Dominic Sberna, a professional photographer from Ohio, in the United States, was kind enough to answer Bored Panda's questions about the role that photo editing software plays in modern photography. You'll find our full interview with Dominic below, so be sure to check it out!

Bored Panda was curious to get photographer Dominic's opinion on the importance of knowing how to use photo editing software in this day and age. We wondered whether it's possible to do quality work without any editing at all. According to the pro photographer, the answer is that both paths are definitely possible.

"At the end of the day, any editing software is not going to turn a bad photo into a good photo. A quality photographer will have a good eye for the subject they are capturing. Editing the photo enhances the details that the camera does not pick up as well as the naked eye," he shared his insights.

"You can recover a photo sometimes too. I've been able to do this with work that I thought at the time would be a throwaway for whatever reason. So, it takes a good hand in both most times."

However, photo editing software (currently) has its limits. It's not a panacea to all of your photography problems!

"No amount of software is going to insert pixels in a way that will salvage a low-resolution image or anything of that nature. At least not that I'm presently aware of," photographer Dominic told us.

According to the photographer how much you rely on software for retouching and post-processing will all depend on your end goals. You have to be honest with yourself about what your intent is and then see what tools will help you achieve that goal in the best possible way.

"It really depends what the person holding the camera is going for. If you're looking to make a quality photograph from an artistic perspective, then it would come down to the framing and how the scene is laid out."

He added: "Likewise if you're just looking to get a funny photo, don't sweat the small stuff like that."

Photoshop blurs the line between photography, digital painting, and nothing short of pure magic. We firmly believe that making others laugh is a superpower. And if you’re consistently helping others smile and chuckle their way through another tough day at school or work, you’re doing something very right.

The ‘Photoshop Battles’ subreddit has been around since mid-January of 2012. In that decade, it’s grown massively. It’s easy to see why. Anyone can participate in the battles, so long as they heed the subreddit’s rules. Meanwhile, the base photos used for the battles themselves are incredibly cool. The ‘shopped pics are absolutely hilarious. And there is a general sense of FUN in the community. Our fingers are itching to up our own photoshopping skills to match the level of some of these grandmasters.

However, the beauty of Photoshop is that even if you’re not a pro and don’t have tons of experience, you can still create something that amuses literally millions of people around the globe. The idea is paramount. The execution itself doesn’t have to be flawless to get people to laugh. Though, of course, we value patience, hard work, and attention to detail very much.

First impressions matter. Often, the audience will focus on the subject first. Only then are they going to notice all the details that show that a real software master’s been at work. And if the person viewing the pics is well-versed in photo editing themselves, they can spot all the small nuances and extra care that some creators put into their pics.

A while back, Bored Panda had a wonderful chat about the role of Photoshop in modern photography with professional photographer Anna Chii. She explained how photo editing has become practically ubiquitous in the modern world.

“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 with 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,” she started off by sharing the basics.

 “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. 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,” the photographer told Bored Panda.

“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 photoshopping pictures takes a lot of time.

“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 said how different photographers might use photo editing very differently. Some rely on it less. Others, more.

“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,” photographer Anna noted that she retouches every single photo she takes, at least 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. 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,” she told us.

“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. 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.”