luna_jackson28•4d agoProlific Poster

Debate: Is fixing blur worth it or should you just reshoot? My 3 month experiment

I got into this whole photo fixing thing a while back because my phone camera shakes like crazy during concerts. I used to just delete everything blurry and retake it if I could, but then I tried one of those AI sharpening apps after a friend swore by it. At first I thought it was all hype, like those apps that claim to add detail that isn't there, you know? But I spent 3 months testing it on shots from a wedding I shot in Austin, and honestly some of the results were wild. The counter argument is that you're just making garbage look like less obvious garbage, and you lose the real moment if you could have just steadied your hand. I'm torn because I had one photo of my nephew's first steps that was pure mush, and the app actually pulled out his face enough that my sister cried. So what's the deal, is post-fix cheating or is it a legit save? Has anyone else had a blurry shot that turned out better than the sharp ones you took on purpose?

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claire_campbell4d ago

Honestly, the wedding shot is what sold me too. I had this one photo of my niece blowing out candles that was totally smeared, and the fix app pulled enough detail out that you could see her actual smile. It's not magic, it's not gonna turn a garbage photo into a masterpiece, but it can save a moment you can't recreate. That said, I've also spent way too long fixing a shot that I should've just retaken, and the sharp ones I took on purpose still look better than any fix. The key for me is if the memory matters more than the technical quality, fix it. If you're just trying to make a bad photo passable for a client, reshoot.