Editing is not cheating
Every time a new class starts A Year With My Camera there is always a discussion about whether or not we should edit our photos. It’s a polite discussion, because AYWMC students are nice, but there is often a lot of misinformation. In this post I hope to clarify a few ideas for new photographers who are nervous about saying or doing the wrong thing.
If you want to start from the beginning and join A Year With My Camera, my beginner’s photography workshop, you can sign up at the end of this post. It takes you from nervously not really knowing what you’re doing with your camera to confidently shooting and sharing your photos. (And we also cover editing in much more detail.)
What is editing?
I think editing gets a bad name amongst new photographers because of the early days of Photoshop when people would clone out anything they didn’t want in the shot, add a different sky and generally manipulate the image until it bore little relationship to the original scene.
This isn’t what I mean by editing.
“Post-processing” is probably a better term to use. In this scenario we “edit” our photos to maximise the potential held within the digital file. At a very basic level we’re not changing anything, we’re simply optimising the data the camera has collected to present the image in the best possible way.
JPEG vs RAW files
If someone says to you that editing is cheating, or they prefer to “get it right in camera”, ask them (politely) if they shoot RAW or JPEG files. Because if they shoot RAW files they must know that editing is the necessary final step in the image-making process, and if they shoot JPEG then they probably don’t know that the camera will have done all their editing for them.
If you want to know more about what RAW files are, read this post: What is RAW and why do you need it?
RAW files are just that: the raw data that the sensor collects. All of it. There is too much data to show an acceptable image without further work being done – the only question is whether the camera or the photographer does the further work.
A RAW file will show a flat, low contrast, uninspiring image. To create a JPEG file the camera gets to work on the RAW file. It boosts the saturation and contrast. It applies sharpening. It throws away all the information it doesn’t need and gives the photographer a ready-to-use, edited file.
But what if the photographer didn’t want a saturated, contrasty shot? What if they wanted something more subtle? Or what if it was a high contrast lighting situation and they needed the camera to keep all data so they could bring out the shadows when they get home? By relying on the camera’s one-size-fits-all JPEG edit the photographer is giving away all control over the final step.
Should you post-process your shots?
If you want to keep control of the entire image-making process, yes.
If you’re happy with the JPEGs your camera produces, no.
Is editing cheating?
Cheating only really applies in professional/journalistic or competitive situations. If you’re sharing a shot on Instagram it’s just between you and your conscience whether you add a Milky Way shot to your Stonehenge shot and create something that never actually happened. But if you are entering a competition, read the rules very, very carefully. Some competitions welcome artistic editing (adding textures, making photo composites) with open arms. Others will publicly shame you and ban you for life if you are found out (and you will be found out because they ask for the original RAW files).
Post-processing a RAW file is not cheating. It’s the last chance you have to stamp your personality on your image before you release it into the world. Embrace the creative opportunities.
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