It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. —J. K. Rowling
Having all the latest bells and whistles sounds like a good thing, but how many choices do we really need?
Imagine walking into an ice cream parlor and there only being three choices of flavors, none of which you liked. Would you walk out? Perhaps we might imagine walking into a restaurant that advertised an all-you-can-eat buffet, but would only let you pick five items from which you could consume your fill; that wouldn’t be exactly what we expected from a buffet, would it? We like having choices and, a significant portion of the time, the more choices we have the more in control we feel of our situation. Yet, we do well to ask the question: how many choices is enough?
Yes, I know, the answer depends primarily upon the topic and perhaps even the circumstances, but in whatever the situation might be, it seems only logical that, at some point, the number of choices one has begins to deteriorate one’s ability to actually achieve anything. If for example, Baskin Robbins were to suddenly expand their selection to 438 flavors, one might very well spend such a long time deciding as to no longer be interested in ice cream at all and go elsewhere for a nice burger. There is in all things a point of diminishing returns where the number of choices becomes too many.
When talking about the post-processing of digital imagery, the list of potential choices seems endless. Even if one only uses Photoshop on its own, with no third-party plugins or filters, there are still more than a sufficient number of choices to address pretty much every situation imaginable. I’ve not yet found any critical artistic or necessary adjustment common to photography that couldn’t be performed in Photoshop in some way. With choices abounding what matters is whether one knows how to actually access and implement all the choices available. The preponderance of choices is so great, in fact, that a third-party industry has cropped up around creating Photoshop actions to help save on post-processing time by automating some basic choices.
Like most photographers, I have certain tools that are my favorites. I reach for them often and, at times, even shoot specifically for a given set of tools. I have what I need, or, at least, I thought so.
Last month, Google released it’s Nik Collection of Photoshop plugins. Free. I’m not sure how much the collection had cost previously, somewhere between $300-$400 I think, but now the collection is totally free and they’re even giving refunds to those who had recently purchased the set. I found the move interesting from a marketing perspective but didn’t think much of it beyond that because they didn’t  sound like something I would need to use.
I take the same approach to the full Adobe Creative Suite. Are there some really valuable and incredible tools in the set? Yes. Can I see a potential use for those tools? Yes. But I don’t own all those tools because I don’t need them. They would just sit here and cost me money that could best be spent elsewhere.
Then, Friday evening, a colleague who had downloaded the Nik collection was telling me all it had in it and especially emphasized its ability to reduce noise. Noise is an issue for me because of the age of my camera. In low light situations, noise can ruin an otherwise good shot. He convinced me that the noise filters in the Nik Collection could fix my problem. So, first thing Saturday morning, I downloaded and installed the full collection.
When I next opened Photoshop, I groaned. There were so many choices I hardly knew where to start! I had watched the tutorial on eliminating noise, so I could find what I wanted, and it does work quite well. But what am I supposed to do with all this other … stuff? These tools expand my capabilities immensely or at least make a number of things easier. But with so very many choices how am I supposed to determine which ones are best for any given situation? Insert scream of panic here.
Take a look at the pictures at the top of this page. Both are composites of a photograph processed multiple different ways to demonstrate, I hope, just how confusing and complicated the number of choices can be, especially for someone who is already creative and always looking for something different. Which method I think is best is going to change based on what other art has influenced me lately, what kind of mood I’m in, and how much coffee I’ve had. I am sometimes criticized that my work lacks cohesiveness because I’m always moving on to try something new. Giving me these many choices hardly seems like a good thing! Consistency just flew out a window I didn’t have open.
Returning to our ice cream analogy, creatives are the type of people who walk into an ice cream parlor and, at least, consider all the options before making a choice. I know some who would have to actually taste all the options first. Given a certain budget, a specific amount of time, and sufficient desire, we run through all the options in our minds. Waffle cone or plain? One scoop or three? Or maybe a banana split? Or that brownie sundae looks good … Only when we have pondered all the choices do we make a decision, and even then we may spend the next three days second-guessing ourselves. If we do that with a limited number of ice cream choices, how do you think we respond when our creative choices number into the thousands? It’s a problem!
I understand why software developers put so much into a single package. How I use a piece of software is going to be different from how another person uses the same software. I’m not a product engineer so I’m not likely to use a lot of the 3D rendering tools available in Photoshop. My interest in graphic design is limited, so I don’t utilize the drawing tools as often or as proficiently as someone else would. Creative software has to be robust to speak to the myriad ways in which it can be used.
