After taking photos regularly for several years, my perspective on editing has evolved significantly. Photo editing is an essential part of digital photography, but over time, I’ve started to shy away from using some of the effects I once considered essential. Effects like heavy filters, over-saturation, and skin smoothing may add a certain aesthetic to an image, but they can sometimes take away from the natural, authentic feel of a scene. I decided to go back to basics and focus on enhancing the natural aspects of an image rather than over-editing it.
Today, I'm going to share with you some photo editing effects that I stopped using and why. Check out why I prefer browser-based photo editing apps over desktop-based ones.
1. Too much intensity
I think sharpening or adding a lot of clarity to your photos is pretty standard for all photographers. It’s also something you’d definitely do even if you were taking photos for Instagram. Every time I look at these photos, it’s hard not to feel disappointed with how they look (but also grateful for how far I’ve come).
The main reason I added so much sharpness to my images was simple. My logic was that if I added too much sharpness it would make the image look like a photograph rather than a drawing. Basically, I was trying to make it “lifelike,” which unsurprisingly had the opposite effect.
I stopped adding too much sharpening to my photos because I later realized that it didn’t make my photos look more realistic. In many cases, it’s actually better to reduce the sharpness and clarity a bit. I also stopped adding too much sharpening because I learned how to stop taking blurry photos. Check out how to get a blurry background effect on single-camera Android phones.
2. Too much saturation
Another photo editing effect that I’ve stopped using is adding too much saturation to my photos. Again, this is something that I think a lot of beginner photographers do without even realizing it. Saturation is one of the earliest photo editing features you learn, so it’s natural to overuse it at first.
I also overused the Vibrance slider for the same reason. Adding more saturation to your photos is not a bad thing, and in some cases, it is necessary. But if you overdo it, the final work will look sloppy. This is especially true if you have people in your photos; I have made people’s skin tones look orange on several occasions.
I don’t add a lot of saturation to most of my photos anymore because I understand how these sliders affect my image. Now, I prefer to make adjustments to individual colors. Sometimes I will add more saturation than necessary, usually in scenes with colorful buildings, but not as much as I used to. Check out why I ignore traditional photography rules to take better photos with my phone.
3. Artificially blur the background
Like many others, I have seen some amazing portraits on the web that inspired me to take my own. In many of them, the background is blurred by changing the aperture or using the iPhone’s “Portrait” mode. It is also possible to add an artificial background blur, and I have done this several times in the past.
The main reason I stopped using artificial background blur is that it looks too obvious to me most of the time. There is certainly one argument here that I am probably not good at using it. The fact that I know the technical aspects of photography is undoubtedly another contributor. At the same time, I personally find it easier to do these effects myself in-camera.
If you decide to add artificial blur to your photos, consider these online tools that let you blur parts of an image for free.
4. “Clean Edit”
When I first learned how to edit photos, I started by understanding the basics of my editing app (primarily Lightroom). As a result, I often edited my photos without going overboard. I call this “clean editing,” which refers to making the image look like it was taken in-camera but nothing more.
If you’re new to photo editing, I’d argue that this stage is essential and will shorten 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.
This is why I stopped using the “clean edit.” While I still make these adjustments as a starting point, I add my own touches afterward. If you want to speed up your learning curve, check out my top fixes for common photo editing mistakes on your smartphone.
5. Artificial lens flare
I briefly went through a phase of adding artificial lens flare to my photos, and it hurts because I thought it looked cool. Spoiler alert: adding lens flare in the absence of light can cause “flare” that always looks bad.
Fortunately, I dropped this experiment shortly after. It was helpful to see what my photos would look like with lens flare, but I prefer using actual light sources. However, I still suggest experimenting with the different features of your favorite editing app because you may find something that interests you. At the very least, you’ll learn something new about photography.
6. Reduce exposure of my photos
“Dark and moody” was the middle name for my photography style throughout most of 2020 and 2021. I’d heard online that exposing your images to around -1 on the scale could help preserve detail and make editing easier, and I used manual mode a lot. So to keep my images from looking blurry, it made sense.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with underexposing your photos, and I still do. However, I rarely overexpose to the effect anymore. Looking back at some photos from a trip in 2023 where I underexposed shots made me realize that I was probably taking things too far. Now, I evaluate each situation and use what makes the most sense.
7. “Dreamy Glow”
The dreamy glow effect refers to making your photos look blurry, and often involves significantly reducing the clarity among other things. If it's sunny, the subject is backlit most of the time.
There's nothing wrong with this effect, but it simply didn't interest me anymore, so I stopped using it. However, it was a good starting point for film-style photography (which is what many of my edits consist of these days).
While these are the photo editing effects I no longer use, I’m not saying they’re bad. Ultimately, you have to think about how you want your photos to look; if that means using one of these effects, go for it. However, you may want to take things a step further than these photo editing effects at some point. Check out the best Chrome extensions for editing photos on your web browser right now.
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