Today technology has really taken a drastic turn and so have all the other industries associated with it. Photography is one such industry.

Earlier the photos that were clicked were the ones that were printed and final. Now you can alter the things you don’t want or like in your photographs or even add something.

There is software available on the internet that allows you to edit your photographs quite easily.

Editing is considered an integral part of photography. It has become more famous over the last few years.

Photographers edit their photographs to make them more realistic and attractive than the original photograph taken.

Photo editing might seem like a new development in the last few years but it’s not. Photo editing has been there since the photo was developed in a darkroom.

Why Photo editing is important?

Today it just requires a click of a button to edit an image but back then it required a whole box of tools, a very sharp eye, and an extremely steady hand with extreme labor.

Photo by Mylene Tremoyet on Unsplash

There were various techniques used such as dodging and burning, vibrating while exposing, scratching the negatives, blurring, airbrushing, painting the negatives, colouring, etc to get the desired effect in a picture.

There has been a lot of advancement in the photography industry. Photo editing was not considered essential back then but it is now.

Editing is considered an integral part of photography. It has become more famous over the last few years.

Using photo editing you can improve your skills and increase the scope of your work.

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There is no limit to the changes that can be made to make an ordinary image feel unique and special.

You can apply changes to your images but also preserve the part you like while editing. This is called image masking.

This feature protects the chosen part of the image from any alterations while making changes to the photo.

Photo editing can give you a second chance to improve your photographs.

Sometimes photoshoots don’t go as planned and the pictures don’t turn out as you hope. Photo editing gives you a second chance to improve those photos.

Using photo editing you can deliver the photos to your client even after a bad day at the shoot. This could essentially save your reputation.

Any photographer aims to tell a story with their pictures. Sometimes you are not able to capture such photographs that tell a story.

You can correct this situation by using photo editing. It can be very disappointing when the camera does not capture the moment, but you can enhance the image’s mood with editing.

Today editing has turned into more of a necessary evil.

As a photographer do you need to edit your photos?

The answer to this question is a definite yes. If you want to make a name for yourself in the industry you will need to know how to edit your work.

More than often people say if you are a good photographer you should not need editing. But that is not true editing is not about changing a picture but about enhancing it.

Most professional photographers don’t usually make many changes to their photographs. They just tend to make some changes in the color palette or the exposure or other background changes.

Every photographer has a different style of clicking pictures which can differentiate their work from others. Every photographer has a different editing style as well.

Editing is the best way to leave your stamp on your work. It makes for a good way to brand yourself especially if you are starting out as a photographer.

While starting out you can experiment with different styles of editing as you go on experimenting you will find a design that suits you best.

You can then stick with your style for editing any further photographs. This can attract more clients your way.

Your style makes you stand out among the lot.

In today’s time, people hire photographers after taking a look at their photographs and style. Hence the photographs you click are not the only thing they look at.

Photo editing can give you an edge, it makes your photographs unique. This is the reason almost every professional photographer edits their photograph to some extent.

Points To Remember While Editing A Photo

While photo editing is easy to get a grip on, there are still some points to consider while editing your photographs.

Some of these points are mentioned below.

• More About Editing Software
• Colour correction
• Image format
• Correct Exposure settings
• White balance
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Now let’s understand each point in detail…

More About Editing Software

There are a lot of options of editing options available today. Every one of the editing software has similar as well as different features.

There are a lot of things you need to look for while choosing photo editing software. You can make this choice in two simple steps.

The first step is to make a list of all the features you want in your editing software. This list should include all the must-have features that you need.

Now the next step would be to make a short list of editing software with the features you need. Then just try all of them out and see which one suits you the most.

This way you will have editing software with all the features you want and also the one you are comfortable using.

Colour correction

Every one of us has gone through this at some point. We capture a moment and are not quite satisfied when we look at it later.

Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

We remember the moment differently sometimes brighter and sometimes with different shades.

This is what the colour correction feature is for. It can improve the picture by adjusting, tweaking and balancing the series of colours in the original photo to make it appear natural and unfiltered.

Some people use this feature simply for corrections in the picture while others use it to add a dramatic flair to their photographs.

Colour corrections allow you to present a balanced picture.

Image format

The image format is also a point to remember while editing. Different types of formats are compatible with different apps or software.

