Is Editing Photos Cheating? Well Is It? Well What Do You Think?
Editing photos is not cheating. Every digital photo that you see has been edited in some way or another. Every JPEG photo has been edited in-camera. And that is a fact. To get the best out of a photo you need to edit it. So no editing photos is not cheating. It is just fine and we photographers do it all the time. But there is an exception to this which I will get on to.
Ok, that was the answer – so let me explain.
Hi and welcome to Episode 92 of the Photography Explained podcast.
I’m your host Rick, and in each episode I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 10 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details. What I tell you is based on my lifetime of photographic experience. And not Google.
You can listen to the episode here
Or you can read on - it’s entirely up you!
What is a digital photo?
A digital photo is created when light reaches the camera sensor and the camera converts that light into an image. So we start off with some form of editing just to create a photo, don’t we?
Ok – let's go a bit deeper. But not too deep.
JPEG
I explained what JPEG is in a previous episode. JPEG is just an image format.
A photo taken in the JPEG format though has been edited by the camera. This editing cannot be undone. And that is every JPEG. And I mean every JPEG. This includes editing the content of the photo and also compressing the file. And this little lot cannot be undone.
You can even select the style of JPEG image that your camera creates. So this is conscious editing of a photo which is accepted by everyone all over the planet.
RAW
RAW is another image format. If you look at an unedited RAW file it is flat, dull and uninteresting. So a RAW file needs editing. This is intentional. The camera records the maximum data in a scene for editing later.
And we know this and accept this with no problem.
RAW photos look so bad that the image you are looking at on your camera screen is actually a JPEG preview!
Photographers take photos in RAW knowing they will have to be edited. Another fact.
What about phone photos?
Well, an iPhone these days takes photos in the HEIC – High-Efficiency Image Format. What happened to the C at the end? Apple replaced JPEG with HEIC which gives smaller file sizes. HEIC files are compressed more, meaning that the files are smaller.
There is editing done when a photo is taken, such as the selection of the white balance, and all the other stuff that gives you the image that you see.
So yes phone photos are edited.
What do I do?
I take photos in RAW, process them in RAW and then export them out of Lightroom as JPEG files. Why do I do this? So clients can open the files, as JPEG is pretty much a universal format. You need specialist software such as Lightroom to open RAW files.
When is it cheating?
When you change something, add something or remove something and deceive someone with that end result.
I am not saying that all the amazing stuff that people do in Photoshop is cheating, but it depends on what you are doing with the photo, and what you are using it for.
Real Estate Photography
If I photographed a building for a real estate client and changed things such as making the building look bigger and a different colour, then this is not ok. And if I were to make the rooms inside look bigger, this is also not ok.
This is cheating – this is deceiving. It is deceiving the potential buyer of a building as the photo is not how it actually is.
Competitions
And if you entered a photo in a competition where the rules forbade removing things then this is also cheating. And if you were to be found out you would be thrown out of the competition.
Funky editing
I sometimes do funky editing of photos. I do not say that I have done so, but I do not claim that I have not – my work is my work after all. But I do not pass funky photos off as being what I saw. This is my personal creative work which is fine.
Photojournalism
Editing in photojournalism is a big no-no. End of. A big no-no.
The talky bit
Pretty much every photo has been edited to some degree or other. So it is not cheating.
As a professional photographer, I only issue photos to clients that I have edited. I have never issued a client with a photo that has not been edited. That is without exception.
Sure I use photos that I have taken on my phone that I have not edited myself, but my phone has already done some work to the photo.
And for the work that I do the last thing that I want someone to think when they look at a photo is that it has been “photoshopped”. For the work I do my photos have to be technically correct in every aspect, and look natural and realistic.
Editing photos is cheating when you do something disingenuous. When you use an edited and altered photo to deceive someone else, that is cheating.
As is saying that you have not edited a photo that has had editing done either in camera or by you the photographer.
Don’t cheat, the photography world is meant to be a happy, friendly honest world where we all get along and where we help each other and are nice.
What did you think? Let me know.
One line summary
Editing photos is not cheating. Deceiving people with edited photos is cheating. Simple. Done.
Related episodes
There aren’t any!
Next episode
Photography Explained Podcast Episode 93 – not sure as I have not written it yet due to a last-minute change of mind.
But I will add it to the show notes and blog post once I have decided what it is that I am going to talk about.
And here is the title - How Do You Hold A Camera Properly? This Is Very Important!
Shout out
This space needs filling so get in touch and get your shout-out on my ever-growing podcast.
I’m done
Thanks for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast.
A quick plug for me and what I do.
Well, why not? If I can't plug myself on my podcast, where can I?
You have found this podcast, so why not check out my splendid website, where I write blog posts about my photographs of buildings and other good stuff. On my courses page, you will find my course, How to Become A Real Estate Photographer.
You can also find me on YouTube talking about my podcast and my blog - just click here to get straight to my channel.
Get an email from me.
Want a weekly email from me? And why wouldn’t you? Fill in the box on the home page, and every Friday, you'll read my photography thoughts.
Ask me a question
If you have a question you would like me to answer, just fill in the form on this page, and your question will be with me before you know it! How utterly splendid! Or you can text me from the podcast feed.
Whatever you do, it’s always lovely to hear from you, my dear listeners.
Brought to you by
This episode was brought to by a nice cold bottle of Mythos…...
I’ve been Rick McEvoy, thanks again very much for listening to me and for giving me Less than 11 (ish) minutes of your valuable time, and I will see you on the next episode.
Cheers from me Rick