Water Falling Over Things 2014: Part VII (Punch Bowl Falls...now with extra poll!)

[NV Whino]

3. As a painter I would never have included that branch

I see photography (except photojournalism*) as art, and I have no qualms about removing distracting items.

On a personal note: a couple of years ago I created a panoramic postcard for a client. I had a great photo of his beautiful vineyards. But, there was one of those damned electrical lines running through it. No way to frame and miss it. I debated whether to remove it or keep it. It was, after all, selling the ambiance to potential wine buyers. Truth in advertising and all that. In the end, I elected to remove it. My rational was, people viewing the vineyard would see only the beautiful vineyard and not the electrical line. We do tend to have selective vision. And we were selling the wine, not the property.

The only time I do not alter a photograph, except for exposure or sharpness, is real estate photos. You can get in a world of trouble removing telephone poles in real estate photos.

*photojournalism can be art, but you may not alter it.