Image editing and Permissions

[martolod]

Just want to add... and nobody's complained to me... that I think it best to ask before manipulating another's work and re-posting. Some might take great offense at that, and I would rather be proactive than find myself in the middle of an argument over it.

C.

Craig raised this pertinent point and it something i had not thought about a great deal but i guess it needs to raised. I also post on TrekEarth and i'm so used to having my images edited and editing other peoples images in a Workshop sub forum . Often it's little tweaks and minor editing, lots of cropping and resizing etc and i learned a great deal about  Photoshop and what it's capable of doing. Sometimes the images were altered to a great extend as there was artistic merit in them ie  for example a high contrast image with loads of texture was converted via PS into a Charcoal type to demonstrate what could be done.
And Jim Evans nailed the point; as long as it's done to improve and not degrade the image (Digital Graffiti, Defacing etc) and all credit for the image is given to the original author .
Personally if someone took my Image and altered it in a malicious way - yes i would be upset. On the other hand if it was altered, the workflow/editing explained and it was done to improve the image or demonstrate something within a PS type program - i would have no Problems with that at all; that would be within the Forums Mission Statement of 'Learn all you can - Share all you can'
In light of this and other tweaks that others and i  have done of late, may i suggest to Craig  a SubForum specifically for the purpose of demonstrating edits or showing before/after shots etc. as often i (and i'm sure others)see something from a different point of view and kindly point it out etc.

If not - i will ask the owner's permission first before editing any future stuff
as i don't want to offend anyone here by suggesting they took a 'bad' photo but on the contrary offer a constructive critique and learn what others do in digital post processing

[Kin Lau]

In light of this and other tweaks that others and i  have done of late, may i suggest to Craig  a SubForum specifically for the purpose of demonstrating edits or showing before/after shots etc. as often i (and i'm sure others)see something from a different point of view and kindly point it out etc.

Sounds good to me.

[Jim Evans]

I think the idea of the new forum is great.   Actually it would be handled under this forum maybe?  

I really like the idead Mark had about posting an image for community edits.  It would be fun.   There could be two categories.   One asking for help and ideas on a person's image they are having trouble with and the other could be where somebody just post a raw/unedited image for everyone to take their best shot at.  

Just thinking outloud.   The voices get a bit overwhelming at times, I have to let them speak!  :smiley_706:

[martolod]

 

I really like the idead Mark had about posting an image for community edits.  It would be fun.   There could be two categories.   One asking for help and ideas on a person's image they are having trouble with and the other could be where somebody just post a raw/unedited image for everyone to take their best shot at.  

that's kind of what i was thinking of

[OldProfessorBear]

There's a lot of this over at the "other" Nelson forums:

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/

... of course, that's what they are all about!

[KirkT]

So, let me ask this then.  Retouching somebody else's photo isn't something that I'd do, but the issue will arise from somebody, I'm sure:  who then owns the image?

Say, for example, you post a photo, I edit it and put some serious time into it making it a great piece that I'm proud of.  Am I able to post that image on other forums and call it my own?

Sounds like some serious gray area in doing this, but I'm sure that the folks on this board could keep it informal and make it work, so maybe I'm putting more into it than there is to be put.

[martolod]

Sounds like some serious gray area in doing this, but I'm sure that the folks on this board could keep it informal and make it work, so maybe I'm putting more into it than there is to be put.

i keep coming back to the teaching/sharing thing; what i was thinking more of is 'if you do this then that is the result' or 'to achieve result x use steps a b c
and here is the before and after picture' or 'how do you do this'
i'm not advocating any serious heavy duty editing/retouching, after all this meant to be informal and fun. and to the benefit of all , so that person so-and-so can go away and apply what he has seen to his own images and experiment  and get  some experience in using the range of tools available without having to spend time and money scouring libraries and bookstores for a copy of 'Photoshop for Dummies' just to find one particular effect or action. it should ,in effect, draw on the collective(Star Trek reference:thumbsup2:)experience of everyone on the forum. There is a lot of experience in the forum and i'm always glad for one of the Oldtimers (no les..not you...you fall in the category of 'ancient' ) to give me advice or tips etc..it certainly has saved me on occasion quite a bit of time researching stuff.
I certainly struggled when i started with digital and it was a struggle for a long time using just the most basic of  PS functions. that was before i had internet -in the Dark Ages.........

[Zen Librarian]

I like the idea of having a 'retouch' section of the forum, too!  I have some images I'd like help with, I'm sure others probably do, too.  

I have a friend who's a local photog and he was just telling me the other day that he'd like a little help adjusting the backgrounds of some of his shots.   He just purchased PhotoShop CS3 and is just starting to delve into many of its features.   He's a digital flower dude, I was thinking of inviting him to join us here.

[Jim Evans]

In terms of ownership,  I think we are a small enough community where everyone respects one another so I don't think there would be any issues.  But,  I would be open to just saying that the original image creator would always still own the image and that any edits by forum members are not to be used or claimed as one's own outside of this forum.  The original poster would also no be able to claime any of the edited images as his own.  The goal would be for the image creator to learn and then apply the suggested techniques to his image if he finds them useful.    I think just a few simple rules would be sufficient.

Maybe Craig can set up a seperate forum or we could just use this forum (or another) and place something like the W/NW title in the subject lins of each post.  Something like Edit/Help or something along those lines.

[martolod]

 The goal would be for the image creator to learn and then apply the suggested techniques to his image if he finds them useful.    I think just a few simple rules would be sufficient.

nothing complex...just simple courtesy and common sense.
keep things as simple  as possible

[cenelson]

Forum created. Have fun. Be good to one another.

[martolod]

Thanks Craig.