Due to sites like Photoshop Disasters and many successful instances of editing decisions, the use of Adobe image software has become something of a punchline. However, Photoshop itself is not the issue; it is how the application is used and by whom. For professional photographers, Photoshop is not about warping toilet mirror selfies; it is about producing beautiful photos with subtle (and occasionally not-so-subtle) adjustments after the fact.
Getting it right in-camera is the dream, certainly – but Photoshop has enabled leading photographers to expand their skills and extend the boundaries of photography. With the advent of Photoshop, it felt as though “the world opened up to us as photographers,” says food photographer Andrew Scrivani. “It eliminated the difference between digital and film.”
“Photoshop is a tool I use every day,” he says, calling it “another tool in your lighting kit.” Neutrally-lit photographs can be edited in a vast assortment of ways, from color correction to shadow accents, turning fairly ordinary images into strongly detailed ones. Besides enhancing and adjusting photos, Photoshop Hall of Famer Dave Cross says the program can also be seen as a way to expand the horizons of photography.
“We’re using the original, you know, ‘Do it right in. Fix it later in Photoshop’,” he said in an interview with Tamara Lackey, “and I kind of raised my hand and said, ‘I think you’re missing a middle component, which benefits from Photoshop to do things that you can’t do in-camera alone.'”
Fashion and portrait photographer Lindsay Adler agrees. “Sometimes I have these grand ideas. But I don’t have a lot of budget. So how do I make that become a reality? But what I can do, is become more resourceful with Photoshop.”