So, I've been posting on the DeviantART thumbshare all day today, trying to get some real feedback on my photos. For those of you that don't know what that is, its where you can post thumbnails of your art and people comment or they leave other thumbnails. I simply got sick of the "thats so cool" or "nice shot" comments. That doesn't help me anyway. DeviantART was created for artists to actually be able to create art and get critique. That's a rant for another day though.

Anyway, I was posting, and I got this comment on my three most recent pieces(Spoon Full of Sugar, Anyone Else But You, and Tiny Heart):
"don't get it. It seems like you just decided to get up one day and take close shots. Art is more than that. Transfer these photos to photoshop and add some contrast and a bit of idiosyncracy."

Now, I don't really care that this person didn't care for my art. A lot of people don't like my photography. A lot don't even consider it photography. What does bug me is that everyone seems to think that in order to be a good photographer, you have to edit the HELL out of your photos in photoshop. The natural world is beautiful as it is, hell even the human infested side of the world is beautiful as is, why do we continually need to make it look different than it does?

I think that a lot of what is worthwhile in this world is overlooked in the details. Maybe that's why I prefer close-ups. Maybe I'm an "old-school" outdated photographer for refusing to change my artwork. Maybe I'm just humoring myself by calling myself a photographer. BUT, what I do know is:

PHOTOSHOP IS NOT EQUAL TO PHOTOGRAPHY.