Editing - When Less Is More

Like many of you, I have used Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for years. In those years, I have watched Lightroom move from a relatively basic image management and raw developer into a fully fledged, powerful editing app. It now rivals Photoshop in what it can do.

The power that we have in Lightroom and many other modern apps is astonishing. To the point where we can take a relatively dull, average composition and turn it into something incredibly striking. I say striking because it doesn’t mean the image is good.

We have at our mouse buttons a plethora of tools that combined with AI masking allow us to change entirely the way an image looks. Now that can be a very enticing thing to a new photographer. It can also be a very attractive thing to an experienced photographer, especially if they have returned from a disappointing shoot.

We are, however, in danger of over reliance on over editing our images and today I want to look at why when it comes to editing, less is often more.

Removing the Natural Look and Feel

Lightroom has some sledgehammer tools. One of which is Dehaze. Used subtly it can add microcontrast to midtone areas. However, push that slider more than 10 to the right, and our skies become darker and more moody. Highlight areas contrast more against that moody sky but in reality, we are creating something that can look unnatural.

Screenshot of an image in Lightroom with the dehaze slider pushed far right — The dehaze tool can wield dramatic results with minimal movement. By Rowtography

There are a number of basic tools which, when used excessively, can overcook an image, giving it that faux HDR look that was all the rage in the early 2000s. The shadow tool is one example. Our eyes can adapt to shadows in real life, but they do so at the expense of bright light. Walking from a dark building in to a bright sunny day is a prime example of that.

Sensors are much the same, they cannot deal with the blackest shadows and brightest highlights at the same time. So when we slide that shadow tool right we are revealing details that not only could not be picked up by a sensor but also our eyes.

The same is true for the highlight slider. We are told to protect the highlights in camera. However we often try to punch our skies by pushing the highlights left, this can lead to the rest of the image looking flat and unnatural. The same is true if we mask the sky, and reduce highlights.

Clarity and texture are also useful tools that can be overused. They can add light and shade to surfaces but also make those surfaces look excessively textured.

All of the tools mentioned above are excellent, and it’s unlikely you will find modern editing software that doesn't have a variation of them. However, they need care and attention, don’t go Primal Scream and turn them up to 11, use them subtly, a few points at a time, monitoring the image as you go.

Dating Your Images With Over Editing

We talked about the HDR trend in the previous section but it leads nicely into this one. HDR was a massive trend in the 2000s. We didn’t have software with RAW editing and HDR merging built in. Instead, we had to invest in third party software to merge JPEGs only. And boy did we try to get our money’s worth out of them.

Durham Cathedral in Autumn in an image that demonstrates too much HDR — HDR is a valuable tool that can easily be overdone. By Rowtography

The point here is that editing trends come and go, good photographs will remain good photographs. Often HDR was used to make dull compositions look striking. Other more recent trends include the overuse of vignetting to highlight a subject, something easily rectified by identifying and isolating your subject when shooting. There’s the crushing of blacks to try and mimic the cinematic look, and that old favourite, spot colour. Spot colour is where you isolate the subject by emphasizing the colour. The background is made black and white and the colour saturated on the subject. Incidentally, have you noticed that that colour is nearly always red.

If you look back at images using any of the trends mentioned above plus many others, they will look dated. Trends be it fashion, architecture or photography quickly date. Conversely, getting great images in the camera and then applying subtle, effective edits, will give you shots that stand the test of time.

On over processed image of the High Level Bridge in Newcastle, demonstrating crushing the blacks — Enhancing a sky can be hit and miss in complicated scenes. By Rowtography

Shoot Strong Images And Edit Less

We tend to get flattered by the capabilities of modern digital cameras. They will nail exposure and focus pretty much every time we press the shutter button. That should be considered a good thing as it should allow us to think more about the creative aspects of the image. However, it can be used as a crutch, a way to spray shots without thought to the many aspects that go into a good picture.

If we add into this mix the sheer “editability” of modern RAW files, we have the perfect recipe of over editing. This in turn gives us the potential for dated images as mentioned above.

Herd Groyne Lighthouse with grass in front — Good technique and composition means less need to edit. By Rowtography

However, if we dial back our enthusiasm for over shooting and take a more considered approach to our photography, we will end up with images that require much less editing and will stand the test of time.

To do that, all we need to do is go back to the basics of photography. Good, well defined light. A strong subject isolated from its background. Compositional rules guiding us to that subject and a balanced exposure that means the minor editing that we need to do, will be able to enhance both the subject and the background without resorting to “turning it up to 11”

The simple fact is that the more you get right in the camera, the less you need to do in the edit. That’s not to say you shouldn’t edit, but a well exposed and composed RAW file will mean less time in Lightroom than a less considered shot.

Sunrise at Roker Lighthouse seen through the C2C monument — Getting the exposure right in camera means minimal need to edit. By Rowtography

The tools that we have at our disposal in software like Lightroom are incredible. I also want to point out that heavy editing is not a bad thing. However, if you are going to do some major editing to an image, it must be done with intent. You must have conceived that image before you even pressed the shutter, composed and exposed accordingly and then edited it to what you had seen in your mind's eye.

Whilst many of us strive to take highly conceived images, often we are just shooting for fun or even commercial reasons. Getting it right in the camera and editing lightly will make our time spent in Lightroom so much more productive and give us images that will still look good 10 years down the line.