Why hide EXIF info?

Chr1stof

Chr1stof

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Name
Chris
Edit My Images
Yes
I've noticed a lot EXIF data hidden when I click on an image through to Flickr or wherever. I'm talking about the option being turned off rather than not much being available due to some PP programs messing it up.
Is there a reason for doing this? I can understand it if you have a camera that maybe includes GPS info in the exif, I can't really think of anything other than that.

I ask because as I find looking at EXIF handy in learning how a look is achieved and gives some pointers to apply to my efforts.

Apologies if this has been covered before, did a search and nothing came up.
 
Yes it's been covered before - no it's not a big deal.

Really honestly, if you think that copying peoples 'settings' will get you anywhere, you're on completely the wrong track. Here's the clue though 'it's all about the light'.

But this will now descend into a ridiculous discussion from which you will learn very little about photography and lots about Forum politics.

Get some popcorn and enjoy the ride.
 
If the Exif's not there, it's easy enough to ask.
 
Phil V said:
Yes it's been covered before - no it's not a big deal.

Really honestly, if you think that copying peoples 'settings' will get you anywhere, you're on completely the wrong track. Here's the clue though 'it's all about the light'.

But this will now descend into a ridiculous discussion from which you will learn very little about photography and lots about Forum politics.

Get some popcorn and enjoy the ride.
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Totally agree, but I cannot see why people, (or forums) want to know or why the information should be given/published as a default

I don't think it helps anyone …… how can it?
 
I think people who go to the effort of hiding exif, just wastes their own time doing so. As phil says, its about the light, you can normally figure out whats gone on by looking at where the light sources are coming from and if you zoom in on portraits, you can normally see the equipment in the reflection of the pupils lol. Why would someone be bothered about copying, I dont know, you can get pretty much any information off the internet anyway for most techniques (architectural photographers are the worse I think, dont like to talk about how its done, at all)

Its more fun to experiment and teach yourself I think, you experiment means you're doing something different, maybe something SO different that it becomes unique and you end up finding a new technique all of your own and the person who you wanted to copy, ends up wanting to copy what you did, because its BETTER. :)

I only look at EXIFs when Im critiquing and trying to find out the reasons why a photo came out not so well for the OP who's posting, to advise they should have shot faster, or a higher aperture or not etc...

I'd be well chuffed if someone copied me, must mean Im doing something right.
 
If I strip EXIF, it's because it contains client details I've got no right to broadcast to the world... apart from that, I don't give a damn if it's there or not.


Carlh said:
I think people who go to the effort of hiding exif, just wastes their own time doing so.
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See above.
 
EXIF info - It is just another conspiracy by western governments to keep track on you aided and abetting by god knows who!!!!

The way it is going, one day there will be this enormous database of information communicated wirelessly to machines that will be used by them to take over the world

I've seen the film, or did I dream it!
 
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They might not know, or care, about exif data, or perhaps they haven't got their processing software or their Flickr account set up to display it by default.
 
If you're silly enough to think you can actually become a better photographer by looking at other people's EXIF data, then you deserve to get frustrated when there is none :)
 
/lights blue touch paper

I'm an exif in person. It gives the person viewing the data an element of how an image was constructed. It won't recreate an image but it will give you a degree of beneficial technical information that help to build knowledge or perhaps start on the path of recreating a look.

Anyone who purposely strips out generic metadata e.g. shutter, aperture etc. just wants to hide their efforts and not help others imo. Fair enough it's their choice just not one i agree with. And the "well it won't help you knowing it" is also rubbish, how can knowing more than nothing not be helpful? As i said it won't help you recreate an image perfectly but it can be insightful for at least the building blocks of an image as after camera settings all that is left is light and subject(s) / scene.

/retires to a safe distance...
 
I'm quite open to letting people view my EXIF data, because when I began this journey I was always interested in looking at the aperture, or shutter speed of an image.

Tbh I still look at peoples EXIF now because I'm always amazed that some of them are taken at such high ISO and you cannot tell!
 
Some folk like to see EXIF data accompany an image, some don't, and others aren't bothered either way.

There are those that will argue for it, those that will argue against it, and others that don't 'give a stuff' one way or the other.

Whenever I upload an image to Flickr, the EXIF data always goes with it. That way those that like to see it, can do so, those that don't can ignore it, and then everyone should be happy.

Its really not worth discussing the for and against on forums, as it will never end in a consensus agreement, and as someone has already said, can be a case of 'light the blue touchpaper'.