Still, it would be nice if there were a way to limit or perhaps turn off more of the choices so that they wouldn’t be sitting there looking at us, begging to be used. I don’t have time for this level of temptation. I’m four weeks behind on editing as it is! Too many choices are the bane of productivity.
Maybe we should all just go back to analog film.
Morning Update: 06/27/24
You can all wake up now! I’m back home, safe and somewhat rested. Yesterday, my dear friend Jennifer and her daughter Ali picked me up from my whining existence and whisked me away to Indiana Dunes National Park where we took pictures of birds, spiders, lizards, and a whole bunch of seagulls! It was a long day driving up there and back, walking through all the sand in moderate heat but oppressive humidity, but it was still a lot of fun. I’ll share my pictures as soon as I can buy a new card reader because I forgot that the one I’d been using is on the other computer.
Yeah, I’m still waiting on that new debit card. I have the PIN. That arrived in yesterday’s mail. But the card itself has yet to make an appearance. We’re hoping that it shows up today because the list of things we’re needing is beginning to breach the limits of the funds I have left for the month, and we’re still two weeks away from the next check.
I noticed that not many people availed themselves of the video treat we left for you yesterday. I kind of understand, given the video’s length. An hour can be a long time. I still hope that more of you will take a look and listen carefully to what they have to say. They really are more intelligent than you and I.
Not everyone is more intelligent, though. They might like to think they are, but their actions tend to prove them wrong. At the top of that list this morning is the Bimbo Bakeries of America. You see, Bimbo, which is a Mexico City-headquartered company, has bakeries all over the place. You may know them for brands such as Sara Lee and Entemann’s. When one has so many locations and product parts may move from one plant to another, cross-contamination becomes an issue that is difficult to manage, especially regarding potential allergens. After the FDA increased the number of potential allergens that have to be listed on wrappers, the folks at Bimbo decided, “Fuck it, we’ll just list the allergens anyway, even if they don’t exist, just to cover ourselves.” Yeah, that strategy doesn’t fly. The FDA has now warned Bimbo to stop listing food allergens that don’t exist. Strong fines come next if the bakery company doesn’t comply. Meanwhile, watch what you’re putting in your mouth.
And as if the summer heat wasn’t troubling enough, over 60 ice cream products have been recalled due to a potential listeria problem. The biggest brand name on the list is Hershey, but it doesn’t apply to all Hershey ice cream products. Click the link to see the full list of affected products.
As we were traveling between Indiana Dunes National Park and Indiana Dunes State Park, which are two separate but connected parts of the same Lake Michigan coastline, we passed through the town of Portage, IN. Why is that worth mentioning? Because yesterday, your Supreme Court decided that federal corruption laws don’t apply in Portage and that it’s perfectly okay that Portage’s former mayor profited personally from city contracts given to a trucking company. Not surprisingly, the 6-3 decision was dominated by conservative justices with the decision written by “it’s not fair” Associate Justice Brett Cavanaugh. Interesting how justice and the Supreme Court rarely go hand-in-hand.
Interestingly connected, though, 7 in 10 Americans think Supreme Court justices put ideology over impartiality according to an AP-NORC poll. They’re probably not wrong. Even the nation’s highest court is a product of its environment. We probably need to consider how justices are appointed, but we both know that both parties are too power-hungry for that to happen in our lifetimes.
We had stopped on our way home for a quick bite to eat when Jenn got an alert on her phone saying that the voice actor who speaks for Marge Simpson had died. We both immediately thought that the article referred to Julie Kavner, who does the voice for the original show. Turns out, it was Nancy MacKenzie, who voiced the same role for Latin American versions of the program who passed. It was an honest mistake. There were several headlines that simply read, “Marge Simpson voice actor dies.” The error did raise an interesting question, though. When a voice actor dies, do producers re-cast the role, kill off the character, or use AI to continue using the same voice? We see some ethics issues at play there, but we aren’t sure what all the legalities might entail.
I’m not sure what might happen with the rest of the day. I know the rest of the lawn needs to be mowed but we have a heavy dew this morning. The question there becomes can the kids be motivated to get the job done before it gets too warm? I’m not sure. I may need to go back to bed. That involves getting the dogs to scoot over, though, and I’m not sure I have the energy.
I will say that life is much better when we spend the time with friends. Thanks, Jenn, for including me in yesterday’s trip!
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