I think a major thing that comes into play is what our individual goals and aspirations are as a photographer. If photography is a profession or the means of livelihood for a person, they’re going to be more concerned about establishing and maintaining a certain reputation. If, on the other hand, photography is simply a hobby to enjoy then it’s probably not going to matter as much about building a reputation as a photographer. This is the category I fall into. My interest in photography at this point is to go out and enjoy the beauty of Gods creation and do my best to find compositions that I like and I can enjoy looking at later. I find enjoyment in using Lightroom and Photoshop to improve and enhance those images. So for me flipping the sun from one side of the photo to another is simply a part of that enjoyment that I get from creating a picture that I like! Sure, I wish I would have done better with the composition while I was there but since I didn’t, I enjoy taking what I did get and “manipulating” it into something that I like even better. But, having said all that, I also realize that the greatest enjoyment comes from nailing the composition and lighting in the field and creating a beautiful image with very little editing and post processing! So I have to say this conversation has motivated me to work harder at being a good photographer as opposed to a good “manipulator” 🙂
