And then I threw up a little.

OK time for some vent art. Or whatever. I'll try not to make this a wall of text.

Glowing eyes. There's an epidemic of this going on right now in the wildlife section of deviantart, and I see a lot of the photography groups I am a part of (particularly those with "high standards" for quality of submissions) accepting these photos into their galleries.

I am not exactly a purist anymore when it comes to photography -- I recognize that tools like Photoshop exist and are absolutely there to be used -- but I cannot stand seeing nature/wildlife photos made artificial, be they from zoos or the wild, especially because a lot of them are actually good shots.

I made a similar post to this in the past, but my views have since hardened. So, while I backed off a bit previously for fear of offending, I think I just need to get my feelings on the matter out and let the feathers fly where they may. So here's the thing:

Animals' eyes do not glow, plain and simple.

If you have an animal in cloudy light or shade and their eyes are lit up like the fire of a thousand suns because you abused the dodge/saturation tools, you are removing everything redeemable from your photos. From being nature photography, it loses 1) its natural qualities, 2) its photographic qualities, and 3) its artistic value. What you have instead is a template that you have drawn on and caricatured. Nature photography becomes ______ ___________. It's poor photography, it's poor technique, and whether or not it catches peoples' eyes, it is poor artistry.

How do you fix this problem? Well, I'll be the first to admit that this stupid little submission probably isn't going to change any minds or alter the course of deviantart history, but for those interested, the problem is easy to fix. While editing, just ask yourself, "does this look natural?" If the answer is no, tone back whatever you just did until it changes. The eye for editing has to be developed just the same as the eye for photography, so it takes a bit of practice, but given some time, it's totally doable.

Also, I've watermarked this picture so that NOBODY STEALS MY AWESOME ARTZ. But that's a rant for a different day.