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Having taken photos regularly for multiple years, my editing has evolved significantly. I’ve picked up new styles and preferences, which has naturally led me to no longer use others. Today, I’ll share seven photo editing effects I’ve stopped using and why.
1Lots of Sharpness
I think that overly sharpening your pictures or adding too much clarity is a rite of passage for all photographers. It’s also something that you’ll inevitably do even if you just casually take pictures to share on Instagram. Every time I look back on these pictures, it’s hard not to cringe (but also be grateful for how far I’ve come).
The main reason I added too much sharpness to my pictures was simple. My logic was that if adding lots of sharpness would make the image look like a photo and not a drawing. Basically, I was trying to make it too “life-like”, which, unsurprisingly, had the opposite effect.
I stopped adding lots of sharpness to my pictures because I later realized that this doesn’t make my pictures look more real. In many cases, it’s actually better to drop the sharpness and clarity a little. I also stopped adding too much sharpness because I learnedhow to stop taking blurry photos.
2Too Much Saturation
Another photo editing effect that I’ve stopped using as much is adding too much saturation to my pictures. Again, this is something that I think a lot of beginner photographers do without realizing. Saturation is one of the earliest photo editing features that you learn, so it’s natural to use this more than you should to begin with.
I have also overdone the Vibrance slider for the same reason. Adding more saturation to your pictures isn’t a bad thing, and in some cases, it’s necessary. But if you overdo it, the final edit will look sloppy. This is especially true if you have people in your pictures; I’ve made people’s skin tones look orange on far too many occasions.
I don’t add too much saturation to most of my pictures anymore thanks to an understanding of how these sliders affect my image. Now, I actually prefer to make adjustments to individual colors. I will sometimes add more saturation than is necessary, usually in scenes with colorful buildings, but nowhere near as much as I used to.
3Artificial Background Blur
I, like many others, have seen some of the many amazing portrait photos on the web and been inspired to take my own. Many of these blur the background by changing the aperture on their lenses orusing Portrait Mode on an iPhone. It is also possible to add artificial background blur, and I’ve done this many times in the past.
The main reason I stopped using artificial background blur is because, to me, it looks way too obvious most of the time. There’s certainly one argument here that I’m perhaps not very good at using it. The fact that I know about the technical aspects of photography is undoubtedly another contributor. At the same time, I personally just find it easier to make these effects myself in-camera.
If you do decide to add artificial blur to your pictures, consider theseonline tools that let you blur parts of an image for free.
4“Clean Editing”
When first learning how to edit photos, I started by understanding the basics of my editing software (primarily Lightroom). As a result, I often edited my pictures without pushing the boat out too much. I call this “clean editing”, which refers to making the image look like it did in-camera but not much else.
If you’re new to photo editing, I would actually argue that this phase is necessary and will reduce the learning curve. But at some point, you have to think outside the box and start applying your own unique style if you want to stand out.
And that is the reason I stopped using “clean editing”. While still making these adjustments as a starting point, I add my own twist after that. If you want to speed up your learning curve, check out mytop fixes for common photo editing mistakes on your smartphone.
5Artificial Lens Flare
I briefly had a phase of adding artificial lens flare to my photos, and it pains me that I thought this looked cool. Spoiler alert: adding lens flare when there is no light that could have possibly caused the “flare” almost always looks bad.
Thankfully, I dropped this experiment soon after. It was useful for seeing what my pictures would look like with lens flare, but I would rather use actual lighting sources. Nonetheless, I still suggest playing around with the different features that your editing software has because you could find something that interests you. And at the very least, you’ll learn something new about photography.
6Underexposing My Pictures
“Dark and moody” was my photography’s middle name throughout much of 2020 and 2021. I heard online that underexposing your pictures to about -1 on the meter could help save details and make editing easier, and I also used Manual Mode a lot. So, to stop my images from being blurry, it made sense.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with underexposing your pictures, and I still do that. However, I rarely overdo the effect anymore. Looking back at some pictures of a trip in 2023 where I had underexposed the shots, it made me realize I was probably taking things too far. Now, I assess each situation and use whatever makes the most sense.
7“Dreamy Glow”
The dreamy glow effect refers to making your images look hazy, and it often involves significantly dropping the clarity among other things. If it’s sunny, the subject is backlit much of the time.
There’s nothing wrong with this effect, but it simply didn’t interest me—which is why I stopped using it. Nonetheless, it was a good stepping stone for film-style photography (which is what many of my edits consist of these days).
While these are photo editing effects that I no longer use, I’m not saying that they are bad. Ultimately, you need to think about how you want your pictures to look; if that means using one of these effects, then go ahead. Nonetheless, you may want to evolve beyond these photo editing effects at some point.
