Choosing what edits to apply to a photo

[Deansrummer]

Hi all,

I am relatively new to photography, and have been using Affinity Photo casually for a couple of months. I feel pretty confident in my ability to use the program's basics (curves, adjustment layers, dodge/burn, inpaint, etc.).

My reason for posting was to see if anyone has tips around deciding what edits to apply to a photo. There are so many different functions in a program such as Affinity, and I'd hate to develop a pattern where I am applying similar edits to all my photos when I am forgetting about/missing out on some of the many other options Affinity provides. For example, going through the same curve adjustment process and ignoring an edit such as a ND filter simply because I didn't think of it in the first place!

Has anyone made this thought process a part of their workflow? Is it simply a matter of editing more and more to the point where it becomes pretty natural? Anything else?

Would love some thoughts. Thanks!

[gdavis]

My thoughts:

Don't look for a problem to a solution.  Look over the image and decide what you think it needs, then decide on how you want to accomplish that.  Practice pre-visualization.  Plan ahead, even before you take the photo.  It's not all about the editing - lighting, exposure and composition have a huge impact on what can be achieved with the editing.

Obviously practice is a big part of it.  I think of the software as a tool box.  You start out learning the basic tools and expand as you gain more experience.  It's an ever evolving process, techniques will change as you grow, tools improve, and even with changing trends.

There are many ways to accomplish the same goal.  Don't feel like you need to know all the tools.  You might even say developing a "pattern" is a good thing.  Another way to put it might be developing your own style.  Just don't close your mind to learning new things.

Even many accomplished professionals will only use a limited set of tools which they are familiar with, but they've used them so much they've become very good with those tools.  That's more important than knowing how to use all the tools.  You'll often hear them say something to the effect of, "this is how I do it because this is what I'm comfortable with, it's OK if you prefer another method."  What's important is getting the end result you're after.

When I come across a problem I don't know how to solve, I'll start searching for suggestions and tutorials.  Often I won't find anything that exactly fits my problem, but there will be things that give me ideas to try.

When I'm relaxing, I also sometimes like to just peruse through various tutorials, anything that looks interesting.  Sometimes I come across a something I can apply to my photos.  Also, look through similar types of work from other photographers for inspiration and ideas.  I've never believed in trying to exactly reproduce someone else's work, but I will pick elements to try out and see if I can incorporate them into my own work with my own interpretation.

As an example, I once  happened upon a tutorial on how to create the look from the movie Sin City.  I wasn't looking for it, but it sounded interesting.  I went through the steps which didn't really work well with my photos, but I learned some things that I have adapted to my style and have continued to use over the many years since.

[Deansrummer]

Thanks so much for the tips @gdavis !! Super helpful and make perfect sense.