49 Unphotoshopped Pics That Look Fake But Are 100% Real

Bored Panda wanted to get pro photographer Dominic's opinion on what amateurs can do so they can react to awesome photo opportunities and miss as few of them as possible.

"Take your camera wherever you go if feasible or at least bring it with you if it's not on your person," he said that having your gear with you is incredibly important if you want to be ready for everything.

"Reacting to a quick situation is just something that takes practice and doing it over and over. Luck is probably a factor too, depending on the situation of course," he told us that amateur photographers shouldn't stress out too much about missing good opportunities; their ability to react to events will improve with time and practice.

According to Dominic, there isn't a foolproof way of knowing whether or not a photo has been subtly photoshopped, unless you know what you're looking for. Becoming familiar with different editing techniques and what is physically possible without manipulating an image is how you can understand if someone has altered the image.

Meanwhile, when it comes to mind-bending images, Dominic has had some experience with them, but they're not what he focuses on usually. "I have taken some unique reflection photos, but it is not something I do regularly. Getting different angles also depends on the situation and what I'm trying to achieve with an image," he said that the angle from which a photographer snaps a pic can change a lot about image, and it all depends on the pro's intent.

Previously, Bored Panda had an in-depth interview about ‘all-natural’ images and editing pics with professional photographer Anna Chii.

“Often when people hear the word ‘Photoshop,’ they imagine Instagram girls which make their faces unrecognizable by “photoshopping” them and think that Photoshop is used just for that. Actually, people mistake it for other apps like ‘Facetune.’ Photoshop is a software package for working with digital imagery and is used not only for photography but also for design, video editing, photo manipulations, and more,” photographer Anna told us earlier.

“When we talk about photography, there is no single proven way of using this software when it comes to editing pictures. Every single photographer or retoucher has his or her own style, way of editing, or set of skills used for making the best photos possible,” she told us.

“That’s why photoshopped pictures can look wildly differently: from waxy or plastic faces to an absolutely natural look. From drastic changes in face or body features to just color corrections. From creating a fantasy world around your subject to simply removing unwanted objects from the background,” Anna explained that every photographer has their personal approach.

“From personal experience, after many years of learning and experimenting, shooting takes the least amount of time in comparison to the other parts of the process—planning and retouching,” she said that the editing part can be very time-intensive.

“I mostly take portraits. Usually, my clients are not professional models with heavy makeup, which covers all of their imperfections and barely requires any retouching. My models are people who want to have lovely pictures of themselves, who want to portray their lives and experience fun time while freezing those moments—without pressure or fear of being imperfect,” she told us a bit about how she works and what her professional philosophy is.

“I do believe that my clients need to get the best result they can get. And making a regular picture great requires not only taking pictures correctly from a technical point of view, but also adding some magic to each and every one of them,” she said that she retouches every single photo, even if it’s just a bit.

“And it’s not about changing features, or making people look perfect and not representative of the way they look in real life. It’s about the small details, which make the photo stand out without making it look unrealistic. It’s about colors and lighting. About mood,” she explained why editing photos is so important, overall.

“Every person that I shoot has their own story and a unique aura. I want to make my pictures reflect the feeling I get when being with the person and share it throughout the final image. And it can take from half an hour to a couple of hours per image. Depends on the emotion I want to portray in the final picture,” Anna told Bored Panda.

“If we are talking about portraits, I do believe that if you have a great team (assistant, makeup artist, hairdresser, stylist), you have a beautiful location with the lighting set up correctly, you have a model with clear skin and everything is under your control, then you can take really good pictures and editing could be almost unnecessary,” she said.

“But usually, you don’t have all the people and props which could help to create a great image. When you work alone, sometimes mistakes slip past the cracks as you need to cover many areas during the photo shoot,” the photographer pointed out that photographers can’t do everything perfectly, so they end up fixing small mistakes during the postproduction process.

“For me, Photoshop is not about changing the person in the picture, but about enhancing the quality of the picture. Correcting shadows and lighting, enhancing colors, correcting small details like wrinkles on clothes or makeup makes a huge difference,” she said.

“It can be done with the help of professionals—makeup artists, assistants, stylists. Before and during the shoot they will correct makeup, clothes, hair, hold a reflector for better light. And it can also be done during post-production in Photoshop. Almost the same result, simply a different way of achieving it. Producing a quality photograph requires time and effort. So Photoshop is not an easy way to get beautiful pictures with just a few clicks of a mouse.”

According to the pro photographer whether or not someone ends up editing their photos depends on the purpose of their pictures.

“Photos are like a form of art, images for advertising, family pictures, nature, product posters and many other genres. All of them serve a different purpose. The viewer should also have critical thinking while looking at the images and understand the nuance and the nature of the photos in question.”

She continued: “People have different beliefs on every subject possible. Some think girls with makeup are unnatural, some think it makes them prettier and more feminine. The same goes for photography. I think it’s a really lovely thing to have something you do like as well as something you don’t like about the final images.”

She said: “If you like pictures without Photoshop and want to have a photo shoot for yourself—that’s great. Find a photographer that takes ‘natural pictures’ and hire her/him. And yet, I don’t believe that, if they are professionals, they will give you a photo without any (at least slight) retouching. Maybe the picture will look natural, but will it really be, is a different question (unless all a photographer cares about is to get the money and get rid of the client as fast as possible).”

In Anna’s opinion, photographers who aim to develop their skills throughout their journey as professionals need to be open to learning new techniques, including how to use photoediting software. In her mind, someone knowing how to Photoshop images is only a plus.

“But you can’t produce good photographs if you can’t take good photographs, Photoshop won’t help you create a good picture out of a terrible shot. If you don’t know how to use Photoshop, probably it will end up being the opposite. You can make a picture even worse than it was before. But if the photograph itself is good, then Photoshop can enhance it and make it a little bit better in a different way.”

Meanwhile, those who want to create natural, unedited pictures should aim to shoot on good old film. “Film cameras take lovely pictures. And it’s so fun to make. I would say, film cameras have a certain magic about them,” she said.

“After all, it’s all about your preferences. There is no good or bad photography. There are just the photos which you like and the ones you don’t. Remember, you are the one who chooses the photographer for your own photo shoot. So talk with a potential photographer, look at his/her work and decide if the style, mood, colors, outcome, attitude are the ones you would like to see in your pictures. And trust. Trust and believe in your photographer.”