Dave
 
The only time exif is of use is when trying to find out possible reasons for something going wrong, other than that it really tells you very little, as has already been mentioned knowing the settings used and gear used really will tell you very little in the grand scheme of things...it's not going to help you with your own photos really as the settings are only relevant to that specific time
 
You cannot even begin to comprehend how little interest I have in the exif info of other peoples photographs.

I am interested in why they took them though. The 'why' will always be more useful and interesting than the 'how' to me, your opinion may differ!
 
Sharky said:
/lights blue touch paper

I'm an exif in person. It gives the person viewing the data an element of how an image was constructed. It won't recreate an image but it will give you a degree of beneficial technical information that help to build knowledge or perhaps start on the path of recreating a look.

Anyone who purposely strips out generic metadata e.g. shutter, aperture etc. just wants to hide their efforts and not help others imo. Fair enough it's their choice just not one i agree with. And the "well it won't help you knowing it" is also rubbish, how can knowing more than nothing not be helpful? As i said it won't help you recreate an image perfectly but it can be insightful for at least the building blocks of an image as after camera settings all that is left is light and subject(s) / scene.

/retires to a safe distance...
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Massive assumption and completely wrong. People who strip out the metadata do it for many and varied reasons, and I've never (through many similar discussions) heard anyone say they did it 'to not help others'.

How can knowing more not be helpful?
If you know the wrong things, or you gain some knowledge without understanding and it leads you to the wrong conclusion, I could go on, again lots of reasons.

I understand how this might sound, but I'm saying it anyway:

Put 20 people who've been shooting for ten years and know what they're doing in a room and ask them how important 'settings' are, you'll get a unanimous 'completely unimportant'.

Do the same with 20 newbies and you'll get the opposite answer.

Not only do people not know what they don't know, it's almost impossible for them to work out what information (of all the stuff out there) is actually important or even correct.
 
Pookeyhead said:
If you're silly enough to think you can actually become a better photographer by looking at other people's EXIF data, then you deserve to get frustrated when there is none :)
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Phil V said:
Really honestly, if you think that copying peoples 'settings' will get you anywhere, you're on completely the wrong track. Here's the clue though 'it's all about the light'.
Click to expand...

No I don't think "copying" (as you put it) will achieve he same image and that isn't why I asked about it. The point of my enquiry was if there is some reason why people remove it rather than how useful it is ;) I thought I might be missing some important reason as to why it should be removed.

I was just qualifying my question by mentioning why personally I find it useful. As I said, I think many people find it handy as it gives an insight into the makings of a shot and how the photographer handled the conditions. I think it is a useful part of the learning curve when looking at someone's images and understanding why they look the way they do ie aperture, shutter speed, lens choice and so on. If this was not the case then why do so many on here ask for the exif when someone posts up an image for critique or assistance?

Just for the record, a few have probably worded it better than I as to why it may be useful but just to reiterate- is there any reason to remove it other than obvious personal info?
 
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Pookeyhead said:
If I strip EXIF, it's because it contains client details I've got no right to broadcast to the world... apart from that, I don't give a damn if it's there or not.




See above.
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What client details do you record in Exif data ? I didn't even know this was possible. Are there any benefits in doing this ?
 
as already mentioned EXIF info is most useful to try and work out where someone has gone wrong the reality in quite a lot of images is the EXIF bears very little importance to the finished processed result
in this day and age of digital manipulation the final image can look nothing like the original out of the camera so to speak
HDR is a fine example of this most portraits are manipulated in more ways than one

why people strip or hide the EXIF i don't know or think about really but i do like to have a peek every now and again to see what equipment was used and have been happily surprised at what has been achieved with minimal / low budget gear sometimes
 
Blank_Canvas said:
What client details do you record in Exif data ? I didn't even know this was possible. Are there any benefits in doing this ?
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Technically.. not EXIF, but in the IPTC metadata you can store almost anything. Usually client name, contact details etc. The advantage is I can find things easier by searching for metadata keywords.

Here's one with nothing too confidential in it.

O7jQddu.jpg
 
Pookeyhead said:
Technically.. not EXIF, but in the IPTC metadata you can store almost anything. Usually client name, contact details etc. The advantage is I can find things easier by searching for metadata keywords.

Here's one with nothing too confidential in it.

O7jQddu.jpg
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Interesting, thanks for that David. Personally I always share my exif but I can well understand your reluctance to do so in that situation.
 
