So, why do we need to change what our camera captures?

The simple answer is that the camera doesn't capture what our eyes see at the time we took the photograph. Film and now digital sensors cannot record the contrast levels we can see with our eyes and many of you will have noticed this either consciously or unconsciously. How many times have you come home with some pictures and been disappointed with the results? Many times we suspect and you have probably put it down to something you had done wrong. Well maybe you did do something wrong, but perhaps it was just what we have described here. You may have some great pictures that just need a little help. The professionals have always done this, mostly in the darkroom, which put it beyond most of us, but not any more.

Often all we need to do to get back what we saw is to make some slight adjustments to the image. Take the image below as an example. The camera has looked at all the tones in the picture and determined the exposure it felt was the right one. Well, the camera almost got it right, but the exposure is a little too much and you don't need any skills to spot that it is too light.

So although the picture is a little over exposed, it is not beyond our software. By using image editing software we can create the image below from the one above, they are the same photograph, but in our example below we have adjusted the exposure on our computer.


The results speak for themselves above, but there is another reason for image editing. Photography is an art, its purpose is not to faithfully record the scene unchanged (unless there is a particular need) It's to allow us free expression and creativity to make something more from our images.

So whether you wish to just correct your photos or create something special, image editing is for you, so what is on offer to do all this.