Fundamental basic edits include adjustments for brightness, contrast, exposure, saturation, and white balance, while cropping and straightening are essential for improving composition and ensuring the subject is the main focus.
Color correction and grading involve more advanced techniques of manipulating the color palette for a specific mood or style.
Retouching removes blemishes, wrinkles, or unwanted objects for a cleaner look.
Applying artistic filters and effects, like applying pre-set filters or editing for complex effects like double exposures or background removal, helps to add a creative flair.
At the opposite end, the SOOC (Straight-Out-of-Camera) ideals, a collection of thoughts that adheres to the concept of the absence of post-processing with images. The ideal will not remove items, tweak exposures or contrast, or use filters or plug-ins, or use image editing functions at all.
For SOOC images, some will even draw the line even with cropping (or trimming the edges), and tilt alignment to get the photo perfectly framed! Images are left untouched, seen as what the photographer saw and recorded.
Images here were shot on the Pentax Optio WG-II, a highly rugged, waterproof, shockproof, and freeze-proof compact camera known for its extreme durability, unique LED macro lights, and good image quality for its class.
The camera is fitted with a 16MP BCI CMOS sensor, and is capable of Full HD (1080p) video, macro shots, HDR, time-lapse, bracketing, and comes with an assignable green button. Image edits were done on the desktop image editor.
