To Photoshop or not to Photoshop

I came across this article yesterday and it made me pause and thing about what I’m learning in Lightroom and Photoshop and how I plan to use them to touch up photos.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/27/wednesdays-intriguing-people-31/?hpt=T2

With my two beautiful daughters, I don’t want them to ever feel like they need to keep up with somebody else’s image or perceived ideal.  I’ve always found the human herding instinct very fascinating though.  What make so many people like particular face or body shapes?  Is it just the instinct to follow the rest of the herd and adopt their practices?  The older I get, the more shallow this mentality becomes to me.  So, I’m not connected to myself enough to have my own opinions?  I should just follow what others think or say?  Not everyone is this way, but I know I am to some degree. 

Photography is great for me in that way.  It helps me to slow down and explore beauty where I’ve never paid attention to it before.  To take time to really think and explore my perception of something from a view that I’ve never seen it before.  To realize how amazing every single person really is.  Who they are, what they’ve done, and the potential that they have to do so many great things.  I hope I continue down this path exploring everything as the herd moves around.

As for the article on Photoshop.  It’s helped me realize that I don’t want to portray people as something they are not... assuming that’s the goal of the photo.  I could see myself trying some more abstract and “artsy” things that would definitely change the way a person looks.  But then the focus would not necessarily be reality.  I still plan on using Photoshop, but I plan on using some discretion.  Do I remove that mole or just lighten it because of the harsh contrasting light.  I’m working on a family portrait right now and have no qualms about swapping heads from other pictures to get all 5 of the kids smiling in the same portrait.  Although it would easier to get all of them looking at the camera in the same shot in the first place :)