> Curiously, you're allowed to convert color to black and white, which in my opinion is not preserving the pixel-level integrity. An algorithm is making a guess at what level of black to convert a pixel to.

In the sense of pixel integrity I had in mind, a b&w conversion wouldn't be a violation. Each output pixel would be directly effected by the corresponding input pixel (Bayer interpolation notwithstanding). Image data wouldn't be moved around from one region to another.

Huh? Noise reduction is not a no no by any means. At least in some newspapers I know.

Also, I have to add that it differs for news reporting versus stuff like interview shots, travel shots etc.

> Also, I have to add that it differs for news reporting versus stuff like interview shots, travel shots etc.

Right, it really depends on if the shot is being used for "news" or if it's just an artistic shot to fill space.

That's why at the start of this whole thread I reference photojournalism.

>That's why at the start of this whole thread I reference photojournalism.

I saw it, but it's not that clear cut.

What you write, "an artistic shot to fill space" implies to me generic illustration pictures, which the above isn't an example of.

I think the restrictions to editing are mostly contrained for photos about stuff like politics, world affairs, crime etc -- stuff that is presented as 100% dry news.

But the term photojournalism covers other stuff too, right? Isn't, say, a travel article written by a journalist with a photographer photojournalism too? Or the images taken by a photojournalist for a piece on dance culture, the burning man, stuff like that. Or for a sports feature.

> But the term photojournalism covers other stuff too, right? Isn't, say, a travel article written by a journalist with a photographer photojournalism too? Or the images taken by a photojournalist for a piece on dance culture, the burning man, stuff like that. Or for a sports feature.

I agree, and as I understand it, anything beyond some basic level/color adjustments and cropping is a no-no in those areas if you want to keep your integrity.

>algorithm is making a guess at what level of black to convert a pixel to

Can you not just average the RGB values? Perhaps adjusting a bit for relative intensities of those values (I'm just guessing but red is probably less bright than blue or green). It's not really a "guess" is it unless it's a sophisticated algorithm. It's more akin to rotating or skewing an image.

Or you mean it's a guess compared to how non-colour film would actually record the light?