Photography Tips
Is Editing Required?
A Learn Photography for Free Video
The question has been asked: Do I need to edit every photo I take? I have attended some workshops, and everyone tells me that I need to edit my photos. Do I need to learn Photoshop or other editing programs to become a good photographer?
See the video:
Do you need to edit every photo you take? The short answer is NO.
Let me explain:
If you approach photography from the mindset that you can fix your photos by editing them to look good, then that will make you a good editor, not a good photographer. If you approach photography from the mindset that you need t create the best possible photo in camera then you become a good photographer and any editing you may choose to add then enhances something which is already good.
A good photographer focuses on creating great images in camera while a graphic designer, graphic artist or photo retoucher takes what they have and manipulate it until they have something that looks good.
Do you need to learn something like Photoshop or Lightroom to be a good photographer…no…but in the long run it will enhance your images. When you are a beginning photographer, focus on creating good photos without any editing, before you attempt any editing. If a photo does not look right or something is wrong, then focus on how you can do it differently or better in camera with your next photo. These are the primary skills that will make you a better photographer.
Eventually all photographers start editing images but trying to combine this skill with your photography from the start may result in you learning to become a good editor rather than becoming a good photographer.
Learn photography first and when you get to the point where you know your camera and what it can produce and you have mastered it functions and abilities, then you look at editing to go beyond the abilities of the camera.
I am not against editing or digital manipulation of images, nor filters which are available on the various social media platforms, but once you master photography then editing becomes an enhancement rather than a tool to fix bad photography.
If you at a point where you feel that you are ready to learn editing, then first do subtle edits such a adjustment of light using exposure, contrast, shadows and highlights.
For editing purposes, it is best to shoot photos in your cameras raw format if available. If your camera can shoot RAW and JPG at the same time, use this function and then edit the raw to a point where your feel it looks better than the JPG image without it being overdone.
When you enter the world of professional photography then editing is part of the job to enhance the great photos you have taken. A professional photographer does not rely on their editing skill to make bad photos good.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section on the YouTube video above and I will try my best to answer them.
Learn Photography for Free
Would you like to learn about photography… for free?
I am Riaan Roux, and I am a Full Time Professional Photographer with a many of years of experience from Product Photography, stock photography, studio and portraits, model photography and even weddings. I want to teach those who are new to photography how to improve their skill and how to make their photos just that much better, and I want to provide this free of charge for as long as I can.
Watch the video:
So many new photographers have told that they have attended workshops about beginner photography, and they often come out of these feeling more confused and with more questions than when they went in. Often these beginner photography courses force beginners to learn technical concepts like shutter, aperture and ISO and hammer on “the exposure triangle”, rule of thirds, focal length and inverse square law of light fall-off…and and and…and people become confused and feel as if they are standing at the foot of a mountain that they are ill equipped to climb.
Though these technical concepts are important in the long run, I feel that these are not what beginners need.
Photography is about capturing an image and learning how to make that image interesting so that the image tells its own story. Capturing an image in such a way that whoever looks at it knows what it is the photographer wants them to see. Learning to get only the important bits into an image and avoid unintentional clutter. Develop that photographers’ eye that can see an image before you even pick up the camera to snap the shot.
I am not going to start from the beginning with a set series of videos in which I want to force you to follow what every other photography course follows. I want you, as a beginner photographer, to ask me what you want to know, and I will create videos as answers explain what you need to know.
Here is your opportunity as a beginner photographer to ask me what YOU really want to know.
Ask your questions in the comments section of my YouTube Channel (see video above) and I will try to get to your answer as best I can. Ask away…
Over-Exposure and Midday Sun
Over-Editing Photos
Editing is a choice made by the photographer and therefore completely up to their personal taste. Many photographers and many schools of photography will teach you that over-editing is bad and results in bad images, but that may not always be the case. Over-editing is a choice and if the client of the photographer likes that kind of editing then no matter how much the greater photography fraternity screams and shouts, the resulting images are accepted by those clients and the photographer will be happy. It is very much like death metal music, it is not everyone’s cup of tea, yet it does not go away just because the majority of the music industry does not subscribe to that style.
Even I, when the mood strikes me and I come across the right image, will do an over-the-top over-edit (normal edit is always included as well).
A Look At the Forever Thine Workflow set by Sleeklens
As a photographer, you soon develop a love-hate relationship with editing. Editing your photos, in the digital age, is expected and a requirement for every photographer. Many people will accept the image straight from the camera, but as soon as you move into photography as a hobby and perhaps further into professional photography, then editing is what sets you apart from the beginners or the average.
Wedding Photography
When your photography progresses into the world of Wedding Photography then editing can become painful as it becomes more complex and refined. Most photographers develop a style of editing which may or may not become repetitive and monotonous as you wade your way through many hundreds of photos while you apply the same set of edits over an over. But what if you could make it simpler?
Enter Forever Thine Workflow
The Forever Thine workflow pack consists of 112 Lightroom Presets and 23 brushes which have been designed with the wedding photographer in mind. Having done very many wedding photos myself I was quite surprised by the presets and how they improved the efficiency of my workflow. Though I have relied on many of my own presets which I designed myself I was looking for something more which would improve speed and efficiency. The most difficult part of the process is often deciding where to start, and this is where these presets make your life so much easier.
The presets have been broken down into groups with variations in those groups, and this makes the decision of where to start so much easier. You start by taking a look at your image, or image group, decide what look you would like and pick a variation. Most of your work is done right there, and these presets have been thought out pretty well to do just that…make it simpler.
But Presets are not Perfect
Presets are a starting point, they are not a magic bullet, so some tweaks and adjustments may be needed with every image. Presets are there as a starting point, and you tweak from there, and this is where you use brushes. Besides tweaking sliders, parts of the image need some brushes to complete the image to your liking. The 23 brushes included in the Forever Thine workflow add exactly those brushes most wedding photographers would need.
The Forever Thine Workflow impressed me, and I am sure they will make you happy too!
Where do you find the Forever Thine Workflow?
FOREVER THINE WEDDING WORKFLOW
Professional Photo Editing Service
