The ethics in photography

Let's face it, most of the the photos we see have been tweaked in one way or another.  In the digital age it is different, but back when it was all on film, photographers had lots of tools to use in the darkroom.

I have been using Photoshop since it came out and I used to do more "artistic" stuff, but now I do as little as possible, adjusting levels and maybe one or two other things and that's it.  Sure, I occasionally fix certain images with a variety of techniques, but in truth, I use about .001 percent of the program's capabilities.

I do, however, follow and love lots of the current work by the world's photographers, especially the ones that push the limits of these programs.  And just as in my music software, Logic Pro X, these products have long eclipsed what were my wildest imaginings years ago.  I feel like I have died and gone to nerd heaven.  Of course, there is a bit of a learning curve that comes with these ever expanding capabilities, but there are tutorials on youtube for virtually everything and anything... Japanese T-shirt folding, you know what I'm talkin' about? (If not, check it out).

I just downloaded some filters from Nik (a Google product) and can see it will take some time to explore all the new capabilities.  I am watching lots of tutorials and getting on top of it.  It is really amazing what one can do to photos these days and I guess, that's where the ethics come in.

Obviously, there have been lots of instances where photographers have gotten busted for manipulating and/or adding/deleting stuff.  And there is the current meme of Photoshop FAIL, but I am talking about the gray areas.

Here's the original with nothing done to it.  Yes, it is a little dark.

Now look at these two versions of the same shot.  The first with my normal tweaks.

These one a beginner's use of Nik.

Again, I am a beginner and was not going for subtlety here, just exploring, but the results are interesting, doncha think?  Will I go to H-E-double hockey sticks-O for this??