Watch the short video above, or keep reading if you prefer the written word.
Too many photographers look to the work they do with the camera as job one, which it is. But it’s not the only job. Your ability to edit down to your keepers, to process them in ways that are consistent with your voice, and to do something with those photographs, are as much a vital part of your craft as the camera work.
What about the edit?
The choice we make to select one final frame from among many is one of the most important choices we can make. It is part of what it means to make a great photograph. When we make a body of work, we have to choose a dozen or two dozen final photographs from what might be hundreds or thousands of sketch images or possible alternatives—the ability to do this is no less important than the ability to choose a shutter speed, aperture, or composition.
So how should we be thinking about these choices? And why are so few photographers talking about it when I know so many of them are overwhelmed by it? I wonder if it’s as simple as believing that it’s just not as important. Just pick something sharp and well-exposed and move on? Or do we just pick all the images that aren’t stinkers and call it done?
I think one of the most overlooked ways to improve your photography right now—without the need to upgrade your camera or get the latest version of your favourite lens—is to get pickier. To begin thinking about your choice of final frames more creatively. More intentionally.
Ansel Adams said that 12 images a year was a good crop. I don’t generally think of my photographs as plants, but I like his point. And I suspect your work would be better if you were more selective, more creative about the ways you looked at editing down to your keepers, and more intentional with what you did with your images. If we all did that we’d make better, stronger photographs.
So, I wonder:
- When you edit or select your best work, what questions are you asking yourself?
- What criteria do you have for making that selection?
- How much do you trust that process?
- Are you still deleting everything that doesn’t make the cut the first time around?
- Are you looking for quantity or quality—and do you have a clear system for understanding what that means to you?
I’ve heard it said that photographers are their own worst editors, but I wonder if that’s only because we often don’t give the editing as much thought as we give to our gear or our camera work.
And—because I’ve been that guy—I wonder how many are just relying on the Un-Suck filter in Photoshop or Lightroom to “polish a turd” rather than choosing an image that’s, ahem, not a turd in the first place.
I have two points to this. The first is a plea. It’s more than the nudge I might normally give you. I’m practically begging you to ask yourself what it would take for you to be pickier with the images you choose as your final selects and which ones you relegate to the archives.
Could you be giving the whole process a little more time, or actually—because my approach to editing takes less time—could you be giving it more focus and attention?
Could you be clearer about your selection criteria and more intentional about what you’re choosing those images for in the first place? What would your accumulated work look like in a year if you didn’t settle on the 3-stars but chose only the ones that were an unqualified “Hell, yes!”?
Your work can be so much stronger simply by choosing stronger photographs, and you can learn to do this.
Earlier this week, I talked about three ways we could love our photographs more. This is the big one: desire more for them. Demand more from them. Hold out for the very best of them. Never settle. But how do we do that?
In a couple days I’ll be inviting you to join me for this year’s Beyond The Shutter course, which I created to help photographers get clearer about one big question and that’s this:
“I just shot a bunch of photographs. Now what?”
It’s about editing down to your best work, but more than that, it’s about how you think about editing, how you can make it less overwhelming, what criteria you can use to select your best work, and how you can use the tools in Adobe Lightroom to help with that?
It’s about doing something beautiful and meaningful with your photographs, like monographs, multi-media presentations, or web-galleries and using the tools you already have in Adobe Lightroom to do this much more easily than you might believe possible.
One of my most popular courses to date, Beyond The Shutter is a video course created to help you become the strongest photographer you can be. To be less intimidated, less overwhelmed by the stuff that needs to happen once you put the camera down, in order to make stronger choices. It’s about the neglected other half of our creative process, a part of our craft that—once I engaged with it myself and stopped being so ad hoc about it—has become one of the most rewarding parts of what I do, rather than a dreaded after-thought.
I want to help change your thinking about it. I want to show you my own process and how I make things like the monographs I send out, and so much more.
You’ll get all the details this Sunday. The ideas and techniques I want to share with you will change your enjoyment of this craft you love so much, and will help you take next steps toward being more creative and intentional in the work you do beyond the shutter, and be more satisfied with the final results.
Last year’s course was amazing and brought huge changes to the photographers who joined me. They said things like:
“I never imagined this course would so increase my joy in making photographs. This deeper understanding of the editing process makes my own camera work more creative, focused, and playful,”
“You’ve hit this one out of the ballpark! I am so impressed with this series. I’m picking up so much concrete advice.“
Keep an eye open for more details on Sunday and your invitation to join me for Beyond The Shutter.
