When I was a newer photographer I got frustrated every time I looked at other photographers images on 500px, flickr, and other photo sites.
For the life of me, I couldn’t wrap my head around how their images were so incredibly amazing with color and depth and mine weren’t. I often shot in the same conditions and just couldn’t get close to the quality of those images.
This is what I call the “photography myth”. Let me explain.
It must be the camera
I thought “With images like those, these photographers must have had the most expensive cameras on the market. When I looked in the exif data of their images I was surprised to find out that many of these photographers were using entry-level cameras.
I guess it wasn’t the camera.
It must be the lenses
If it wasn’t the camera, then surely they must be using really expensive lenses that were better than mine. Again, I looked at the exif data and was surprised to find out that many of these photographers had the same lenses as mine.
Some even used kit lenses but their images were freaking awesome.
I guess it wasn’t the lenses.
It must be their experience
So it wasn’t the camera or lenses, so what was left? The only thing I could think of was experience. These photographers must have been shooting for years and years, and learned my making a million mistakes.
I actually reached out to some of the photographers who created such awesome photos to ask how long they had been shooting.
There were certainly a good number who had been shooting for 10+ years, but there were also a lot who had been shooting for under one year!
Don’t get me wrong – experience is by far one of the most important things to creating any great art but its not entirely necessary. If someone at one year shooting had just as good of images as someone shooting for 10 years then it had to be something else.
I guess it wasn’t always the experience.
The two ‘secret powers’ photographers possess
The photography myth says that things like photo gear and experience are the determining factor of the quality of an image.
After spending a long, long time evaluating what variables could give these photographers this seemingly impossible advantage I finally figured it out.
Are you ready for it?
The two ‘secret powers’ these photographers possessed were an intimate knowledge of lighting and photo editing.
Lighting
Lighting is incredibly important. If given an iPhone with incredible light to shoot in, or a $40,000 Phase One camera with a $10,000 lens in crappy light, I’ll take the iPhone and good light.
Once you understand how light works, how to shape it, and how to wield its power, your images will skyrocket in quality and imagination. With a working understanding of how to utilize light you can even make terrible light into excellent light by shaping it, controlling its quality, and quantity.
I’ll be sharing lighting tutorials with you as we continue down this path together.
Editing – this is going to piss some people off
I’m going to piss off a lot of established photographers with what I’m about to say: editing can be more important than knowing the light (and experience).
Let me explain: technology has come a long way. Shooting in RAW gives you so much information that you can now ‘save’ previously botched images.
Don’t get me wrong, you should always aim to get everything you can correct in camera, but you can now do so much after the image has been captured to bring out its true luster.
Being able to replace entire backgrounds, fix blemishes, affect shadows and highlights, lighting errors or subpar lighting conditions, and more mean that the greatest impact upon and images final state is now the editing process.
Once you combine top notch editing with top notch lighting, you create an incredible image which is even more than the sum of its parts. When you get to this level, you are in the top 1%
In other words, once you reach this stage your images are now just as amazing as those you used to look up to.
What to do about it
Please don’t misunderstand me. Having experience through trial and error is important and will happen over time. Having the budget to purchase better cameras or glass can help if you know what to do with them. If you give a new photographer the best gear and a seasoned pro the worst gear and have a contest, my money is on the seasoned pro to create a more impactful image.
With all that said, this site is about Hacking Photography. Hacking Photography is about finding the quickest-impact methods to improve your photography, without having to invest 10,000 hours into learning.
Diamonds and images
Great lighting in an image is like a raw precious stone. By itself it is highly valuable, but not as valuable as a finished precious stone. This is where the editing comes in.
With proper care, the stone is then cut to its proper shape, buffed, blemishes are removed, it is faceted, and finally it is polished. Sounds a lot like editing, doesn’t it ? :)
Only after the ‘editing’ process occurs is the precious stone truly valuable and at its highest worth.
Let me reiterate: to have the most valuable image, you need both great lighting and great editing.
An image can be really good with great lighting or great editing, but to reach the top they need both.
Why you should dive into editing first
As I’ve detailed above, lighting and editing are the most important parts of this process. Out of those two, I’d argue that is easier and much faster to learn editing than it is to learn lighting.
I’m going to get some angry comments on that last sentence because some will mistakenly think that I’m suggesting not learning lighting at all.
I’m suggesting that you should be learning lighting and editing simultaneously, but that editing is much faster to learn and can make a bigger impact at this stage.
10-20 years ago this wasn’t the case. Photoshop and Lightroom weren’t as powerful as they are today, and camera files weren’t as robust and didn’t capture as much information to use later.
Great lighting before and after great editing
I looked up a few images below that show the power of combining great lighting with great editing. The ‘before’ photos with good light are still excellent compared to poor lighting, but they don’t reach their true potential without the edit:
Can you see how important the editing process is? Consider the photography myth debunked.
