If you’ve ever used Instagram, or seen someone post a photo to Twitter/Facebook/etc that they took through Instagram, you’ve seen lots of images with high contrast and special color effects. They look so cool, don’t they?! Playing with filters is fun for anyone: check out at all the things you can do to your picture! However, I don’t utilize these special effects and color processes. Why not?

One example of what I do; three examples of what I don’t do.

 

1) You need a reason.
I’m a graphic designer. When I was in college, I quickly learned from my design assignments that I needed to have a reason behind every choice I made. It’s not like text and images just suddenly appeared on the screen; I had to put them there, which means I had to make a decision. Why did I choose to use Futura? Why bold? Why did I pick those colors? Why is that logo over there in the corner of my poster instead of centered? I had to have answers for all of these choices for our homework critiques. I believe the same artistic approach applies to photography. If you can’t immediately answer the question, “Why should I give this image a blue tint?” then you shouldn’t.

2) It’s not reality.
On Facebook, I came across a friend’s photo album from his recent trip to Europe. I clicked through it and was dismayed to see that every single picture was colorized far beyond reality–the sky was shades of brown and orange. Europe is beautiful, why would you want to make it something it’s not? Likewise, why would you want to make a person’s portrait something it’s not?

3) A good image doesn’t need help.
All professional photographers post-process their images to make any needed corrections in white balance, exposure, contrast, and such to bring out the best in each picture. But if the photo needs a color effect or insane amounts of contrast to make it look good, it probably wasn’t a very good photo in the first place.

4) It makes it more difficult to value the image for its quality.
You can miss out on the true qualities of a photograph if you’re too busy considering how “cool” it is.

5) It will look dated in the future.
Soft focus photographs were a big trend in the 80’s and 90’s. Now it just makes a photograph look old…like it’s from the 80’s or 90’s. No one can know for certain what we will think of current trends when we look back on them ten, twenty, or fifty years from now. By keeping true to life, you reduce the risk of you hearing your children and grandchildren say, “Eww, that looks so old!”

6) It’s unprofessional.
Have you ever seen a nationally or internationally known professional photographer colorize their photos? If they do, it isn’t obvious. Check out a few of my favorites, like Ben Chrisman, Jessica Claire, Peter Lik, Joe McNally, or Roberto Valenzuela, or the winners of quarterly contests for the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA). If the experts aren’t doing it, maybe there’s a reason. In fact, it can hinder your chances of being accepted into professional associations.

 

So then, why process photos in black and white? Because it can remove distractions and emphasize composition, plus it has a timeless quality, since black and white photography preceded color photography.