Image editing explained.
It’s often said that getting great shots is only half the job.
The remaining 50% of the time is spent enhancing the images before clients get to see them.
So why do photographers edit their images?
Professional photographers typically shoot in RAW format, which captures all the image data directly from the camera’s sensor. While this results in high-quality photos, RAW images can look flat and desaturated straight out of the camera. Unlike JPEGs, which are processed and compressed, RAW files require editing to bring out their full potential. Editing ensures that the images are delivered in the right format and colour space, suitable for use online or in print.
Once the colours, exposure and contrast were fixed, the editing challenge with the above images was to clean up the tarmac on the path and road and the grass plus removing any unwanted distractions.
Basic editing process.
Editing is an often misunderstood process. The tools that we have at our disposal such as Photoshop and Lightroom, are powerful and getting better all of the time. But the software doesn’t edit the images on its own. What we do - and not do - with the tools available is so important and puts a personal stamp on the images produced. My approach is to edit each and every image individually and not batch edit. The most basic form of editing involves correcting for exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows, clarity and saturation, then cropping and straightening, whilst also adding keywords, titles and captions to the metadata.
Practical reasons for editing.
On a practical level, images may need to be edited because the lighting conditions are poor and outside the photographers’ control so the editing process can improve the exposure and enhance the contrast and colour balance of the image. Also, we live in an imperfect world. There are marks on walls, dull skies, blemishes on the skin, the wrong bottles on display, and many more. As a general rule, I believe in leaving in these imperfections unless they have a detrimental effect on the overall look and purpose of the image..
The above example shows basic levels of editing you can expect for portraits including colour correction and fixing exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows, plus vignetting to draw the viewer into the subject’s face. There is also now a host of AI-aided tools at our disposal where we can soften skin, brighten teeth and other facial adjustments but when used, I try to add subtly so the pictures still looks realistic.
Advanced editing.
Images sometimes demand advanced levels of editing that can include object removal, repairing buildings or surfaces, skin softening and more. As is standard in the photography industry, I charge by the project and/or shoot time and this includes basic image editing which covers most eventualities. The basic editing process usually takes as long as the photoshoot itself, so four hours for a half-day shoot and so on. When needed, advanced editing is charged as an additional cost based on the extent of the work involved and the option is highlighted when the initial set of images are sent over.
Culling process.
Editing is also about what images are included or not. Most photography assignments are based on a specific brief and with an objective in mind, like accompanying a news story, social media post or web page. Unless a specified amount of images are part of the client brief, I provide my clients with all of the images taken with the exception of duplicates and outtakes, which can include blurry images (of which there shouldn’t be many…), unflattering poses/expressions or something unwanted dominating the frame. This gives the client the best possible choice to be able to select from.
On the subject of skies in exterior architectural photography, my starting point is always to try to improve the actual sky through adjusting the highlights/shadows and colour enhancement. But when faced with a dull or overly dark sky, it is sometimes necessary to replace it. My preference is to replace it with a brighter sky captured during the same shoot as it generally works better or, failing that, to use one from my own personal sky library that matches the lighting and mood.