Minimalistics

EDITING THE PROFESSIONAL WAY

There are two important differences between professional photographers and amateurs is that professionals shoot a lot more – and edit a lot better. Many amateurs either don’t edit or approach it incorrectly, which is unfortunate because it can be a major factor in the improvement of their photography. For those who have never really thought about it, I hope that this guide will be useful.

The Problems:
Sometimes amateurs don’t shoot enough to get a good shot or shoot when all the necessary elements that help to make a good picture are not present. The consequence is that everything they’re editing is a near-miss or worse, so keep in mind the possibility the pictures that you’re trying to edit from a shoot may not be up to standard, and that there isn’t an outstanding photograph among them.
Action: Delete them.

Assuming the shoot was successful, amateurs don’t limit themselves to the best shot and tend to keep every picture they think is good, possibly nine or ten of them. Even similars.
Action: Use the professional’s technique and select just one – maybe two if there’s a good landscape and portrait – and reject the rest.

Amateur editors find it difficult to let go of near-misses. They may have had high hopes for a particular shot. They may have spent ages trying to achieve it . They may have shot something that is almost great. But the key word is “almost” — not “great.”
Action: Reject them and shoot the subject again until you get it right.

Sentimentality has no part to play when editing…it’s such a cute little kitten. How could anybody not like the little guy even if it’s not the greatest picture of a kitten?
Action: Be ruthless – kitty has to go!

Don’t confuse related but separate issues with a picture. OK, so it’s the best of the set that you shot with your new lens and the picture is extremely sharp. That may just mean that it’s a bad picture made even worse because it’s sharp bad image.
Action: Cull it.

Some just don’t bother to edit. In general, pro’s spend a great deal more time editing than amateurs do. They have to as they shoot a lot more. They know that editing is the flip side of shooting. They are also aware that it is an important step to the final result.
Action: Do as the pro’s do – shoot more, edit hard and show less.

Just imagine that it’s your first semi-professional assignment. You have special permission to get access, you waited for just the right light and the right moment. Unfortunately the world champion high diver did a flop. You spent eight hours in a cramped hide waiting for a shot of the cute owl chick and all you can see is a blob with feathers sticking out. Neither are good shots. Well, it’s an unfortunate fact of life that the client will ignore the effort and time. They won’t be saying “Well, I bet it took a lot of time or effort to get the shot, so we’ll use it.” The reality is that if it doesn’t work there’s no credit.
Action: It just has to be done again.

Suggested solutions:

Time: It can work to your advantage, because when work is new, it has a different effect on us than when its novelty starts to wear off. Time can also help you sort a jumble into a kind of order that makes sense. Leave it for a few days and then try editing in three separate stages — a rough first pass removing about 60%, then a more considered hard edit that takes out a further 30%, then possibly a last edit as you’re post-processing because t’s at that point that an average picture just isn’t worth the effort.

Get input: See what other people respond to. At the very least, they bring less emotional baggage to the pictures. But be very clear that you are the final arbiter. You must make the final decision – you’re under no obligation to be bound by other peoples’ taste – but their input may help to clarify your thoughts.

Don’t edit in your mind: Look at your pictures. If there are fifteen pictures of roughly the same quality, then perhaps use Photoshop Bridge – or similar – to isolate the pictures you’re trying to sort out. It maybe the way that light falls on the subject or the graphic
elements of the image. But after a little while you’ll find a couple that you really like, a bit like the cream rising to the top. Once that separation
occurs there’s little doubt in your mind as to which are the best. Bin the rest.

Finally, difficult and painful as it may be to be so objective in the early days, your philosophy should be “to your own self be true”. Editing is a very important part of the process of being a competent and discerning photographer. Happily, it gets much easier with practice…