Did you miss the second part of this series? You can still read it or watch the video HERE.
For the Love of the Photograph,
David
Comments
This connects directly to what I was trying to articulate in my comment on your salmon post—that balance between making new work and actually doing something with what’s already there.The overwhelming part for me isn’t the shooting, and it’s not that I’ve been completely undisciplined about editing. I’ve rated and picked frames over the years—but often with the context or series in mind, not just the standalone strength of a single image. A “mediocre” photograph can be the right photograph in the right sequence or project.But that’s also where I get stuck. Because I’ve selected for projects that never materialized. So now I’m sitting on an archive of picks and ratings that exist in this limbo—selected with intention, but never finished. Never printed. Never sequenced into the thing they were supposed to become.
“What questions are you asking yourself when you edit?” cuts right to it. Because I was asking questions—just maybe not the right ones, or not following through once I had the answers. The issue (for me) isn’t neccessarily pickiness. It’s completion.
Looking forward to Sunday’s details.
I am excited.
Hi David
Thank you for sharing your self and your ideas. I am especially grateful because after 14 years as a real estate and architectural photographer, YOU are the first voice that speaks to me in a language I understand. I found you about two months ago and purchased two of your books immediately. I was deeply touched with (what I interpreted as) your Zen approach to photography: everything I read or see in your videos is about “being present in the moment”, every moment throughout the photographic process. As a retired psychologist, I only recently understood/accepted that I am an artist—with a camera. I just turned 80, but with you as my guide, I feel like a fresh, new world has opened to me through my Nikon. Thank you
I can’t tell you how much that means to me, Sherry. Thank you for that. And welcome here! Now you know where to find me, if I can ever help, just drop me a line!
Recently, I found a photographer whose work I admired, especially when he spoke of “taking time for yourself to appreciate the beauty of the location”. However, my jaw dropped when a later video revealed that he felt his work was finished after taking the photos because the final step was to send the photos to India for editing! This way he could deliver the photos in record time with much less effort! HOW can anyone think like this??? All of the overseas editing I have seen has a uniform gray cast and EVERY room has exactly the same lighting and identical colors as every other room. Have you commented on overseas editing?
I haven’t. I generally shy away from telling others how to make their art, but I enjoy the development and the editing, so the thought of off-loading it on someone else doesn’t appeal. But can another photographer do that and still make what they love in the way that works, best for them? I suspect so.
Thanks for saving me from future outrage about overseas editing. I am open to allowing everyone freedom in expression as they see fit. Everything changes all the time—even me. ok. I get it.
So I wonder if this guy were to tell the “offshore” editors the kinds of photos he wanted they would ship them back to him and he would not even have to lift his camera.
I think you have made an interesting point re ‘photographers are their own worst editors’. I have always found it strange that whilst serious, published writers have an editor who helps hone their work, photographers do it all themselves, from scouting the shot, taking it, processing it and then selecting it for publication, all without any formal intervention.
Would we all not benefit from the assistance of an editor? Occasionally people have looked at my work and said, “why aren’t you doing something with that image “, an image I’d neglected for whatever reason. There are times when we are too close to our work to make objective decisions and external assistance could really help.
I don’t know about others. I have control issues, so that’s my excuse. 😂 I think having an outside perspective on your work can be very helpful. Not internet comments, not competitions or the other kinds of silliness we indulge in, but having someone we respect to give us their thoughts and opinions can be valuable.
An additional point: I don’t think photographers have to be their worst editors. They often are but I think editing well can be learned and gives the photographer more control (did I mention my control issues) over what they create. Depends what you’re trying to do, why you do it in the first place, and what you’re willing to learn or be good at, I guess.
Hi David, I have been reading your posts for years and really appreciate the effort you put in to making such great content. I had printed one of your posts which had a checklist of things to look for when you are out making photographs. Unfortunately I have misplaced it and can’t remember which post it was. All I know is that it was at least two years ago. If you remember, can you guide me to that link. Thanks in advance.
Thank you so much for that, Debi. I’m sorry to say I have no idea which article you are referring to. I did a quick scan through the archives but nothing popped up at me. Wish I could be more helpful.
Was it “The Composition Checklist”? That’s on David’s Craft and Vision site at https://craftandvision.com/products/the-composition-checklist
I agree with you with one exception. For awhile I I have felt and it is increasingly becoming correct that new editing software is becoming more powerful and creative. I fairly often come upon images that I feel are almost good enough. I often keep them and have had quite a few that have been turned into keepers with new tools that have come along.
