Avoiding Over-Editing: The Key to Capturing Authentic Photos
In a previous post, I shared about my trip to Olympic National Park and how one of the images I took became my favorite of the trip. That image is of a tunnel on the 17-mile highway up to Hurricane Ridge.
The morning was moody and foggy, with little traffic and the usual sprinkle of mist from the skies above. Tripod in hand, I framed this shot, experimented with a handful of compositions, and most importantly, took my time on-site to capture the sharpest image possible.
Thankfully, my patience paid off, and I walked away with a photo I’m proud of. However, the journey wasn’t easy. It took me just over a year to finish an edit that I was happy with.
So, what was the issue? Why did it take so long? Let’s dive into a common barrier for many growing photographers—over-editing.
To help establish the subject of this post, here is the raw image for reference:
The Pledge
I know where my strengths and opportunities lie when approaching any edit. The starting point really comes down to how well I exposed and captured a sharp image on location. If I didn’t quite nail it, more work would be required in post to develop something worth keeping.
The more photos I take, the more I realize that a lack of patience in the field compromises my post-production process. I end up trying too hard to salvage missed opportunities instead of working with the best possible images.
“If I didn’t quite nail it, more work would be required in post to develop something worth keeping.”
Anyone new to Lightroom probably relies too much on LUTs to see what works. While there’s value in well-crafted LUTs, I’ve found that most do more harm than good because they prevent you from learning how to develop photos that match your intended style.
That’s where my journey started—applying an overly dramatic LUT to this image and convincing myself it looked good (it didn’t).
After letting the image “soak” for a bit (my term for stepping away from an edit and returning with fresh eyes), I quickly realized how ugly it was. Sure, the highlights were interesting, and the crop was okay, but this was not how the scene looked or felt in real life. My developing style celebrates and enhances what something looks like in person, without straying too far into a false reality.
So, I hit reset and tried again.
The new image had improvements, but it was still too dark and moody. I love dark and moody edits, but I often produce images that are too dark. A successful dark and moody image should have strong contrasts between shadows and highlights, whites and blacks—not just dark areas trying to make the image interesting.
There was even a pinkish effect on the road from my editing / color grading. I really don’t know exactly what step I did this, but I caught it too late and was unable to reverse it easily.
Displeased with the results, I set the image aside, deciding to return to it later when I’d polished my approach.
Here is another example worth sharing. In this edit, you can see that I am getting closer to my final version, but there is still a lot that is not quite right. I was actually fairly happy with this one, however, I thought I would get cute and replace the dull sky with something else in Photoshop.
This ended up creating a weird halo effect around the trees which is a VERY common pitfall of ametuer photography. This effect happens when the mask around the image is not quite right, revealing a small barrier between the edited and original pixels.
Check it out. Sure, I could have cropped this out and many most likely would not have seen it. But I knew it was there and I knew I could do better. I just needed to be more patient and watch these danger areas more closely as I edited the image.
Had I not created a handful of “poorer” edits, I might not have stumbled onto my final version that I was happy with.
That’s the key - persistence and patience always pay off. If your eye is catching these sort of details than you can apply some self accountability and strive to learn how to address these common pitfalls for all new photographers.
The Turn
A month or so ago, I had a lightbulb moment—I realized my workflow was the issue.
Let me explain.
I think I have decent taste and know what a good image should look like. Creating those images myself is the challenge. Even with images I’ve published, I know there’s room for improvement. Perhaps this is why I often return to old RAW photos to re-edit them and see how my style and approach have developed.
So, what changed? What did I realize was wrong with my workflow?
Old Approach:
Develop the image in no particular order, rely on auto settings, maybe start with a few LUTs, and then float between settings, fighting myself to get it right.
New Approach:
Expose the image, apply masks, color grade, and then do final edits in Photoshop.
That simple. This new approach helped me establish a better baseline before adding any drama. Starting with a well-exposed, neutral image helps me a ton when applying masks and dodging and burning the image to craft the light around the subject.
Color comes later because, at this stage, I’m just getting a properly exposed and edited image before beginning the color grading process. This has helped me avoid over-editing.
While this is still a work in progress, I’m happy that I’m finally seeing the results I’ve been striving for over the past few years as my skills catch up with my expectations.
The Prestige
And now, I present my final edit.
I’d say I’m about 90% happy with this.
Maybe I should grade it higher, but I think it’s okay to leave a little bit to strive for.
With this edit, I’m pleased that I captured the mood and feeling of that morning, highlighting the dark tunnel in the middle of a lush mountain, and emphasizing the variety of greens on the dark rocks and earth.
I avoided over-editing the street and overemphasizing the yellow line in the middle of the road. I feel this is a good balance between capturing the mood of this highway and staying true to Mother Nature.
What are your thoughts? I’m curious how you’d approach it differently. That’s one of the things I love most about photography—there’s no right or wrong way to edit a photo if you’re happy with it. If you’re happy, it doesn’t really matter what others think. But if you can inspire others with your work along the way, that’s a win-win.