but more the surroundings and weather. So right now I dont know if its morally ok to delive these kinds of pictures or not. Where does the line go for you guys? What do you think. Too much? Im in limbo so any reply is greatly appreciated.

Here is a workflow video on how it was done and before and after:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltk_Eco_TNA

Nice to have met you all ^-^

//Adam

wow...really nice video...thaNKS for sharing...the result is nice and clean, but as you said it can be too much...this picture benefits for the lack of details in background...the sky could be better with a real nice cloudy sky witth vibrent colours...i learned much from your cloning and adding copyies from the grass over to the sign and framing in the peices were you didn't want the clone tool to touch other details...


Gerry

You absolutely did too much. Deleting some warnings signs and japanese guys is ok. changing colors, too. removing existing buildings is not. (my opinion!) what kind of magazine you worked for? :confused:

Hi,

... welcome to RetouchPRO to the new members!!! :pleased:

Adam,

Great video ... thank you so much for sharing!!!

I would agree with everything you have done with it if the retouching was done for yourself (or for a client who agreed to or asked for those drastic changes) .... but ... if this retouch was done as part of a photographic job, I have to agree with webhamsterz You absolutely did too much. Deleting some warnings signs and japanese guys is ok. changing colors, too. removing existing buildings is not. (my opinion!) ... my opinion too ... :)

What I found very interesting was the video. What software did you use to for creation and posting to a web site. Something I'd like to learn to do.

Thanky for putting that vid up, I'd personally put the buildings back in unless the mag tells you they want them out.


I've learnt a new skill from watching, thank you :):):)

Now... if you work that fast, you may consider not charging by the hour :wink:

I agree It needs some clouds some life in the sky... it's a little boring.

What did you use for the video?

Great video. Thanks for sharing and welcome to RetouchPRO. :-)

With all the recent "scandal" over fauxphotography and staged "news photos" coming out of the middle east, I'd hesitate to do more than adjust the sky color and overall lighting to correct for a cloudy day. Your technique is very good and the result does make a better picture, but it's not reality. If I were to see your retouch in a magazine and then visited the site myself, I would note the difference.

It would be like my experience at the Alamo. I had always seen renderings of the Alamo sitting on a hill in a vast expanse of meadow. When I visited it myself I was SO shocked and dissapointed that it actually sits right downtown in the middle of busy streets and high rise buildings. Intellectually, I know San Antonio had to grown to surround it over the years, but it was hard to reconcile my "vision" from reality.

I think I would find your retouch very acceptable if after cleaning up and correcting lighting etc, you then turned the piece into photo "art" I would find that acceptable because the "art" tells me that it is an interpretation and that you are not trying to present reality.

I would first of all delivered the photos to the magazine the way they were shot. Perhaps some minor retouching. You could put the Editor or the magazine itself in a bad position if you were not up front with them. I agree though that the buildings in the background are distracting to the photo. Could you have shot it at a better angle or different lens to minimize the clutter? Deleting the people I think is perfectly acceptable.