I don't know if they're the best. I don't know if there's even 100.
November 26, 2015 10:27 PM   Subscribe

100 Best Photographs Taken Without Photoshop (or, at least, 100 pretty cool photographs that are well worth scrolling through if your turkey coma doesn't allow for any serious reading.)
posted by jacquilynne (33 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
Beautiful!
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:22 PM on November 26, 2015


These are so cool. The one of the plane breaking the sound barrier is amazing.
posted by triggerfinger at 11:22 PM on November 26, 2015


The "surfing" one I can't get my head around. How is that perspective achieved?
posted by Meatbomb at 11:36 PM on November 26, 2015


These are fantastic!

'A temple covered in ash from the Ontake volcanic eruption, Japan' looks like a warhammer diorama.

'Spider webs in Abernethy forest, Scotland' wow the dew dappled webs of OH SHIT HERE COMES SHELOB.

'An eagle soaring over a lake in Canada' Is there a reason it may do this? like some advanced form of preening? It looks very deliberate.

'The scarlet eyes of a warty tree frog, Costa Rica' Nice try Smaug, we know it's you.

'Flamingos gathered in the shape of a flamingo, Yucatan Peninsula' How... are they signalling the mothership? Is this something else I have to worry about?

'Beehive' I really, really appreciate your effort. It is my hope that this was engineered with the airline and other authorities, and not just you sitting with a camera and waiting for it to happen.

'Hello there, sister' Nice considering their relative lifespan, but why are there turtles on a tree branch?

'Birdy hurricane' OK OK Alfred, we'll go with it. Still don't know why you think people will be scared of birds.

'Rango plays guitar' EXPLOSIVE LAUGHTER

I could go on. How amazing. The world is such a beautiful and astonishing place. Thanks for this post.
posted by adept256 at 1:20 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


These are wonderful! Wingardium leviosa is one of those photos where it's hard to say if it's the result of great timing or just getting lovingly pranked by Nature.

Also, as soon as I clicked the link, I figured there'd be one from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, a.k.a. that time when reality imitated 80s metal album covers.

The "surfing" one I can't get my head around. How is that perspective achieved?

That seems to be from Nazaré in Portugal, a famous surf spot where you get big waves close to the shore. I'd wager the photo is a combination of a great angle, tight cropping, and a telephoto lense for a compressed effect on a really big day.
posted by sively at 2:05 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


Upon reflection, and letting my mental food sit and rest while I happily rub my belly, I wonder.

I recall watching an interview with an Australian photographer whose award was in dispute. It was a photograph of a bird of prey attacking a fishing bird, in mid air. Such a snap was impossible, it was argued, he must be a fraud, it could only be fabricated.

The photo was too good to be true. During this interview, which was on Australian television, the photographer displayed his archives. Hundreds of thousands of rolls of film. This stung me. How could people believe this person, who had spent a lifetime of patience, jeopardise all of his work with a lie?

The argument was that he wasted his life and regretted it. So he perpetrated this fraud for some vile form of recognition.

I choose to believe that it's a case of sour grapes, which is disappointing. Poor sports. I'd rather believe that his fellow artists would gather around and marvel, and honor his amazing achievement.

Can anybody help me find the image and the artist I'm writing about? The image is frozen in my mind like a perfect crystal, but google doesn't accept that.
posted by adept256 at 2:48 AM on November 27, 2015


I think this is the story you're thinking about adept256.
posted by claudius at 3:42 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


Thanks! It always reminded me of this.

I can understand how people would think it was fake. It looks like cgi.
posted by adept256 at 4:12 AM on November 27, 2015


Maybe not photoshop, but one hell of a lot of processing and posing. Mistreating and posing animals is an industry 'Rango' is likely abused and positioned with fishing line removed post processing.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:41 AM on November 27, 2015 [9 favorites]


The cruel cost of cute.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:47 AM on November 27, 2015 [4 favorites]


I loved most of those but rango sadly just looked like a dead lizard to me
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 5:09 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


Photoshop does more than create "fake" photos and I bet many of these saw some subtle Ps enhancement.
posted by davebush at 5:19 AM on November 27, 2015 [5 favorites]


Saying these pictures are made without Photoshop is misleading. These all remind me of people who say they prefer women without makeup when what they really mean is they prefer stunning models under perfect lighting with professionally applied makeup that looks "natural".
posted by mikewebkist at 5:21 AM on November 27, 2015 [11 favorites]


