Why editing is necessary

Learning goal

You will be able to define editing as the continuation of a photo's work that begins at the moment of shooting. You will explain that a phone already edits every photo as it saves it, and that in the film era photographers also worked on prints in the darkroom; you will tell apart editing that completes what you saw from manipulation that changes the content of the scene, know how editing that protects the original works, get to know the workflow this module will follow, and take on keeping the true color of skin as a principle in editing.

The question

A friend shows you a photo on their phone: a beach at sunset, the colors vivid, the faces bright. "That came out really well," you say. A little embarrassed, they admit: "I edited it a bit." As if they had hidden something, broken a rule. Many of us think like this; we believe the real photo is the way it comes out of the camera, and that everything done afterward is a kind of decoration or deception.

Is editing cheating? The honest answer to this question says that editing is as old as photography, and that it is often a way of bringing back into the photo what you saw. In this lesson we will talk about why editing is necessary, where storytelling ends and deception begins, and the path we will follow step by step throughout this module.

Context

In Lesson 1.3 you opened a subfolder called "00-Start" inside the "Portfolio" folder and put your six favorite photos in it without editing them. Those six photos now come back on stage. At the end of this module you will choose and edit your best six photos and complete your Level 1 portfolio by putting their before and after versions side by side.

Throughout the module we will use free, widely available tools: your phone's own photo editor, Snapseed or Lightroom Mobile. Which app you choose doesn't matter; all of them have basic adjustments such as crop, brightness, contrast, shadows, highlights and color temperature. Although their names change a little from app to app, the job they do is the same. That is why in the lessons we will describe not where the buttons are, but what each adjustment does to a photo and when it is needed.

Simple explanation

Isn't the photo already edited?

Every photo you take with your phone is edited before you even see it on the screen. Lesson 4.5 described the phone's work behind the scenes: it combines several frames, opens up the shadows, darkens the sky, livens up the colors, adds sharpness and wipes out grain. In Lesson 3.8 you learned that a JPEG file is an image processed and compressed with the camera's own preferences. So there is hardly any such thing as an "unedited photo"; there is only the photo whose decisions were made by the camera or by you.

The camera's decisions are made for an average scene. Your scene, however, may not be average. The camera can mistake the warmth of candles burning in a dim café for an error and cool it; it can pull a bright snowy landscape toward gray; it can leave a face in evening light darker than it is. Editing comes in at this point: bringing the camera's average guess closer to what you saw and felt at that moment.

Wasn't there editing in the film era?

There was, and it was an inseparable part of photography. Photographers working with film developed the negative in the darkroom, then worked on it at length while printing it on paper. During printing they would open up a face or darken a sky by changing, area by area, how long light fell on the paper. Covering part of the paper briefly with a piece of card or a hand left that area light, and giving extra light to an area darkened it. Papers of different hardness changed contrast, and cropping was done while setting the size of the print.

So there has always been a working stage between the shot and the final photo. The names of many tools in today's editing apps also come from this darkroom work. The only thing that has changed is that this work can now be done on a screen in minutes instead of with chemicals and hours. That is why editing isn't cheating but the completion of the work that began at the shoot. The photographer chooses the light and the frame at the scene, and in editing makes that choice clearer.

Where does editing turn into manipulation?

Editing has a limit, and this limit is especially sharp in documentary and news photography. Adjusting brightness, contrast and color and cropping slightly is telling the scene you saw more clearly. Adding something that wasn't in the scene, deleting a person or object that was there, or transforming the image in a way that changes the meaning of an event is manipulation. In news and documentary photography these kinds of changes mislead the viewer and are generally not accepted.

In personal or artistic photography the limit is more flexible; the photographer can dream something up and transform the scene. The measure here is honesty: will the viewer look at the photo as a document or as an interpretation? This line, editing vs manipulation, is what keeps the editing in this module of the first kind: editing that completes what you saw and doesn't change the content. Skin tone needs particular care here. Brightness, "beauty" filters and skin smoothing tools can show skin lighter, flatter and with less texture than it really is. When dark skin is lightened it turns an ashy gray; when light skin is smoothed too much it looks like plastic. Leaving a person's skin in its own color and texture is part of the honesty principle of editing.

In what order is editing done?