Some features work well on only some image formats. The most common image format is JPEG.

JPEG is compatible and works with almost every app and filter out there. There are many more image formats such as GIF, PNG, etc.

Every one of these formats has its features. JPG or JPEG is for web and print photos and quick previews. GIF is for animation and transparency in limited colors.

PNG is for transparency with millions of colors. Generally, the ones photographers work with are in RAW format.

RAW is the unprocessed data from the cameras. RAW files are generally converted into JPEG or JPG format after editing.

Pictures in RAW format from the camera provided the highest quality image possible that you can edit non-destructively with a photo editing application like Photoshop.

Correct Exposure settings

Adjusting exposure can make the photo exactly as bright or as dark as you want it to be. The exposure setting is one of the most basic editing settings.

While adjusting the exposure setting you have to be careful as sometimes increasing the brightness can introduce noise in the picture.

This is why most photographers prefer to get the right exposure while capturing the photographs so they don’t have to edit them later.

In most photo editing apps or software it just takes a minute or 5 to get the right exposure for your picture.

White balance

White balance is basically how your camera perceives the color white. Every light source comes with a different color temperature that affects the photograph differently.

source: fstoppers

white balance balances the colour temperature in your image. The correct white balance can ensure that your picture looks as natural as possible.

White balance adds the opposite colour to the image in an attempt to bring the colour temperature back to neutral.

You can adjust the white balance in your camera as well as while photo editing.

and also can change the white balance for your photos in the camera, but it’s still possible that it doesn’t look quite right. That’s where a white balance adjustment comes in.

With photo editing, you can adjust your photo’s white balance to correct for different colors. Adjusting the white balance setting can make your photographs look all the more impressive.

Questions And Answers In Photo Editing

Some of the most frequently asked questions about editing photos include the following ones…

Q1. Best software/application used by photographers to edit photos?

As I have mentioned before there are many software and applications available in the market today.

Some of the more popular applications and software used by professional photographers include Snapseed, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Darktable (free to edit RAW format), and Skylum Luminar.

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All of the applications and software mentioned above have almost the same features. The most popular one of the above is Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is the most dominant in the editing game, it is considered the king of editing.

After photoshop Adobe Lightroom comes in second. Some of these applications or software have paid subscriptions and some are free.

If you are just starting with editing you can experiment with all of the applications or software mentioned above and find out which one suits you the most.

The applications and software mentioned are just some suggestions you can explore other options available and find out the one that you feel comfortable using.

Q2. How much time it’ll take for a beginner to learn to edit like a PRO?

There is no definite answer to this question. This completely depends on the person. Some can master it in a week for some it takes months even years.

Editing is not just about changing just a few settings. You need to know which setting changes what in the photograph, and what increases or decreases a setting can do to your picture.

Editing can seem complicated at first but as you continue to practice it becomes easier with time.

It will take time to learn all the features of the application or software you end up using. Sometimes it takes weeks just to understand the user interface.

The time it takes to master the art of editing is completely subjective. It depends on various factors.

One of the important factors includes the extent you want to learn to edit. For print media, it takes less than a month but for professional photography purposes, it takes 2-3 months.

Q3. Are there any rules to follow while editing?

There are no strict rules while photo editing. But there are some basic rules that you can follow while editing to get desirable results.

Some of these rules are mentioned below.

• Crop your images and clean them up.
• Adjust the white balance.
• play with exposure and contrast or you can directly play with the curve for exposure/contrast/color correction and more.
• update colour vibrancy and saturation.
• Sharpen images.
• Finalize and share.

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These are some of the key steps that you can follow while editing your pictures. These are just some steps not rules.

You can always choose how you want to edit your pictures.

Conclusion 

Photo editing is an important part of a photographer’s work. Editing helps you perfect your work.

Some things cannot be done with the camera. You require experience in editing to get the desired result.

Editing allows you to make your imagination come true. You can make the photograph you click into the one you imagined it to be with just a few clicks.

Though every photographer doesn’t need to edit their photographs. It depends on the photographer.

Editing is just to add a creative flair to the photographs.

As it is known art is subjective, and so is editing. Some people use it to correct the photo and others use it to add a flair to their photos, the use depends on the photographer.

Hope you liked this article and found it helpful…

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