Adobe's Photoshop software is so prevalent today that the name itself has morphed into a verb that refers to the process of editing an image in any given software. Over the years, Photoshop has acquired editing and AI-based features that weren't even dreamed of by the early adopters of the software. Most digital photographers cannot remember a time when the program didn't exist since its existence predates the widespread adoption of digital photography by almost a decade.
In celebration of the 35-year anniversary of the launch of Photoshop, Adobe has announced an all-new video series on YouTube featuring Russel Preston Brown, Sr. Principal Designer, who is Adobe’s longest-standing employee. Russel has been at the company for 40 years. The new video series is intended to celebrate inspiring stories and images from professional photographers. The pilot episode is available today and features an interview with photographer Joel Grimes, who is recognized as a Canon Legend Photographer and FJ Westcott Top Pro Elite photographer.
The video shows a discussion between two longtime friends who discuss how photography and the process of developing images has changed over the decades. The pair discuss how images were edited in the film days and how Adobe developed digital tools that mimicked processes done by hand in the darkroom. At one point the pair discuss how today's technology can produce better results from old negatives than was possible in the film days. Grimes states:
You made your negative. You made your print and you would lose this huge amount of detail in the difference between what the negative had (and what) the print could (display). The beauty of today is even if I have my old negatives which I went back and re-scanned. I brought them into Photoshop and I manipulated the tones and I ended up with images that I never even dreamed I could have had 33 years ago. So you've taken a negative and enhanced it beyond what it was originally. We've gone beyond the dark room.
Adobe has also released a blog post that shows the major milestones that Photoshop brought to users over the years including features we may take for granted today such as nondestructive editing through the use of Layers and the ability to quickly correct skin blemishes with the Healing Tool. Photoshop can be accessed via subscription through Adobe's Creative Cloud.
