Strange trends in photography

Do you want to believe your eyes?

Here is an original. A bit dullish, yet beautiful as any overcast dull fall day can be.

Photo editing programs are now coming out with sky swaps. Yes, for real. 

This next shot is sky swapped ... I made it pretty obvious. And I hit one single AI button that told the program to Use a Fall preset which automatically increased the oranges and yellows. 

Obviously, I was not out in a storm with lightening strikes as the sky image suggests. 

I could have added a tornado, a sunset, or beautiful clear skies. What really jerks my chain is I could add the MilkyWay or an Aurora Borealis. 

Now. I might do these things IF I were doing perhaps a fantasy photo. But never ever a photo of things I would be taking of a normal scene.

The best part of photography is searching for good light and interesting conditions. Saturday morning we had some incredibly thick fog. So Charlie and I took a stroll through the woods to 'find' interesting light and fog.

Of course, it never turns out exactly like I 'see' it in my mind. But if I am going to really make a large edit, I will own up to it.

I am all for art. I like well done composits that invoke a scene of fantasy. I can appreciate art for art.

But I cannot condone photographers adding another sky just because they can pick a prettier one.

What is the incentive then to actually go out during a sunrise or sunset to be awe inspired by nature and photograph it, if you can 'just make it'.

But in order to be noticed as a Pro photographer today, it seems more and more that a person has to add the wow factor. 

Here is a pretty wild edit I did quite a while ago. 

Yes, I like to mess around, but I will never pass off an artificial sky. I took this sky and added cloud brushes, a moon brush, and star brushes. I changed Siera to be pure black with the fence and grasses behind her. It was just a fun thing I did one night when I couldn't sleep.