The Perfect Photo Does Not Exist
Tuesday 29 September 2026, 14:41 by Nando Harmsen | 732 views | 3 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
These days, I see many perfect photos. Every element is in the right place and nothing is distracting in the image. Sometimes I wonder whether it is a real photo at all. Embrace imperfections and show that your photo is real.
We are flooded with images. The internet, social media, forums, everywhere you look, there are photos. Usually of the subject that appeals to you most. Those photos are often almost or completely perfect.
When you see a perfect photo, you can be almost certain that changes have been made to some degree. The photo is no longer reality. The world around us is not perfect, after all.
This is Elke at the fair. How far do you go when retouching?
The software we use also makes it very easy and accessible to create a perfect photo. Until it is no longer a photo, but a computer-generated image.
We have reached a point where a photo is almost expected to be perfect. Of course, we can and should aim for that. While taking the photo, that is.
A meadow pipit. There are two potentially distracting elements present. Remove them, or not?
Don't take a photo with the words: "I'll correct that in post-processing." If an imperfection cannot be prevented when taking the photo, accept it. Or even embrace it.
Of course, removing small things in post-processing does not have to be a problem. Blades of grass in front of an animal's head. Or a small branch that just sticks into the side of a photo. But there is a limit.
Go∂afoss in Iceland. Would you remove the prohibition sign?
Where do you draw the line? Would you change body shape or features? Generate extra content with AI? Replace the sky? Or do you accept what you have and show reality?
Remember that there is room for all forms of digital image editing. Where you draw the line is very personal. But are you honest about it? Let us know in a comment below this post.
About the author
Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.
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3 comments
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mac wrote on Wednesday 30 September 2026 at 08:08 | replyYou could also turn it around. Perfect photos do exist. The perfection lies in imperfection.
Translated from Dutch.
But personally I also just retouch, of course. And remove distracting elements.
e.g. my daughter had chickenpox when she was little. In the photo covered in spots. Just leave them in, because they aren't distracting, it's simply part of it.
Later, when she was a teenager and I took a photo, she had a big pimple. It dominated the photo so much, I removed it. I did just leave in the small pimples that weren't distracting. -
Fred Kok wrote on Saturday 3 October 2026 at 13:34 | replyLuckily, I haven't taken the perfect photo yet, and I don't want to either. All the photos after that would be a disappointment. Otherwise, let everyone do whatever makes them happy. Outside of journalism and documentary photography, I have nothing against even heavy post-processing. It's the maker's choice. Just be honest and fair and simply admit it. I find photographers who say or insinuate that it came ‘straight out of the camera’ much more annoying, but with a good photo analysis you can clearly see the post-processing.
Translated from Dutch. -
IYJM Gommers-Bergmann wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2026 at 12:33 | replyA twig, a little fence or a prohibition sign (and sometimes also lampposts), rubbish bins, etc., that slightly spoil the image, I remove as much as possible. I wouldn't retouch a person, unless the person would really like that themselves (e.g. with the example of the spots). And now sometimes people do make a bit of a fuss about it, but after all, photographers from long ago retouched too.
Translated from Dutch.
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