A very vague and simple term that encompasses a lot of things, many of which are not that easy to describe.
Your first instinct would be to copy the latest trend and start building a portfolio out of Photoshop tutorials.
However, nothing can stop you from being a better photographer if you start recognizing your strengths, weaknesses, and how you could work with these to become a better photo editor.
Photo editing is a broad and extremely diverse field, so if you don’t know what it is and what your goals are in it, you probably should back off and take a step back and evaluate how you can develop the skill set and the skills you already have to use as an artist.
Figure out what you do well.
First things first, what do you do well?
Traits most artists possess
Knowledge
When you understand your purpose and your workflow in a particular field, you become better at what you do.
You may not be a perfect artist but as long as you understand the medium, you become good at your trade.
This is a common tool in the learning process.
Have a goal
No matter how much you want to learn and be a better artist, you have to have a reason.
If you have no specific idea, you’ll find yourself spinning your wheels because you have no direction in your journey.
This is why you need to think of something that will give you that purpose and give you that direction.
Become the best at it
How can you improve? In every field, there’s always a way to do something better.
In photography, there are many tools out there but everyone has their own way of dealing with it.
A good answer is to practice and master the tool and then see how you can do it better.
These three rules aren’t that complicated to understand and can help anyone if they apply themselves and give themselves some goals to work towards.
Make a plan and execute it
We know that art is something subjective but when you’re doing what you love to do, you need to keep in mind that as long as you’re putting forth the effort, the work will pay off.
When you’re investing time in your work, you should also put out a plan and a timeline to know when the project is going to be finished.
You can then use the time between the milestones to refine your work and make it better.
To develop your skills and create something new and fresh, you should strive to be the best.
If you want to be the best, you should put in the work. You might not be able to do it on your first attempt but be sure to at least put forth the effort.
You don’t want to quit halfway through.
The photo editing world is pretty large. There are so many resources available for artists so you can work on becoming the best and use what you learn in your work.
Photo editing is a creative process but if you fail to plan, you will make some mistakes along the way.
Don’t fret, as long as you know what you want to do with your portfolio and have a clear objective in mind, you’ll have the foundation to build a beautiful piece of work.
Some little history
Since the invention of the camera, it has been the skill of a photo editor to create the best shots possible.
When people think about the best photographers they think of photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, and Robert Capa.
These were the giants of photography during the 20th century.
In the second half of the 20th century, the digital era came to the picture-taking world.
Digital cameras revolutionized photography. The high-end digital cameras were built to take RAW images.
RAW stands for “Reader’s Digest All-Purpose RAW”.
When RAW photos are taken there are no crops or any editing after the photos have been taken.
However, RAW files have to be read and processed in a different way than JPEG files, making RAW files more intensive to process.
When RAW files are viewed with software that is specifically designed to analyze and process them, the results can look stunning.
Photos that were once too grainy to view in detail suddenly become more detailed.
JPGs are what most people think of when they think of digital photography.
JPG stands for “Just General Photography Picture”. It stands for “Just Good Enough”.
It’s easy to think that all of the editing and post-processing on a JPEG photo is done for you.
But these same techniques can be used on RAW photos to make them look even better.
Another step in becoming a great photo editor is the need to understand your subject and the story you are trying to tell with your photo.
Every photo editor needs to be able to find the right balance between composition and framing.
The great photo editors know how to capture the story you want in your photo and then be able to tell that story.
The final thing that makes a great photo editor is the ability to edit and make those simple fixes that will make your photo appear better.
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Mike Malone is Deputy Editor and co-founder of LNGFRM. His main areas of coverage are interviews, music, entertainment, and anything to do with gaming — with a growing focus on automotive culture, from the tech shaping next-gen vehicles to the intersection of cars, gaming, and entertainment (think sim racing, car culture in film, and the gearhead crossover in gaming communities). Whether he's sitting down with a chart-topping artist or breaking down the latest in automotive innovation, Mike brings the same curiosity and eye for detail to every story.
