Has it ever occurred to you that when looking at a photograph, what you’re seeing may not be exactly the picture the camera originally took or that it’s possible the picture could be tricking you into believing something?

Most photographers have a unique tool, called photo editing. In other words, an electronic computerized program that allows the user to alter the photo, whether it is in colour, removing spots, adding new pieces, the list goes on.

Even the slight change of colour in a photograph can completely change the mood it portrays. It can deliver a different message to the viewer and at times it can make viewers believe something that wasn’t really there.

After less than fifteen minutes of editing a single photograph, I have some examples to help illustrate what this means.

This photo is the original, it was taken around 4:00 in late May. There was a storm approaching, so there were many clouds, but also blue skies. There was very little, to no sun. This is the original photo that I began with for each of the following photos.

After decreasing the exposure and increasing the brightness, editing the fill light and blacks played a roll in the final product of this photo. Now, what you see appears to be a brighter, sunny summer day.

This one can be portrayed one of two ways. First of all, it appears to be during a sun set, with bright sun or after a storm. This started again as the original photograph and simply decreasing the exposure, and contrast, while increasing the “highlights” hue and saturation. This created the reddish, orange affect that is displayed in the picture. A few other settings played a part in editing this photo, but what is explained is the main.

Again, edited beginning with the original, this picture turned out to appear as if it was taken at night. This was done by increasing the exposure and the blacks of the picture as well as the vibrance and saturation. To make the final result, I edited the lights, darks, shadows and highlights.

It just goes to show that photographers really can change what you see, to make you believe something different than what is actually there. What was once a nice day time picture can be used later for a picture of a night sky scene, and later for a sun set and so on.

Technology has expanded over time and so have the possibilities for editing and hiding what’s actually there.

In other words, some pictures can lie, or tell an altered story. What you see is not always what you get.