I don’t know if this is a good or bad way to go about doing editing, but when I’m editing a photo I’m always asking myself, “what’s wrong with this photo?”
The horizon isn’t level. So I make the horizon level.
The composition is slightly imbalanced. So I crop some of the empty space.
There’s a blade of grass sticking in on the side. So I edit it out.
I wish I could see more detail in the dark areas. I brighten the dark areas.
It feels low contrast. So I adjust the whites and blacks.
I want to see more detail in the sky. So I create a gradient.
The second adjustment I did looks aweful. I go back and adjust it. 🙂
It feels soft. I sharpen it.
And so forth and so on, until I can’t think of anything that’s wrong with the picture. If I don’t know how to do something, then I research how to do it. Like, if what is wrong with my photo is I can’t use the sliders to get that awesome Jimmy McIntyre’s look, I watch a video about how he edits his photos and I follow his instructions for taking it into Photoshop and adding the Orton effect….bang, my photo looks like his now! (sorta)
I feel like if I started with “how can I make this photo better?”, then I am overwhelmed with 10 thousand options and have no clue with which one to start with….would b&w make this photo better? would a different crop make it better? is a slanted or a straight horizon better….I’ve heard slanted horizons can be an interesting effect. Would saturation make it better? would the Orton effect make this photo better? WHO KNOWS!!!! I certainly don’t. And even if this photo would look better with the Jimmy McIntyre look, then how on earth do I get there? “Everyone else’s photos just look so cool….I wonder how they do it.” And I’m left feeling flat with no inspiration for editing my photos any more.
However, starting with, “What’s wrong with this photo” and doing what I currently know (and then researching if I don’t currently know how to it), I think that helps me get started. And sometimes a diamond comes out of the rough.
Looking at other people’s photos I think helps me see what’s wrong with my photos more too.
