My Philosophy for Simply Great Photo Edits in Landscape & Outdoor Photography

In the digital era, editing my images have become an integral part of being a photographer. But how to stay consistent and not overdo it?

A landscape image captured in Spitzkoppe, Namibia, while co-leading a photo workshop - the RAW Image and Final Edit are not that far from one another.

By keeping things uncomplicated and having a vision of how I want my final edited image to look, the feeling and emotion I want it to convey, and by staying true to how the scene looked in real life - that’s how I stay consistent and not overdo it.

This is my humble image editing philosophy that I’ve refined (for landscape and outdoor photography) since the late 1990’s.

And I would like to share it with you.

Hope it helps!

In a nutshell, it’s this:

I like to have an idea (a vision) of what my final image should look like, before I start editing.

Why is this important?

Because it is what will guide me during my editing of the photograph.

Like a compass point.

A direction to head in.

Without it, I will have no clear path to follow to reach my end destination, the finished edit.

In my case, it’s to represent the original scene in an as true to life way as possible.

Why?

Well, it’s because I find the natural environment, and people enjoying adventures in it, amazingly beautiful.

And I want people viewing my images to feel that.

To be inspired to go out and find their own versions of it.

What do I not want?

I don’t want to photograph an ocean scene, then add a moon, giraffe and flying kangaroos via stock images and AI.

That would defy the point of photography, for me.

Look, everyone’s different.

I get that.

So if you enjoy giraffes and flying kangaroos, by all means go for it.

I like to:

• Head out into nature

• Photograph it along with people if present / relevant

• Spend minimal time editing (so I can head out again asap)

• Share and inspire

• Rinse and repeat

In fact, as I’m getting older and the more I photograph, the less I find myself editing my images.

Yes, I shoot RAW for the editing latitude and benefit.

But mostly I just bring the image back to what it looked like on site, along with emphasising certain aspects for visual impact.

Effective?

You bet.

Crazy?

Maybe.

Lazy?

No way!

I have places to go and more images to make, this saves me heaps of time and gets the job done.

An outdoor / adventure image captured while on ski tour this past winter - the RAW Image and Final Edit are not that far from one another, once again.

That’s it for this week!

Any interesting stories or thoughts to add?

Simply hit reply and let me know / comment below (so we can all benefit).

Have a great week!

—

Until next time ✌🏽.

Cornelius

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