Hey Allen, I’m not sure where the disagreement is. I advocate a choosier approach but also one that gives an image many chances to come to life. I don’t delete images, I just don’t choose them if they aren’t my best work. But yes, things change: the software, my own skill, my tastes and preferences. So I don’t delete images until (a) they are 10 years old and (b) I’ve looked at them many times through many different lenses. You’re absolutely right. A good example is noise reduction. Images that were far too noisy 8 years ago can now be tamed with Lightroom denoise tools or, my preference, something like DxO Pure Raw which also sharpens. With the price of media always coming down I see no need to aggressively delete work unless it’s truly un-redeemable. Thanks for weighing in!
Hi David,
I agree with your approach to defining excellence for yourself by using a sense of what’s good and filing images selectively to your own satisfaction and then ease of access for display, competition, sales etc. I’m a relative newby and used Lightroom when I began in 2016 – however switched to Bridge a couple of years ago. I find it matches my workflow better and allows creative filing by date of capture and monthly shifting duplicate images to categories and three display locations including club competition. I select originals after denoising in DXO, put them in a separate file, and label with a matching code to the edited one. I would be reluctant to go back to Lightroom where I felt insecure especially dealing with the question marks and locating the links.
Is Lightroom the only way to go? Or do you predict alternative choices?
This article was quite timely since I had just finished taking a look at all of the photos I have posted in Facebook over the past year. What is quite intriguing is that even before reading this piece I was surprised by how many pictures I posted that, now, seem not quite worthy.
It seemed that out of every 10 pictures one would seem to stand out.
Now I am not quite ready to sign off on the legendary Ansel’s suggestion. But I am certainly feeling way more motivated to be way more discriminating in the choice of what pics to post.
It does raise important issues since in order to be more discriminating one needs to be willing to let go of the emotional pull to feel good about most of one’s work.
Or to be a bit more nuanced: We are free to feel fine about the images we are able to create just by pushing the shutter button but this is not the same thing as actually making a photograph that is captivating. The issue is the difference between the two.
The truth is that there are so many issues involve in creating one worthy photograph that it usually does not happen easily and when we do achieve it then we can feel genuine price.
Hi David. Wise words as always.
Like Terrell, I need space between shooting and editing, so whilst I might forget what grabbed me so much to shoot it, if I can’t see that 3-6 months later then I didn’t do a good job of capturing it.
I then post-process and leave it another month longer to brew.
Only then do I come back and rate my work – if it punches me in the gut and I shout “oof!” when I see it, it gets 5 stars. If it is decent and I wouldn’t be embarrassed if my peers saw it, it gets 4, but I’m not going out of my way to share these. Then there are a few that I can’t quite bring myself to delete but are close, these get 3 and they are typically close “also ran” versions of better images. Everything else gets deleted, no remorse, move on.
I then leave it a while longer again and come back and see if they really do deserve the star rating or whether it was the Rioja talking
Every so often I go through all of my 5 stars and see if I’ve become too soft and cull the weakest to keep the bar high.
Thanks for the advice and guidance as always
Appreciate your thoughts on editing David. Now that I’m retired, one of my weekly tasks will be sorting through my entire collection of digital images to separate the wheat from the chaff. I hope to keep your questions about the criteria I use in mind throughout the process. Looking forward to hearing more about Beyond the Shutter.
“I think our work would be better if we were more selective, more creative about the ways we looked at editing and more intentional in what we did with our images. I think we’d make better, stronger photographs.” such a significant part of photography… being my own strongest critic…. and this has helped me enormously… one of my pet peeves is people who do a card dump in a social media post, but I can understand, because at one point in my journey that was me. Not all my files are worth sharing… so I will now frequently just delete them… unless of course they were intended a ‘sketches’ in the beginning for future reference… Thanks David!
MARCO, 9,2023
Sebastião Oliveira
Não falo inglês. Então, uso o tradutor e o NOTAS do IPAD. Dá um bom trabalho. Mas vale a pena. Comprei três livros seus publicados em Português, Brasil, Editora ALTA BOOKs. A FOTO EM FOCO, Uma Jornada na visão Fotográfica; A ALMA DA FOTOGRAFIA e, por último, FERRAMENTAIS VISUAIS 60 Lições para fotografar melhor. Li o primeiro e estou lendo o terceiro. Sou um advogado aposentado apaixonado pela fotografia. Um amador!!! Encontrei nos seus livros um modo de apreender a fotografar e a editar prazerosamente. Muito obrigado!
Muito obrigado por esta gentil nota, Sebastião. Significa muito para mim que pessoas como você encontrem algo valioso no que escrevo. Cumprimentos do Canadá.
