Retouching photos can sometimes feel like an endless process that pulls you away from enjoying your photography. Finding a more efficient workflow is key. If you’re spending hours adjusting sliders and curves, you might be missing out on capturing more great shots.
Coming to you from Belinda Shi, this informative video breaks down why many people struggle with retouching. The main issue is that they’re trying to “fix” photos that weren’t set up well in the first place. Shi’s advice is to focus on getting things right in-camera. That means good lighting, accurate exposure, sharp focus, and solid composition. When you have a strong base photo, retouching becomes less about correction and more about enhancement. This is why she suggests investing 80-90% of your effort into shooting, and only 10-20% into editing.
Shi emphasizes that your retouching approach should be quick and efficient. For instance, in the video, she uses her own Lightroom presets to demonstrate how a few minor adjustments can drastically improve a photo in seconds. The point isn’t to use the exact same presets but to find a system that allows you to make those essential tweaks quickly. This is why she doesn’t recommend relying on one-click presets that claim to work for all photos—they won’t, because every image has different lighting and subject elements. Instead, Shi prefers to adjust each photo individually to maintain consistency in her style.
Understanding when to use specific retouching tools is also a common problem. Shi points out that adjusting exposure and composition should be the first steps. If the image was captured in ideal lighting conditions, it might not need much more than a simple tweak here and there. When you start from a good base, she explains, you don’t have to waste time trying to salvage poor photos later. For example, she uses one of her favorite travel shots to show how just minor adjustments in exposure and color balance can make a big difference.
Shi’s approach is to keep things straightforward. She recommends using just one editing program to manage, retouch, and organize photos. By using a single app, you avoid the need to switch between multiple programs, which can complicate your workflow. Shi’s emphasis on efficiency is all about spending less time behind the computer and more time enjoying photography. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Shi.
