Editing Mistakes That Ruin Your Photos (and How to Avoid Them)

Summary

In this video, the creator shares insights from over 10 years of using Lightroom, highlighting common editing mistakes and how to avoid them. Key tips include setting clear intentions for your edits, avoiding overly flat images by maintaining contrast, using negative clarity for a soft, dreamy effect, and being mindful of color saturation. The creator also emphasizes the importance of masking for enhancing natural lighting and composition skills for better photos. These tips aim to help photographers refine their editing skills and create more impactful images with purposeful adjustments.

Takeaways

• 😀 The importance of having a clear intention and vision before editing photos. Always decide what you want to improve and focus on before making adjustments.
• 😀 Avoid over-editing the shadows and highlights, as it can lead to flat and boring images. Balance is key to creating visually interesting photos.
• 😀 Presets can be a great starting point for your edits, but they should always be adjusted to suit the unique needs of each photo.
• 😀 Clarity should be used with caution. Overdoing clarity can lead to unnatural results, while a subtle negative clarity can create a softer, dreamier look.
• 😀 Composition is essential for a strong photo. Editing can improve an image, but a poorly composed photo can’t be saved by editing alone.
• 😀 When working with color, use vibrance over saturation to boost muted tones without oversaturating the image. Luminance adjustments can also draw attention to specific areas of the photo.
• 😀 Masking is a powerful tool, but it should be used to enhance the existing lighting and structure in your image, not to create unrealistic effects.
• 😀 Be mindful of the direction of light in your photos. This can guide your editing choices and help create natural, well-lit images.
• 😀 Subtlety is key when adjusting the exposure and clarity. Small tweaks often lead to better results than dramatic changes.
• 😀 Always consider the emotional impact or feeling you want to convey through your edits. Editing should reinforce the mood or focus of the image.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of having a clear intention and vision when editing a photo?

Having a clear intention and vision helps guide the editing process, ensuring that the final result is purposeful and not just a random manipulation of sliders. It allows you to focus on what you want to enhance, such as drawing attention to specific areas or creating a certain mood in the photo.

Why is boosting shadows too much considered a mistake in photo editing?

Boosting shadows too much can make an image look flat and boring, as it removes the natural contrast between light and dark areas. This results in a loss of depth and can make it difficult for the viewer to know where to focus their attention.

How can Lightroom's default gray background affect photo editing?

The default gray background in Lightroom is neutral, but the speaker prefers a white background to make editing on the brighter side easier. The gray background is a good middle ground for most users, as it doesn't influence the perception of colors too much.

What is the importance of using Lightroom presets, according to the speaker?

Presets are a useful starting point for editing and can save time, ensuring consistency across photos. However, the speaker emphasizes that presets are not a one-size-fits-all solution and recommends making personal adjustments to suit each unique image.

What is negative clarity, and why is it used in the speaker's edits?

Negative clarity softens the image and gives it a dreamy, less harsh effect by reducing contrast in the midtones. The speaker uses it in almost all their edits to achieve a softer look, though they are careful not to overdo it, as excessive clarity reduction can cause unnatural breakdowns in the image.

Why is composition important in photo editing?

While editing can improve a photo, good composition is fundamental. The speaker stresses that a bad composition can't be fully fixed through editing, so it's essential to focus on developing strong composition skills alongside learning editing techniques.

What is the difference between vibrance and saturation when editing color?

Vibrance is a more nuanced way to enhance muted colors, while saturation boosts all colors in the image equally. The speaker prefers vibrance for a more subtle and controlled enhancement of color, and recommends reducing saturation on specific colors to avoid a messy result.

How does adjusting luminance affect the visual impact of a photo?

Luminance adjustments allow you to make specific colors stand out more by altering their brightness. This is a powerful tool for drawing attention to certain areas or elements of an image, as shown by the speaker's focus on enhancing the warmth of oranges and greens to highlight key parts of the photo.

What role does masking play in editing, and how can it be overdone?

Masking is a powerful tool that allows you to apply edits to specific areas of a photo. The speaker warns against using it to create unrealistic lighting or effects that don't fit with the natural light in the image. Masking should enhance what’s already there, rather than dramatically changing the image's appearance.

Why does the speaker prefer subtle adjustments when using radial gradients for lighting effects?

The speaker uses radial gradients to subtly enhance or soften lighting by adjusting exposure, clarity, and temperature. The key is not to go too far with these adjustments, as overly dramatic lighting effects can make the image look unnatural. Subtlety helps maintain a natural feel while improving the photo’s depth and focus.