Dear David,
Is this upcoming Beyond the Shutter course different from your previous one, which I loved and found invaluable. It helped me organize, edit, and share through a pdf and a book a three week safari that I took last August. If this is a new course, I am all in again.
Thank you for clarifying this.
Diane
Hi Diane!
Yes! This is the same Beyond The Shutter course and its not different at all. When you enrolled in Beyond The Shutter you got permanent access to the materials so there’s no reason to enrol again. Same material as last year. I’m thrilled the course was so helpful to you!
Forgive the short and late reply, I’m in Kenya and wrestling with internet.
Hello, David!
I have a number of your books that I absolutely love, and I’ve enrolled in one of your classes before. You are an excellent and inspiring teacher! I’m very interested in this course “Beyond the Shutter” but I don’t use Lightroom (I use Capture One). Is it reasonable to assume that MOST of the course will be of creative value for me? (I imagine the guidance you provide on your backup process is, in itself, worth the cost of the course.) I’m just wondering if I can apply most of this course to my editing process without using Lightroom.
Many thanks for your input!
Hi Berenice – I sent this by email as well. Please forgive the unusually late reply. I’m working in Kenya this month and internet has been almost impossible for the last 3 weeks. I’ve just re-located to another camp and seem to have much better access.
I think there is a LOT of cross over in this course. Yes, it’s primarily made for LR users but I had a couple beta-testers last year who didn’t use Adobe products at all (at least one of them used CaptureOne) and they felt the bulk of the lessons were very transferable. The more specific modules still try to aim at more of a “here’s why I do this” and while I always discuss the “how” in LR, you could for example create monographs in a different program. Here’s what I tell everyone: if you think you might benefit from this course then enrol while you can, test it out for a few weeks and if it’s really not valuable to you, then let me know within 30 days and we’ll refund your tuition.
I will check this course – sounds interesting! I hope the word “Art” is also mentioned. I’m not sure if I want to be a “stronger” photographer, but I would like to have some stronger belief in my own possible artistic talent or skill – whatever that is. I absolutely do not like the title “Fine Art Photographer” used by many ” old school” persons.
I know a couple of artists who who use cameras and scanners and create real art (and make a living). I do not want to be an artist like they are because it is their real profession – artist . I hope an amateur (not selling anything like me ) could be an artist of some kind.
Hello David,
This is a fantastic topic, and I think one that’s often overlooked by photographers. It’s taken me a long time to find a process that works for me in regards to “the edit”.
One of the greatest impacts on my edits has been taking some time from the photography session and the post-processing session – or more appropriately, the final edit session. There is an emotional attachment to the moment, that often clouds my ability to analyze the actual quality of the photograph – as seen by someone unfamiliar with the image and the moment the image was photographed. When I immediately make “the edit” to a set of images within a day or two of photographing them, that emotional attachment makes me think the image is better than it is. If, however, I wait a couple weeks or even a couple of months before making “the edit”, that emotional attachment has dissipated and I’m able to more clearly see the strength (or lack thereof) in the image, and “the edit” becomes much easier with the added benefit of me becoming more picky on which images survive to make it to the post-processing stage.
One thing to note, is that this process separates my emotional attachment to the moment, but does not completely remove my emotional attachment to that moment. So I am, when post-processing, able to still dig into the emotional feelings I had upon making the image in camera – it’s just that the attachment does not as readily cloud my vision of the strength of the image.
I realize this process is in direct contradiction to yours, but each of our minds works differently, and this is a process that works for me – while your more immediate editing process seems to work for you. We each need to find that path that works best for us.
Best regards,
Terrel
whew david, lots to unpack on this post- very insightful, as per usual of course!
important distinction with Ansel Adams- he was financially supported by his spouse, the degree of which our photography work supports our livelihood, or our happiness/hobby- that ratio bears scrutiny when selecting images – that may seem a harsh response, but it is no less a consideration
Secondly- IF our work is be be viewed a specific way, to evoke a response – how we remove our own emotional context of the image – vs say the subjects consideration, or the viewpoints of the observers, seems as weighty a decision as whether or not an editing direction would be chose.
i’m curious how you would weigh these two considerations I have about your post
My time as a photo editor for a magazine made me a better photographer. It changed the internal narrative I have while shooting, selecting and editing images. I had to consider limited space on a page, what told the best story that went along WITH a story- and what made an image really able to “Stand on its own”!
I am looking forward to hearing more about this course, it has the potential to change mindset as well as the quality of work we see of ourselves!