I recently drove from Seattle to Phoenix with my two dogs, Sammy and Roxy. They are very good travelers, and I usually find an off-the-highway spot to give them water and let them stretch a bit every couple hours. Believe me, I like the stretch too! I drive a mile or two into the desert so they can run free and so I can look around for photo ops.
I didn’t shoot very many photos this trip. I was anxious to get to Phoenix! But I did get a few.
The photo below is pretty over-exposed, my own fault for being in a hurry! I like the photo as it captures a moment for me. I doubt if anyone else will see what I see in my minds eye, but that’s ok.
So I decided to do a little post processing on it and was pleased that I was able to save it.
Before:
It’s a pretty sad photo… it’s way overexposed, the sky is blown out, its tilted… the horizon dips to the right, and it has that icky blue haze. I used a strighten tool to square it up, adjusted the brightness and contrast, tweaked the hue and saturation, added a bit of warmth, and cropped some of the sky out.
After:
I like the result, it reflects what I actually saw much better.
So, my answer to the question… a resounding YES! Photoshopping is just fine. While I prefer getting good shots right out of the camera, sometimes it just doesn’t work that way. Embrace technology!