Before and after in Mexico
You don’t take a photograph, you make it
Ansel Adams
How do you feel about editing photos? Do you believe that the image you take should be the only one you present to the world? That it’s wrong to mess with the reality of what you saw? Or are you perhaps happy to tweak a shot a little, straightening a horizon or cropping out that person who wandered into it as you pressed the shutter?
Maybe though, like me, you’re comfortable going a bit further. How often do you find that a photo fails to evoke the emotions you felt when you took it? Perhaps the light seems flatter, the sky looks duller, or the majesty of a landscape is lost when confined to this one image. Or maybe you had only a second to react to a photo opportunity and couldn’t compose it as you would have wished.
My interest in editing stems from two things. One is that I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and if I can see how an image could be improved, I want to try to do just that. The other is simply that I enjoy the creative processes involved, playing around to produce different versions of the image until I find one that speaks to me.
Normally here you only see the results of that playing around. If I’ve made significant changes to what I’ve seen I usually ‘fess up, whereas tweaks I reckon are fair game and I rarely mention them. But this week John asks us to share those ‘before and after’ images, and to explain what we did to change them, and how. I thought I would take five shots from my recent Mexico trip as examples of where I believe my editing has improved the shot. You may however disagree, and I’d love to hear your views whether positive or critical of my efforts!
Hummingbird at the Hotel Mirador Barrancas del Cobre
Let’s start with something quite simple. This shot of a White-eared Hummingbird on a feeder at our hotel was one of my more successful attempts at catching these fast-moving birds. But it wasn’t quite as sharp as I’d have liked, and the light was a little flat. I used Topaz Photo AI to sharpen it, then cropped it in Photoshop Elements. Finally I lifted the brightness and contrast a little, also using Elements.
Here are the two versions. Which do you prefer?
Panorama of Copper Canyon
A landscape like this is awe-inspiring, but it’s hard to capture that sense of awe in a single image. The traditional framing of a photograph means you have to leave out much more than you can include. While my camera has a panorama setting, as does my phone, the results are rarely satisfactory. The horizon is curved, the landscape distorted, and the sky often patchy. The solution? Take several images from the same spot, turning each time to cover a wider view, then stitch them together afterwards.
I use Photoshop Elements for this process but many editing programmes have the same functionality. There are six different options for merging the images. I usually start by trying the ‘auto’ setting, but if that doesn’t produce the desired blend of shots I try ‘perspective’ or ‘collage’. On this occasion the auto setting worked well. The finished image always needs cropping as there is a lot of blank space where the shots didn’t perfectly align. Maybe using a tripod would minimise this, but I don’t carry one when travelling, or indeed even at home.
Below you can see the three individual shots I used, the immediate result of stitching them together, and the final cropped version. Personally I think this one is a no-brainer, the panorama wins every time over the separate views!
Copper Canyon view near Eagles Rock: three ‘before’ shots
Rarámuri basket weaver, Oteros Canyon
This one is maybe a little more controversial. When we visited the Rarámuri family on the edge of Oteros Canyon we were given permission to take any photos we wanted. But I found that they tended to pose quite stiffly. The temptation to grab a few candid shots was therefore too hard to resist, so I shot a few ‘from the hip’ in order to avoid that posing.
Out of the camera this shot was almost unusable, I felt. It was too dark, had too much white cloth in the foreground, and the young lad appeared to be picking his nose! But with basket-weaving such an important part of their culture I was keen to record the young woman doing just that. So I cropped and brightened the shot in Photoshop Elements. I then used the Reflector filter in Nik Color Efex Pro to further lighten the image and bring a glow to her face.
La Piedra de la Fertilidad, Divisadero
Here is another example of more extreme fiddling, again in the Copper Canyon area. I used this shot in one of my ‘Postcards from the Road’. Editing with just the software available to me on my tablet while travelling, Lumii, I simply brightened it a little and cropped out some of the people on the right.
On my return home I revisited the image. I decided I was happy with the people on the right after all. They added to the (correct) impression that this is something of a tourist draw. But I was less happy with the man on the left who seemed to provide rather a distraction to the main feature, the rock itself. I used the ‘clone stamp’ tool in Photoshop Elements to remove him, replacing him with leaves and sky copied from nearby areas of the image. I also brightened the rocks, the darker areas around the people and the foliage.
I’ve included both edits as well as the original below; do you have a preference?
On the Malecón in La Paz
For my final example we’re leaving the Copper Canyon and heading to the coast in Baja California Sur. I enjoyed photographing the pelicans and other seabirds while walking along the Malecón in La Paz. But getting them all to pose nicely at the same time proved an impossibility! On this occasion I liked the pose of the heron in one shot, but that of the pelican and gull in the other. So I used the ‘group shot’ merge function in Elements to copy the nicely posed heron on to the image with the better pelican and gull poses, before cropping out some of the rocks and sea.
To improve it a little more (in my view, naturally) I used Topaz Photo AI to remove some noise. I then boosted the colour contrast with Nik Color Efex Pro before using the dodge tool in Elements to bring out the gull’s eye and darken the heron’s face so that he would stand out better from the rocks.
Too much fiddling? You decide, but I enjoyed the process and feel the final result is close enough to what I saw not to consider a lie!
NB: I use Photoshop Elements to resize all my images for my blog, and often to add the white or blue/grey frames that I like to use. These are no exception, so arguably even my ‘originals’ have been edited a little, but I can promise that those are the only changes I’ve made. They are otherwise just as they came out of the camera.
I visited Mexico in February 2024
53 Comments
thedumalady
Great stuff!! Sharing my journey: https://thedumalady.wordpress.com/2024/04/19/mysterious-myanmar-part-3-of-3-spill-the-tea/
Leanne Cole
And then some of us like to see how far we can push our images so they don’t resembled the original very much. lol
These are great Sarah, I like the panorama, that turned out great. I haven’t don’t many of those, but you have inspired me to try that out more.
I also think the image after was a great move, you took a group and made it all about the woman. Looks like you got some great images to work with on your trip.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Leanne 😀 Yes, it’s fun now and then to really push things! I’m glad the panorama has inspired you to try more, and I like your take on the basket weaver – “you took a group and made it all about the woman.”
Brad M
Your question is the stuff that religious wars are made of. I know purists that never edit anything, period. Others feel free to put in or take out whatever elements they want and still call it an original photograph. Like today’s political climates, I find myself in the middle able to argue both sides. I tend to stick with stuff I could have done in-camera if I’d thought about it at the time: crop, color, lighting, or simply waiting until that extra person in the shot moves along. For example, some recent eclipse photos will need a bit of tweaking to help tell the whole story, but I’m not adding any story elements to accomplish that. How’s that for not answering your question? 😉
Sarah Wilkie
A neat bit of fence-sitting but I understand your point 😀 For me, the changes that could have been made in-camera, as you describe them, are fair game for non-disclosure. Anything more radical, e.g. a change of sky from grey to sunset, AI additions, artistic filters and distortions etc., are all fine but should be declared!
Brad M
Agreed Sarah. Essentially what you could do with film I think is OK. Not that I don’t enjoy some of the creations I’ve seen, I’m not sure they are photography at that point. Now, I need to go learn how to take advantage of more things in camera. 😉
Sarah Wilkie
You’re right, there’s a point when an image probably ceases to be a photograph per se, but can still be worthwhile in its own right 🙂
Sofia Alves
You have a great eye to pick what is interesting in your shots and therefore your crops are exceptional, Sarah. I’ve tried panoramas before with mixed results, I love yours.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Sofia 😊 I find panoramas don’t always work this well but I was happy with how this one turned out.
grandmisadventures
While both the before and after are lovely, I think I prefer your after pictures because I like how you are able to zoom in and bring focus to a particular part of the larger picture. The after pictures seem much more intimate and personal 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
That’s an interesting way of looking at it, and I guess in editing a shot you do bring something more of yourself to the image 🙂
Anonymous
Thanks for sharing ideas on editing.
Personally I prefer unedited photos though I agree sometimes its unavoidable…
Sarah Wilkie
I know some people feel as you do, but for me editing is part of the creative process, and can often result in images that are closer to what you saw and felt than do those ‘straight out of the camera’. In the end it’s a matter of choice 🙂
norasphotos4u
Fabulous edits – the hummingbird is beautiful and love the canyon
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Nora, glad you liked them 😀
equinoxio21
Editing is fine. IN the days of labs, one would “work” on the pictures.
Now? No prob in cropping, editing a detail away. Adjusting the light. (I haven’t added an element yet. Need to work on that…)
Great work Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 🙂 I don’t think I’ve tried adding an element yet, or at least not successfully, but I’ve seen some interesting AI efforts from others.
Wind Kisses
Fantastic, Sarah. I knew I would learn something from you and I did! the merging of photos was new to me and what a great idea. Even to take a few photos rather than a panorama is a little clue that feels like it will work.
I do like the edit of the hummingbird, And good on you for NOT deleting what could have been an unusable photo with the basket weaver. A fantastic final result! Thank you for this, all of this.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Donna 😊 It’s good to spread the learning around – I picked up on the idea to try stitching to create panoramas from John!
Rose
I like the expansive final edit view of Copper Canyon. It’d be nice to have your photography skills. You do a fabulous job taking great shots and learning how to use the tools to improve them. I took a photography class in college (a long time ago when we used dark rooms, red lights, and solutions to develop our photos), but I don’t have the artistic eye to create good shots. I’m more of a “point and shoot and hope it turns out” photographer. 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Rose 😊 I do believe it’s possible to develop (pun intended!) that eye, by studying photos to consider what works and what doesn’t, and by reading about and/or visiting exhibitions by the ‘greats’.
SoyBend
I liked your closer view of the spectacular little hummingbird. I liked the final version of your La Piedra de la Fertilidad edits. I agree, the man on the left was a distraction. I also liked the final edit of the seabirds. They are posing so well for you. Did someone Velcro them onto the rocks? Just kidding. 😉
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Siobhan, I’m glad these edits worked for you 😀
thehungrytravellers.blog
I had a comment in mind in response to your questions and then read the very first comment, from Margaret. I have nothing to add and share Margaret’s sentiments entirely! Having said that, I’m happy to study great photos as long as nobody tells me they’ve been adulterated….
margaret21
But the problem is, you often can tell. Not with Sarah, obviously. She’s more subtle than that!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Margaret – I do try 😆 And Phil, thank you for your thoughts too, I appreciate that this isn’t for everyone 🙂
Maybe one day I should post a gallery and ask you all to guess which shots have been edited and which are pretty much straight out of the camera (I might allow myself just some levelling of the horizon if necessary!)
margaret21
Go for it Sarah!
margaret21
As you know I simply can’t get excited about photo editing, beyond a little straightening and cropping, maybe light-level adjustment. So the only one that – for me – truly has profited from being ‘fiddled with’ is of course the basket weaver. The ‘stitching’ is clever too. This isn’t to criticise photo-editing per se (though we had a photographer speaking at the club the other week who edits so much that the finished product is unrecognisable from the point he starts from. I genuinely didn’t see the point of all that. It seemed cheating somehow). Ignore me – I’m just an old grouch.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Margaret 🙂 I do know this isn’t your thing, so I appreciate you finding the positives in my efforts!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
This was very interesting! I like your final edits best for everything, especially the basket weaver, though I didn’t dislike the figure on the left of the suggestive rock so I’d have been happy with the middle one for that.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anabel, I’m glad you found it so. The basket weaver seems to be a favourite with most people 🙂
photobyjohnbo
Sarah, I really enjoyed reading your thought process as you edited the images. As Easymac noted, photographers today are using digital darkrooms. I used to think that I was somehow messing with reality when I first started editing jpeg images. At some point, I realized that the camera’s software that converts the pixels pulled from the sensor to a human-readable form, a software designer was doing the image interpretation and presenting it to me as “truth.”
And, as Ritva noted, editing RAW images brings out the detail otherwise lost in the flat representations of the subjects we shoot.
I think my favorite image in your collection is the panorama. I almost always handhold my camera for multiple exposures, sometimes capturing five images to stitch together. Even though the borders don’t align, I have the flexibility to crop from anywhere to any size in the resulting stitch. It’s a very flexible way to shoot big landscapes.
Your basket weaver image is a great portrait, and you took a challenging shot from a discard to a portrait of a culture.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you John 😊 To be honest I think I got the inspiration to experiment more with stitching from some of your posts! And I love the way you describe what I did with the basket weaver, taking ‘a challenging shot from a discard to a portrait of a culture’.
EgÃdio
Sarah, to my eyes, there is no doubt that the final edit wins every single time. It’s great that you bring out what the viewer should be concentrating on. Just look at that hummingbird or the woman weaver. Great photos! I also liked the “group shot” feature. What a treat!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much 😊 It’s great to know that you like those final edits. That group shot feature is very useful although it isn’t always as successful as it was on this occasion!
JohnRH
Excellent. I love the hummer shots, and how you zoomed on the basket weaver.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you John – the hummingbird and basket weaver seem to have got the most ‘votes’ this week!
Amy
These are excellent examples, Sarah! Beautifully done. Thank you for sharing the process with us. I really like how you cropped and brightened the photo. Love these two bird editing results.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Amy, I’m pleased you liked my efforts 😀
Anne Sandler
Great editing Sarah. I wish I had the patience. You are a skilled editor because you enjoy the process and your images show it. You asked for a critique, so here’s my little suggestion. Regarding the humming bird, I would have brought down the highlights a little to soften the left corner. I loved how you put two images together, and loved that beautiful pelican.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 🙂 That’s a good suggestion about the hummingbird shot – I may have to go back and fiddle some more!
Tina Schell
Thanks for sharing some of your processes Sarah, obviously you are a thoughtful photographer and a skilled editor. The edits to the hummingbird and the basketweaver are great examples of the importance of recognizing the importance of the subject and finding the best way to illustrate it. Our options for editing tools just keep getting better and better and like you I enjoy the process. Here’s to more opportunities to see the world and to share our vision of it. Terrific post.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Tina, I really appreciate your positive feedback on my efforts 😀
Monkey's Tale
My favourite is the weaving lady, it’s often those small parts that you don’t realize at the time that are the best part. Cropping and enhancing is often needed, but I don’t like the obvious colour changes or effects that some people put in their pictures. These are all great! Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Maggie – she seems to be a general favourite 😀 I agree about too-obvious colour changes, unless you’re doing it with full disclosure and to deliberately create an unusual and unrealistic effect (something I rarely do). A good edit, for me, is one which the uninitiated viewer wouldn’t notice at all!
restlessjo
I’m impressed, Sarah, though the most successful image for me is the cropped and brightened one of the weaving lady, and the hummingbird cropped and sharpened is a little beauty. For me, landscapes are always hard to get the full impact of what you saw, and I wouldn’t have a clue how to go about stitching things together or Photoshopping things out of an image. If it gives you pleasure then it is a no brainer. I’m too much of a skinflint to pay for editing apps, but I do regret not being able to make images as sharp as I would like sometimes.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Jo 😊 I’m glad you like the weaving one in particular as I was keen to be able to make use of that rather rushed shot. The Topaz AI sharpener etc was a one-off purchase (I won’t pay for subscription software!) and was well worth the cost. But I also bought Luminar some time ago, as I know some bloggers use and really like it, and I’ve found it a disappointment on the whole. The workflow isn’t intuitive and the results are often too obviously edited – I prefer something more subtle!
restlessjo
🤗🩵
Easymalc
It’s perfectly acceptable to edit an image in my opinion Sarah. Photoshop is the digital equivalent of a darkroom only more so. Obviously it depends on what you want the final image to achieve and the beauty of today’s technology is that you can pretty much achieve whatever you want. If you try to use the technology to kid other people into believing the image is something that it’s not for some reason, then you’re only cheating yourself. Something I know you would never do. Great post again 😊
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Malcolm – I completely agree with you darkroom analogy. I think some people forget (or perhaps are unaware) that photographers have always edited their work. It’s just much easier for all of us to tackle these days!
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
I totally believe in editing, since I started shooting RAW the images are flat with out it. And with the camera’s nowadays so high in pixels we can crop them to suite the vision we had when we shot it or eliminate the things we don’t want in the image. Crop tool is the most used in my books as is light and contrast. You have done, subtle changes that enhance your photos and bring the message across beautifully. One thing I haven’t mastered is the panorama, but you have done it very nicely. Kudos to you!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks very much Ritva 🙂 I’m glad you like the panorama. That’s something I’ve started experimenting with more recently (I did few with my Madagascar photos), it’s so much better than trying to shoot one in camera.
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
That is something I will have to try one day 🙂