Chiming in on the "no Photoshop thing"; even if they haven't moved elements around or deleted things, these all have likely had exposure, contrast and color manipulation in Photoshop, Lightroom or some similar application.
posted by octothorpe at 5:29 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


There is something about the style and processing that started making these look the same about a third of the way through. A lot of the landscapes are places I would love to visit, but this mostly isn't photography that I would put on my wall.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:30 AM on November 27, 2015 [3 favorites]


There were some very cool pictures in there. Thanks for posting!
posted by Too-Ticky at 6:00 AM on November 27, 2015


Flamingos gathered in the shape of a flamingo, Yucatan Peninsula

The hell. That seems... pretty unlikely to have happened spontaneously
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:04 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


All digital photos are manipulated to a degree. The pixels that come out of the sensor (RAW) get turned into a JPEG, and even if that's not done in Lightroom or similar software, the on-camera algorithms are adjusting exposure, color balance, etc. to create what the manufacturer hopes will be a pleasing combination. Many cameras have options to select variations in the algorithm typically to emulate the characteristics of certain types of film.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:08 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


Warty tree frog, yeah, right, that's a dragon!
posted by valkane at 6:21 AM on November 27, 2015


An eagle soaring over a lake in Canada' Is there a reason it may do this? like some advanced form of preening? It looks very deliberate

Eagles fish. This one is either hunting, or just missed an opportunity.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:24 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


All digital photos are manipulated to a degree.
To be fair, that was always the case with film too. Many professional photographers worked in close collaboration with a darkroom printer whose magic (or dark arts) was instrumental in the creation of the final masterpieces. Dennis Stock's iconic picture of James Dean? A few seconds of dodging here, some burning-in there. Will six seconds be enough to bring out some definition in the building behind Dean? Perhaps, depending on the temperature of the chemicals.
posted by elgilito at 7:01 AM on November 27, 2015 [4 favorites]


The title was from the source page, but I knew people would disagree with 'best' and/or 'without photoshop', that's why I put in the alternate description.

I'm sad to hear that Rango was probably faked and that animals are badly treated in making a lot of these photos. I'll look at that type of photo with a more critical eye in the future.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:28 AM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]


Can someone please explain this one to me? I can't wrap my head around what I'm seeing. Thanks.
posted by Laura in Canada at 8:04 AM on November 27, 2015


Can someone please explain this one to me? I can't wrap my head around what I'm seeing. Thanks.

You are looking across a gravel plain towards a huge sand dune rising behind it.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:09 AM on November 27, 2015


"[...] but why are there turtles on a tree branch?"

Those are aquatic turtles, and they frequently come out to rest on branches that offer quick escape back into the water. Chances are the photo was taken from around the surface of the pond or lake or whatever, and if the camera were tilted downward even a degree or two you'd see that.

When I go on walks near the water here (Louisiana) they're frequently accompanied by the soundtrack of turtles plopping into the bayou.
posted by komara at 8:11 AM on November 27, 2015


Ok, wow! Based on that I found other images, with no blue/sky, it makes a really neat photo, thanks.
posted by Laura in Canada at 8:12 AM on November 27, 2015


"Those are aquatic turtles, and they frequentlyasdfllabbhalblahblahblahgslglll"

I should have just said, "Do a Google image search for turtle on branch" and that would have been faster.
posted by komara at 8:20 AM on November 27, 2015


Beautiful photos, distractingly bad titles.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:33 AM on November 27, 2015


Beautiful things here. I see at least five of my next desktop wallpapers.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:53 AM on November 27, 2015


Beautiful. Yes. Some are so realnas to be surreal, the Chinese photo, people with baskets, red rock, background mountain.
posted by Oyéah at 10:56 AM on November 27, 2015


I don't know why but ALL of these pictures make me think of Hannibal Lecter!!???!!
What's wrong with me? I miss Hannibal :(
posted by JenThePro at 11:13 AM on November 27, 2015 [3 favorites]


The leaf /dragon shadow is sublime.
posted by Faintdreams at 11:44 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


The radiotelescope/supermoon photo is a known photoshop.

Not to be a killjoy, but most of these internet roundups of cool photos are not what they claim to be.
posted by anemone of the state at 10:40 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]


« Older People think that beauty opens doors, but it opens...   |   From Indonesia, a Muslim Challenge to the Ideology... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments