Beginning Your Photography Journey “Editing your Photos after Capturing a Moment”
You just finished capturing a ton of pictures using that new camera you purchased and now you are wondering, what next? Not everyone does this next step, but most do in order to perfect the images they just captured. This next step is editing. Believe it or not most of the photography you see has been edited or tweaked a bit after a shoot. Not all images are going to look perfect and this may be due to many situations such as lighting, shakiness, movement of the subject, and so forth. Your camera also will not see your subject as you see them, meaning the coloring and vibrancy that your own eyes can see, but the camera will not always pick up on this and this may be something you will want to edit to make the picture look more realistic to the real world. I always thought that my photos looked great or somewhat good after taking them, however, once I started editing, I realized how much better a photo can look. Now, I am no expert photographer, but a beginner myself, however, I just wanted to share some of the perks I have learned along the way, some advice and some insight.
Editing Software
You are first going to want to pick out an editing software that hosts the features that you want to accomplish when editing your image. There is free software out there as well as software that costs a one-time fee and others that you will have to pay a subscription in order to use them. I am not going to go too in-depth with different software companies and what is best and what is not, as I have only used a few myself and there are so many options out there. I will touch base on the ones I am familiar with, but I will note, I am not affiliated nor sponsored by any of these companies, I am here giving an honest and unbiased reflection on my experience using this different software.
So, let’s get to it…
If you don’t know already, most computers already come equipped with an editing tool, as do most smartphones. This editing tool is probably the easiest to use and the least complex. All you have to do is click on the photo you want to edit, and you will find the editing tool icon at the top or bottom of the photo. Usually, this editing tool will come equipped with different filters, the option to crop and resize an image, a way to adjust the lighting in various ways (brightness, exposure, contrast, etc.), the coloring of the image (saturation, warmth and tint) and you may even be able to adjust the background (blur, remove, and replace with something else). Although this is a very simple way to edit one’s photos, I think it is also a great tool to start out with as a beginning photographer. It’s not overly complex to the point that editing will get confusing and overwhelming. I also believe it will help prepare you for the more complex editing tool I am about to talk about next.
The editing tool that came with my computer was in fact the first editing tool I started out with (as well as whatever editing I could do with my photos via my cell phone) as I could not afford the more expensive options for editing software at the time. And let's be honest, sometimes this simple software is really all you need sometimes to enhance the photographs quality, as you don’t want to go overboard anyway when you edit a photo, you should keep it as natural as possible, tweaking the image only a little bit here and there.
The next software I want to talk about is a very popular one and you may have even guessed this one would be included in my list of software. I am talking about the Adobe Suite, specifically Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. I am still learning this software, believe it or not, as it is very complex and there are soooo many things you can utilize to edit your image. One awesome feature I do have to say is there are tutorials on how to edit images, which comes in handy when using this multiplex software. I don’t really utilize photoshop as much as I do Lightroom. Photoshop is a great tool to use when wanting to edit certain aspects of the photo, like removing an object, removing and/or replacing the background, combining different images together, drawing on the photo, and etc. Lightroom on the other hand I utilize the most. It comes equipped with the same features as the option that comes with your computer and phone and then some. With Lightroom you can get very technical and precise on the special effects of your image. Some include, texture, clarity, dehaze, sharpening and noise reduction, enabling lens corrections, you can also click within your photo on a color you like and then click on another object within your photo to match that color (Example: you want the car in your photo to match the color of the sky, you can do that with this tool), and so much more.
This option can be an expensive investment depending on what you want to set yourself up with plan wise.
For $9.99 a month you can choose one app.
For the Photography package it will cost $19.99 a month max.
And to utilize all the apps it will cost you a maximum of $59.99 a month.
I decided to go with the Photography package as that is all I really need to utilize from the Adobe Suite, but if you decide to go this route, it’s up to you to decide what you feel necessary and what you want to utilize from this generous selection of creative apps.
The third software I want to talk about is one that has been gaining some popularity recently and that is Canva. This is a great tool to use for multiple purposes, if you want to create something new with their massive selection of graphics, stock photo and different fonts, or if you just want a tool to help you create something new and/or edit your current artwork and photography and so much more. Some of their tools are similar to Photoshop and somewhat easier to use when trying to edit a photo. I wouldn’t say they have the technical options like Photoshop, but like I said the editing tools are easy to use and pretty straight forward.
What’s great about this option is you can use Canva for free, but you will have limited access to editing tools and only be able to utilize their free options (tools, graphics, fonts, etc.). If you want to use the free option you are able to purchase a graphic or font (which usually does not cost very much), but I believe you can only use it one time in one Canva design and you would have to purchase the graphic or front again if you wanted to use it in another design. They too have a subscription plan called the Pro Plan that you can purchase for $15 a month or $120 a year. If you purchase the Pro Plan then you have free range to utilize whatever you want on Canva, following their terms and conditions of course. I did decide to purchase the Pro Plan from Canva as I do use this tool from time to time to edit my photos and to utilize their graphics and fonts. I also think this tool makes it easier to download your photos in different image formats, such as JPG, PDF and PNG if you are not a techy person.
So, just another option to think about when looking for editing software. I think it is a great alternative if you don’t want to go with the Adobe Suite and just want something simple and easier to use when it comes to editing. I know this one is not the cheapest option either, but it does have its perks. If you do decide to go with Canva and not the Adobe option, I do still strongly suggest at least purchasing Adobe Lightroom, I feel this is a very necessary tool when it comes to editing your photos and will be a strong asset within your editing software collection.
So those are the different softwares that I use to edit my photos. All I can suggest is do your research to figure out what will be the best option for you and what will be the best option to achieve the best editing outcome for your photos. There are so many options out there and some are free, but again not all free options are the greatest as they do come limited to usage of certain tools.
Editing Steps
1. You will want to Import and Organize.
Import your images from your camera or storage device to your computer.
Organizing your images in folders and naming them appropriately will help keep your photos organized and easier to find.
2. Basic Adjustments
Cropping and straightening your photo.
You may need to adjust the exposure of your photo. Maybe your photo turned out too bright or too dark and adjusting the exposure should help fix this.
Adjusting the white and black balance can also help enhance different aspects of your image.
Also adjusting the contrast of your image can help make your photo stand out.
3. Advanced Adjustments
One way to help enhance your photo is to use clarity and texture adjustments. This will help fine tune some imperfections of the image. You may even want to use the noise reduction, dehaze and sharpening tools along with these to help make your image clearer.
If you want to tweak the intensity of colors within your photo you will want to adjust the vibrancy and saturation. If you want to get super precise, you can adjust the temperature and tint of the photo as well, but this isn’t always necessary.
Another fun tool to use is vignette to darken or lighten the image's edges and corners.
4. Retouching
If your software provides these features, this is where you will want to remove any blemishes, items, or subjects that you do not want included in your photo.
5. Final Touches
If you want, you can add your signature or a watermark to your photos, for sharing purposes or if you decide to sell your photos to keep your photos secure until someone purchases them, go ahead and add that edit now. From my perspective this option really does not matter. If you are sending someone a hard copy of your photo, and that is the only option, then yeah, I’d say add the signature to your photo/canvas/poster/print and the watermark to your photo that you include on your website.
Not to be brash here, but realistic, and some food for thought. If you are selling your photo as a digital download, unfortunately just about anyone can go in and remove your signature from the photo after purchase using different editing tools. Unfortunately, the same goes for watermarks that you include on your website. So, you can decide if you want to add all that to your photo, to some people it still gives them a sense of mind that they still have credit to their photo. I did do this at first on my photos that I was selling, then I decided it was too easy for someone to just go in and remove the watermark and my signature, again unfortunately this can be done and there are some people out there that will do this. So, I added a note on my website stating copyright and rules on how to use my photos once purchased or while viewing my website. I wanted to be clear that even though there may not be a watermark or a signature, I still do not give permission to resell my photography for any purposes; it is for viewing and/or personal use only. I am giving people the benefit of the doubt and on their own honor that they will respect my wishes.
6. Exporting your photos
Choose the appropriate file format (JPEG, PNG, PDF, etc.) you feel is necessary for personal utilization and/or your customers purchasing your photography.
You will also want to set the resolution and size of your photo, rule of thumb is usually 300 DPI for a standard high resolution.
Upload your photos to your website of choice to share.
Overview and Other Tips
Again, try to keep your photo as natural as possible. Avoid over-editing your image to the point it no longer looks natural.
I am going to contradict what I just said in the first bullet and say, sometimes if you decide to over edit a photo it can look rather cool if you edit it correctly. You can change so many things to make a photo look different from what it naturally was, IF that is what you are trying to achieve.
Be consistent with your style of editing and really make it your own.
Remember to stay organized as this will help you substantially in the long run when editing photos and/or trying to find specific photos to share.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different techniques, the more practice the better to improve your skills.
NOTE: Make copies of the original photo if you are going to dabble in different editing techniques, so if you make mistakes or don’t like the turn out you will always still have the original.
Always read the terms and conditions of each site you use as there are rules as to what is appropriate to use in your photo when it comes to sharing and selling your product on certain platforms and the usage of tools used with different software.
That’s about it for this blog. Hope this gave some insight and maybe answered some questions you may have been thinking about. Remember to stay confident and practice, you will get better with time.
Cheers!
Vanessa
