My Photo-Lab in 1960 by Wolfgang Luft
“Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.” – Ansel Adams
It’s easy to ignore the fact that landscape photographs were being “post-processed” long before Photoshop. And while great film photographers like Ansel Adams were always careful not to ruin their images, they also spend entire days at a time in the darkroom making the imperfect perfect — “taking care of God’s mistakes” so to speak.
In the video below, created in honor of Photoshop’s recent 25th birthday, Lynda’s Konrad Eek takes you on a 10-minute tour of Photoshop before Photoshop, demonstrating the darkroom techniques that us children of the digital age know only as certain tools within Adobe’s famous photo manipulation software.
If you’re a digital-only photographer who has never spent time in a dark room, even just the little bits about where tools like dodge and burn got their icons from is fascinating. If, on the other hand, you’re a darkroom veteran who has left your analog days behind, be ready to get a bit nostalgic.
But wherever you land on the spectrum, remember that there is no shame in post-processing. Whether you’re dodging and burning in the darkroom or making adjustments in Lightroom or Photoshop. Or, in the far more elloquent words of the late Mr. Adams:
