I now frequently see Adobe cloud adverts for take it/make it. But I want to take it and not make it. However, I suppose the make it could also apply as readily to darkroom manipulation as it does to digital manipulation. Any thoughts?
As a printer, I suppose I do "make it", some dark room manipulation is always in order. Contrast, dark/light, cropping, etc. is all up to personal taste, and not necessarily a true rendition of the scene as photographed. I try to keep it as close as I remember it, but I do use some techniques to get what I desire.
PS has made manipulations easy, and made what many would consider inappropriate manipulations too easy. But "make it" applies equally to images made in a darkroom or with PS and a computer.
For example, here is a "before" (upper left);
I don't have any PS or similar software, I make prints in my DR, do a straight scan of the print, and have no way to manipulate it in my computer. I like it that way.
Usually I scan my negatives and work with Gimp. I have had a darkroom but now I don't.
I think that I do both take and make. Things I take are moments, or parts of moments. Some things are not related to time, and belong to aesthetic, atmospheres, moods etc.
After that I have to make something from what I have taken. I think photographer takes something from the world and uses it to make something else to the world. It's the same with analog and digital.
And I think it's always somewhat humorous when I put darkslide back after taking a picture. "Got it"! Every sheet film cassette is like a trap that I use to capture things.
when hh richardson designed the trinity church in boston ( copley square )
he took the tower from a italian romanesque church building and scaled it down to fit
with the romanesque building he was designing. cutting/pasting/scale/transform
same-old same-old ..