Editing that protects the original is this module's safety net. Phones' own editors and apps such as Snapseed and Lightroom Mobile usually don't write your changes permanently over the original file; you can go back to the original whenever you like. This is called non-destructive editing. Still, to make sure the app does this, try it once, or take a copy of the photo before editing.

This module follows a workflow. First you crop and straighten the horizon, because when the frame changes, the light and color decisions change too. Then you adjust the light and contrast: first overall brightness, then contrast, then shadows and highlights. Next you move on to color and temperature. Finally you step back and look at whether you have overdone it. This order isn't required for every photo, but it is a solid way to start, with each step built on the one before.

Visual evidence

Imagine photographing your grandmother knitting by the window with your phone on a winter evening. The room is dim; the last blue light comes from the window, and a warm yellow light from the lampshade beside her. In the version the phone saved, the photo leans slightly to the right; your grandmother's face is dark, the yellow of the lamp has been cooled, and everything is wrapped in a bluish-gray veil. The warmth you saw at that moment isn't in the photo.

In editing you straighten the horizon by a few degrees and narrow the frame a little, taking out the empty wall at the edge. You make the face visible by opening up the shadows and shift the color temperature slightly toward yellow; the lamp's light gives her face a warm glow again. Your grandmother's wheat-colored skin and the lines on her cheeks stay in their own texture. Now imagine applying a ready-made "beauty" filter to the same photo: the face is bright white and smooth, the wrinkles wiped away, the colors leaning toward orange. The first edit gives you back that evening; the second turns your grandmother into someone else.

Common mistakes

Summary

Editing is as old as photography: the work done in the darkroom in the film era is done on a screen today, and the phone already saves every photo processed for an average scene. Editing is the continuation of the work begun at the shoot, bringing this average guess closer to what you saw; adding something to the scene or deleting something from it turns into manipulation. Editing with tools that protect the original, in an order that moves from crop to light and from light to color, and leaving skin in its own color is an honest and solid start.

Mini assignment

The first step toward this module's Level 1 portfolio.

1. Open your phone's editor, Snapseed or Lightroom Mobile, make a small change to a photo and try whether you can go back to the original.
2. Look at the six photos in the "00-Start" folder and the ones you have taken since; copy your best ten photos into a separate folder.
3. Under each one, write a one-sentence answer to the question "was it like this at that moment?": is the photo darker, colder or more tilted than what you saw?
4. In photos with people, note whether the skin looks close to its true color.

Check yourself

• Did you make sure the app protects the original?
• Were you able to name in one sentence the difference between what you saw and what was saved for each photo?
• Is there any wish in your notes that crosses the line between editing and manipulation?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Which is true about a photo taken with a phone?

• A) It is saved without any processing
• B) The phone processes it with its own preferences before saving it
• C) It is saved only as RAW
• D) It can't be edited afterward

2. In the film era, what did photographers do during printing to open up a face?

• A) They shortened the time light fell on that area
• B) They cut the negative
• C) They took the photo again
• D) They painted on the print

3. Which counts as manipulation in a news photo?

• A) Raising the brightness a little
• B) Straightening the horizon
• C) Adjusting the color temperature
• D) Deleting a person who was in the scene

4. What can happen if dark skin is lightened with a beauty filter?

• A) The skin comes closer to its true color
• B) The skin can turn an ashy, grayish color and lose its texture
• C) The sharpness of the photo increases
• D) Nothing changes

Answers

1. B — The phone combines frames, opens up shadows, adjusts colors and sharpness; the first version you see is already a processed image.
2. A — During printing, letting less light fall on an area left that area light; some of today's tools come from this work.
3. D — Adjusting light and color tells the scene; deleting a person who was there changes the meaning of the event and misleads the viewer.
4. B — Filters pull skin away from its true color and texture; when dark skin is lightened, it slides toward an ashy, flat look.

Summary card

• Editing isn't cheating but the continuation of work begun at the shoot.
• The phone already processes every photo; the question is who makes the decisions.
• Adjust light and color; don't add to the scene or delete from it.
• Work with a tool that protects the original; the order: crop, light, color, check.
• Leave skin in its own color and texture.

Bridge to the next lesson

Now you know why editing is necessary and where its limit is. The first step of the workflow is the frame: in editing you can tidy up a step you missed while shooting, something extra that crept in at the edge, or a horizon left tilted. The next lesson shows how a single crop can rescue a photo, how to strengthen the subject by cropping, and how to straighten the horizon.