8 Helpful Photo-Editing Tips for Beginners

When it comes to creating a finished photo, choosing the right camera settings and a nice composition is only half of what it takes. Knowing how to edit a photo to achieve a tasteful result that matches your creative vision is the other half. If you are newer to photography, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you eight tips sure to improve your post-processing. 

Coming to you from James Popsys, this excellent video tutorial will show you eight helpful tips for improving your photo edits. If I had to give one tip to newer photographers working on improving their editing skills, it would simply be to err on the side of doing less. There is a tendency, particularly before you have developed a nuanced eye, to take edits a bit too far, especially with things like saturation, which can cause your photos to look a bit gaudy or fake. One easy way to deal with this is to simply take a few minutes to step away from your computer after you are done with a batch, then return and evaluate your work with a fresh set of eyes before you export the images. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Popsys. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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This is great stuff, James! I've been using LR for years yet am still learning it and always will be. Adobe updates and upgrades constantly, giving us more and better tools but also setting us back a little on the learning curve. You'd think I turn my nose up at "tips for beginners" but if I've learned anything it's that there is always something to learn, even if it's only something you knew but forgot, or a better way to make use of a tool you "already know" how to use ---- or so you thought. Thanks, James. Thanks, Alex. 👍👍