Photo Editing: Respecting Context | Hacker News Reader

Photo Editing: Respecting Context

simonsarris.substack.com

24 pointsexolymph5 comments

I went though a phase where I started to over-edit photos. At first I would push the colour a little bit, maybe increase the sharpening. Then I'd push the shadows and pull the highlights more and more, creating a kind of tonemapped/fake HDR look.

Thankfully I still had the Raw files so I could go back to them later and start over. Less is usually better. If the photo's not good to start off with then tweaking it in a photo editor isn't going to make it great.

The only thing I find annoying nowadays is when I see beautiful photos with subtle editing hardly getting any comments or likes and truly awful photos with everything turned up to 11 getting nothing but praise. But each to their own I guess.

I agree - I think this is a function of what works well on small screens when people are scrolling quickly. I find IG to be a terrible place to show off hobby photography work, for a number of other reasons like what the algorithm reinforces, and the general lack of appreciation for subtlety via that medium.

Nicely done by the author. His line at the beginning stuck out to me: "How do you find such sensitivity? First by example, then blundering through." I've found the same for my own experience with photography, videography, and editing applied to the both of them.

For anyone interested in trying to figure out why they like a particular photograph and how to find their own style, I recommend Pat Kay on YouTube. He has a wonderful Visual Language series that has helped me put shape to my preferences. He does videos on editing, as well.

Happy shooting!

> Then I wanted to push these colors, almost to the point of ridiculousness, brightening blues and reds and giving them paler and more neon hues.

I wonder if it was intentional to get that strong saturated blue in the fringes of her hair. It looks like a mistake and draws a lot of attention to the fact that the colors were heavily edited. On the other hand, I think bringing attention to the photo as a medium isn’t necessarily wrong for a picture that might evoke memories of vacations.

Yes. The photographer says 'The goal is to see it and feel what midsummer feels like, with the blinding sun and the beautiful form, canvassed almost in her own unreality'. Unfortunately, he has met this goal by creating something that looks like an 'obvious' mistake (the pushed blue).

As a photographer, I'd be keen to see if I could get the right look in-camera rather than adding an interpretation after the event. As a photoshop user, I'd want to try other ways of achieving the same changes (e.g. more selective editing of the skin tones)

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