a crutch. There it is…. the cold hard truth. The only reason I can say this is because it used to be MY crutch. In my opinion, the most detrimental thing that could happen a new photographer is the discovery of PS actions. I remember when I discovered Yang and Ying…. all of you TRA action users know the lingo….I was amazed! You mean I could lighten and darken ANY part of my image? Just with one click?! All of a sudden my dark, underexposed faces were ok! All of my weaknesses in shooting manually were gone! Life was good! ….. or so I thought. What was really happening was that I stopped LEARNING and started ….
….EDITING, more and more and more. Why did I need to learn how to nail my exposures when I could just Ying-Yang the bride and grooms face? Right? I specifically remember telling one of my best photography friends after shooting a wedding together that I had underexposed some portraits but hey! I’ll just Ying-yang it…. no big deal. Oh it is SUCH a big deal! Thank goodness I snapped out of that phase and realized that extreme editing was not my friend…. it was my crutch. It kept me from learning and growing as a photographer. I was shooting images that I would NEVER show to clients unedited on the back of my camera… no way!… and I thought that was ok. I have since learned a very valuable lesson……editing should not determine my skill level as a photographer.
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What I mean by that is basically, I want my images to come out of the camera looking GOOD. I don’t want my editing to define my skill, I want my skill to be shown in how I shoot. Does that make sense? Am I rambling? …. Really, I just wanted to encourage all photographers out there.. young or old, pro or amateur, that learning the art of photography is never done! We will never stop learning new techniques. HOWEVER, in the digital age, it is easy to fall away from this way of thinking. It is easy to let your editing fix ALL of your errors and in my personal opinion, I think that is a cop-out. I don’t say this with authority, I say this with experience. I depended heavily on Photoshop for several months when I first started my business. It was a MAJOR crutch for me. I would encourage ALL photographers to continue to learn! Strive for great SOOC images that you are PROUD to show off unedited! It’s hard…. I still have trouble nailing exposures and being confident to show my work unedited. However, ever since I decided to make that my goal, I have been learning and growing more than I ever imagined because I’m challenging myself! So maybe during your next shoot or even practicing at home, shoot until you can take an image SOOC and feel confident about it! IT IS POSSIBLE!!!
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ps. I’m not claiming that editing is BAD BAD BAD! It is only a negative thing when we become so dependent on it what we stop challenging ourselves to grow!:) I definitely edit my images but the less I have to edit, the better!
Below is a BEFORE and AFTER from Robbie and Jess’s Williamsburg wedding back in August.
This image was edited with TRA’s “Oh Snap” at 20% and then mild sharpening for the web!
Thanks for reading!
— Katelyn
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