Editing photos should not be rushed

Monday 3 March 2025, 16:08 by Nando Harmsen | 3,076 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Taking photos is an enjoyable activity. You take the time to get the best crop, composition and exposure. Then comes the editing, just like in the darkroom. Take your time with that too. It should not be rushed.

With all the modern techniques available, it seems easy to edit a photo quickly. Not just with all kinds of presets that give the photo a new look in an instant. AI-generated masks also offer a quick way to apply local adjustments.

It all seems perfect, so you do not have to spend as much time editing your photo. However, it is wise not to blindly trust these kinds of quick solutions. Although the results may look good, they often fail under closer inspection.

An AI object selection is never perfect. Some of the white-tailed eagle's feathers have not been selected. Parts of the rocks and even the snow have been selected.
Smart masks are less clever than you might initially think. They are based on image recognition. When the elements in the image are clearly defined, they often work reasonably well. But they are not flawless. If you look closely, you will see that AI masks are often rough and inaccurate.

In a photo used on social media, the inaccuracies will not really stand out. The resolution is too low, which means the errors are no longer visible. However, if you print the photo in a larger format or view it on a 4K television, you will see the inaccuracies straight away.

AI masks are often useful for creating a rough selection. Use that as a starting point. Remove parts and add parts. Use mask intersections and make sure everything is correct.

Make sure the selections you create are correct. Do not blindly trust AI masks.
Editing photos is not something to rush through with the press of a button. Pay attention to details, especially with local adjustments. Do not blindly trust AI masks, but refine and correct them.

Do not rush. Take the time to make the photo look as good as possible.
One final tip, let the photo mature for a while after the first edit. Look at it again a few days later and you will notice that there is always something that can be improved.

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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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2 comments

Mac wrote on Tuesday 4 March 2025 at 08:24 | reply
I think you have two options here, it depends on what you photograph.

To edit a photo, you really do have to take the time for it. Sometimes even stop for a moment, and come back a day later.

but sometimes it also just goes quickly. If I have taken a whole set of photos of a surf or dance competition, then those photos really do have to go through quickly, otherwise it literally never gets finished.
Have different presets in there for different lighting conditions. edit 1 photo, and copy those edits to the rest. Of course I do look at all of them, to possibly tweak something.
Translated from Dutch.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 4 March 2025 at 17:02 | reply
Nando, I completely agree with you. I spend a lot of time on the post-processing of each photo. I don't use presets. I finish every photo completely manually. Starting with the global adjustments in ACR, which is the same as Lightroom, at least for 99%. Then the refinement using masks and filters. In Photoshop I also work with (adjustment) layers.
Of course I don't finish all the photos I've taken. Only the ones I think are worth it.
Sometimes, if it's for social media, I finish the photo in Luminar Neo, because that works a lot faster. But even there, the masks based on AI are far from always correct.
Translated from Dutch.

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