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When Should you Stop Editing?

July 30, 2012 by Andrew Leave a Comment

I’ve had a saying for the last few years when talking to people about “overediting”: editing is like makeup. When girls first start wearing it,  they have this idea that the more you use, the better the outcome.

I think we all know that this is not the case when it comes to cosmetics. Why are photographers stuck in the same mindset?

Bad Edit

I spent a lot of time editing this photo! That means it’s good, right? Right?!

If an image is bad from the start, no amount of editing is going to turn it into a great photo. I’ve always had the philosophy that the editing stage is only for making a good image great, not doctoring a bad photo until it’s passable. As a photographer, I just don’t like the idea of leaning on editing to make sure I have a photo that I can deliver to a client.

One of the best ways to check yourself is to press “Y” on the keyboard to show a before and after image of the view. Once I’ve done that, I ask myself – does this look better, or just more edited?

Using before and after view can help bring us down to earth and remember how much editing we’ve piled on.

How do you know when to stop editing? Do you find yourself trying to “save” images in the Develop module, or are you quick to move on? Check in with a comment to let me know what you think.

Filed Under: Lightroom Tagged With: finished

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