Phil V said:
Massive assumption and completely wrong. People who strip out the metadata do it for many and varied reasons, and I've never (through many similar discussions) heard anyone say they did it 'to not help others'.
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I did say it was my opinion, doesn't make me right but doesn't make it any less valid to me.

Phil V said:
How can knowing more not be helpful?
If you know the wrong things, or you gain some knowledge without understanding and it leads you to the wrong conclusion, I could go on, again lots of reasons.
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Well the unedited data can't be 'wrong' as that was how the image was captured, it has to be right. At that point it's how someone interprets that data. For example the percentage of people who will think wow if i know that was shot at f4, iso 200, 1/500 and with a 5DIII then i'll get that exact shot if i replicate that information are very small. But that same data may help someone put the image / information into context.

Phil V said:
I understand how this might sound, but I'm saying it anyway:

Put 20 people who've been shooting for ten years and know what they're doing in a room and ask them how important 'settings' are, you'll get a unanimous 'completely unimportant'.

Do the same with 20 newbies and you'll get the opposite answer.
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I've been shooting for 25 years in one form or another. I would never say as a blanket statement settings don't matter, they do. The key is they are a piece of a possibly very complex puzzle but nevertheless still matter. It's important i have the right shutter speed, aperture, iso etc. to make the basic core of an image, lighting, models, posing the scene etc. then fill in the rest. If you have a small piece of the image puzzle you may be able to gain a better understanding how an image was constructed.

Phil V said:
Not only do people not know what they don't know, it's almost impossible for them to work out what information (of all the stuff out there) is actually important or even correct.
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I'm very open minded and present the core information as captured and let someone do with that what they will. Who am i to say, hey world you don't know what you're doing so seeing my shutter speed won't benefit you so your not having it. Very presumptuous.

I can't find and have never seen or listened to a good argument why basic metadata is removed, never. It does no harm to 99% of the population who are even interested in looking at it. It's like a piece of knowledge someone has deemed you're not worthy of having because you'll not understand it fully (according to them).
 
Sharky said:
... It's like a piece of knowledge someone has deemed you're not worthy of having because you'll not understand it fully (according to them).
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Just for clarity - quote an actual source, or leave us all to believe you are making stuff up.;)
 
Of course exif data can help, when used along with other factors. I comes as no surprise to me tho to see some of the ignorant and unhelpful replies in this thread and those who have made them:rolleyes:

Lets see who jumps in first.:coldfeet:
 
Some people strip the exif so that they can continue to post last years shots as new shots when going through a lean spell, just to keep up appearances.

Could be wrong of course.
 
Yeh, that too!!
 
As I said earlier, "Its really not worth discussing the for and against on forums, as it will never end in a consensus agreement".

Those that think. EXIF data isn't helpful, will never agree with those that think it is, and on a forum, they will each argue their case until 'the cows come home', or until they lose interest in the discussion, and go and make a cup of tea instead.

No ones fault, it's just human behaviour, and if we all thought the same, life would be very boring. :)

IMO, if you believe EXIF data helpful, and want to include it with your images, that's fine. If you don't think its helpful to do so, that's also fine. There is no mandate to do either.

Dave
 
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Troll number 1 and his wife are here... there goes the thread.
 
I rest mine too. Straight in. Ha ha.!!


:D:D:D:D

By very definition if some folk find exif details helpful then it is helpful. It don't matter a monkeys chuff what others think or if it's no use to them. If it's use to some, job done. The end!!!
 
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Test successful.
 
Yup, mine worked well too. Seems some ain't as smart as they think. Exif or not I like it and use it.
 
Not exif data but during the pre-digital era. I had a sheet of A4 paper photocopied marked 1 to 36. I used to write the aperture, speed down and also any +/- EV adjustment next to the frame. It was the only accurate way of knowing what my exposures were. The ISO was also circled with a pen at the top of the sheet. Used to use the same sheet for roll films too. If I was photographing people I also used to wrote their name be t to the frame.
 
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Blank_Canvas said:
Not exif data but during the pre-digital era. I had a sheet of A4 paper photocopied marked 1 to 36. I used to write the aperture, speed down and also any +/- EV adjustment next to the frame. It was the only accurate way of knowing what my exposures were. The ISO was also circled with a pen at the top of the sheet. Used to use the same sheet for roll films too. If I was photographing people I also used to wrote their name be t to the frame.
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All good there. I've not done this for photography but have for many other things, particularly music so I can refer to it later and thus remember what I had written or done many months or years before. Taking notes really, always useful.;)
 
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