I definitely think of myself as more of a photographic artist than a photographer, but many people will look at me and ask, 'what's the difference?'

I can only give some thoughts according to the way I see it. As with many things in life, different people will have different views, so this blog post is simply my personal view. 

To me, a photograph is an image where the finished work is pretty much straight from the camera. However, this can include basic post capture editing which would be carried out for the purpose of correcting, as far as possible, any shortcomings of the camera's capabilities with a view to creating a more realistic portrayal. 

As soon as the photograph is 'taken' or 'edited' in such a way as to deliberately portray a more artistically optimal or alternative view than would normally be available straight from the camera, then I consider it to be a photographic artwork.

H o w e v e r, from a more general point of view and if you bear in mind the extremely varying levels of effort and expertise any one person might put into capturing and/or editing a photograph, I'm sure you'll understand when I say that I actually think there really is no exact definition between photograph and photographic artwork. The boundaries between the two are not only very blurred but opinions so varied as to render any definition irrelevant. There will always be plenty of scope for discussion and deliberation about this topic which is, of course, part of the fun of it all.  

For a visual explanation on how I personally see which work of mine I consider to be a photograph and which I consider to be a photographic artwork please see the images below.

Here is the image as it came out of the camera or SOOC as it's called - straight out of camera.

Here is the image complete with basic post capture editing to create a slightly more realistic representation of the colour and tone of the subject as I saw it. So this to me is my photograph of the scene despite the shallow depth of focus. 

And here is the image after I edited it to add my own artistic vision and creativity. This version of the image I would  then consider as being a photographic artwork.

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