Disneyworld Before and After

Since the advent of photography, photographers have been enhancing photographs with a little bit of "post-processing". Whether this post processing is done with chemicals in a film darkroom or digitally in the digital darkroom, a large part of the art of photography, in my opinion, lies in the ability to infuse that extra little bit of magic into an image after it has been captured.

Photo credit: MU Photography

I am someone who has always been interested in this side of the art of photography, even when it was just me and chemicals in a wee little "closet darkroom" (probably totally unsafe) just out of high school. I love post-processing and am no longer ashamed to say so. I love that little extra bit of "je ne sais quoi" that it brings to an image after it is immortalized in the camera. For example, take the image above; a sweet little moment captured fleetingly on a recent trip to Disneyworld. My little guy looking up at Cinderella Castle for the first time. Now... as Disney is always striving to build the most magic possible into their parks, there were, of course, the almost ever-present cranes in the image, along with some ill-timed pedestrians (yes, there are others that also want to enjoy Disney at the same time as us, imagine!?). Because of the beauty of post-processing I was able to take this snapshot image and turn it into this:

Photo credit: MU Photography

Yes, a wee little way to add Disney magic to your photographs. The pedestrians are gone and the cranes are gone too, focusing on the magic of a 5-year old experiencing the magic. Some might say that this image more appropriately captures the feelings experienced at Disneyworld, others may say that it doesn't represent exactly what was going on. I am one to lean towards the side of memory and feeling, as in my mind a photograph is more about feeling rather than reality as soon as you choose to focus on one element in a frame vs. another. For me, photography is all about capturing memories and emotions to preserve them for years to come.

What do you think? Do you think it's better to capture the feeling of the Disney magic or better to show, as best as possible, how it physically was?

Oh, and if you'd like to learn a bit more about post-processing for "real people", Yummy Mummy Photography offers mentoring or home photography parties specific to post-processing of images using Corel PaintShop Pro (yes, a photo editing program that actually makes sense for the average bear, in my opinion ;)

Don't forget to leave some love below and offer your opinion on this topic. There are many varied views on this topic, and I'd love to hear yours :)