It takes a lot of time and effort to organize, share, and keep track of photographs. If you are like me, then you live in the digital world; keeping track of and organizing them can be laborious, but editing is one level of hell Dante completely forgot to write about.
I live in this hell because I have a problem. I have never enjoyed looking at photos of myself, and I’m sure that I’m not alone in this regard. This insecurity has led me to new heights—most recently—in editing some of the photos where I appear hideously disfigured.
Through my editing efforts, I have learned that I have a self-image issue, but I have also learned a number of software techniques. I’m able to clear red eye and soften complexions. I’m also able to whiten teeth and correct skin tone, crop, dust, stamp, filter, erase, merge, select (both magically and pixely), sign, and mark. Suffice to say, the list holds more to it than these techniques alone.
The list does have its icing though, and that icing is knowing that one technique learned doesn’t work with every image or every individual inside an image. Here is where the gates of hell open to suck the patience out of me, because one technique learned leads to another, then another, then another, then multiple combinations.
It’s hard to avoid this because I take a lot of photos. I want them to look good, and I am usually not the only person I will correct while editing a photo. If I find red eye on all the inhabitants of the image then I correct all the red eye. If most have an orange skin tone, I correct everyone’s skin tone. Each inhabitant is unique, and each takes its own amount of time and effort.
All of this trial and tribulation is the modern version of keeping up appearances. It is a way to insure that we are seen by the stranger and our friends in the best possible way. Call it superficial, call it fake, but don’t judge more harshly than that. In the digital age, editing requires time, but it still existed even in the older, paper age. Our grandparents were just as worried about their high school photos as we are about those we place on the internet.
Copyright © Tyler Gant 2009