Where we are going, we don’t need roads
I’m going to take you on a journey. This journey will begin with Lightroom editing tips and tutorials, as well as how and when to use Lightroom presets.
Once you get a deep working knowledge of Lightroom and how to utilize its power, we’ll move onto learning photography lighting and Photoshop for deep-dive editing.
It’s going to be a hell of a ride and I’m excited to have you joining me in the journey. Stay tuned for the next steps coming to your email inbox soon. We have work to do :)
This post is spot on. Most people don’t realize this, I didn’t either until you showed me LR for the first time about 5 years ago on your super old mac mini, haha. I have been shooting with a mirrorless Sony NEX-5T ($300 camera and kit lens) for the past few months and I get “better” photos than friends that have have $1000+ “real cameras”. I followed your steps in your book Hacking Photography and then learned how to use Adobe LR to edit RAW images… and already some people think I’m a “natural” at photography (although I know this is far from true, I’m still a newbie and just followed your shortcuts, haha). Next step is learning lighting as you recommend. When I figure all this stuff out, I’ll upgrade to a “real” FF camera… which will hopefully be soon! :)
Your shots have been spot on man! I’m truly impressed with how quickly you’ve taken to photography based on the shots I’ve seen on We Chat. Keep up the shooting and make as many mistakes as you can!
Your enthusiasm is almost overwhelming. I look forward to new material.
Great points Mike. I also used to think it was all and only about the camera, lens and gear. After looking at a lot of photos, I came to realize that lighting and editing were incredibly important. By editing and spending time with photos I’ve got, I have gained a better eye for lighting. The two really go hand in hand. Having an artistic flair helps and with practice in editing, that gets better also. Thanks for the great post!
Thanks Terry!
My pleasure Joyce! Its so true. The gear is only as good as the photographer.
So glad I got connected to this! So motivating to get learning!
Hi Sharon, I’m glad too! I can’t wait to see some of the images you create as you continue down the training path!
Great post! I agree with you. I always try to take a picture the best I can. I am not an expert in editing (yet) and having a good starting point makes things easier. But no doubt that the editing tools available today can help us to improve the quality of our pictures so much! I am happy I started to learn more about editing.
Hi Sara!
We are on the same page. The editing makes such a big difference and I look forward to teaching you more about editing!
Mike,
It is a great opportunity to come across a legend like you. I just read your blog, it is truly an eye-opener for a beginner like me. Recently downloaded your presets as well, looking forward to use them and enjoy them. Many thanks for inspiring us and keep up your great energy which will help people like me.
Jai
Hi Jai,
I don’t know if I’d consider myself a legend but I appreciate your vote of confidence! I’ll be adding more blog posts very soon so keep your eyes peeled :)
Thank you for your order of the presets – happy editing!
OK, I believe. I have seen too many photographs taken side by side with my daughter and her finished (edited) photography always looks better than mine. Same equipment, same position, same subject. Different results and I know that difference is in the editing. That is why I am here.
Hi Larry,
Its so true! That is likely the only difference. Editing is so important and often overlooked. I like to think of it like finding a precious stone like a diamond. Taking the photo is like finding a raw diamond, it has value, but not nearly as much as after is has been cut, buffed, and fully polished (just like editing).
I’m glad to have you with us :)
Is there any way to set the camera up for the light and the ISO and balance so maybe there is not a lot of editing.for along time I could not afford a good program for the editing.I can see a great change with editing.Thanks
Hi Tim,
You can and should get everything as perfect as you can in-camera. That will enable you to create a great image, but editing can help bring out even more in the image depending on how much time you want to put into it.
Excellent points Mike! Now that I have retired and have a bit more time I’m committed to improving the end result of my photography, and am looking forward to the experience. Thanks for what you’re doing here!
Hi Mike :-) … Got presets yesterday and your blog is just what I need at the moment, because I nearly gave up on photography, my very dear hobby since I was in a primary school :-(
I was VERY frustrated like many people here, about ‘how can THEIR photos be better than mine, when we shot the very same scene/people?!’ Yes, I had a few GOOD pics here-and-there, but that was it.
I thought, as you’ve mentioned, it was a gear, so I’ve upgraded to good camera (presently Canon 7D Mark 2), good lenses (top Canon range), some accessories …. BUT, I was still not a happy bunny :-)
Yes, I did have this time MORE good shots taken, NOT edited, as I like NOT to manipulate too much my photos. Being now a part of your crowd, I want to learn more, and I am hungry for knowledge how to better myself, build my knowledge in photography and post-processing, so looking forward for any tips and ideas.
Thank you very much for inspiring me again, and being helpful to all of us amateurs and hobbyists :-)
Hi, just thought I’d say something.
I picked up your recent deal for LR presets. I do most of my major editing in Photoshop, where I have dozens of actions (both other people’s and my own) but I’m finding myself using LR more when there are no major edits to do and I just need to process the RAW file. I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to have some presets for here too, so if I do want to see what an effect looks like on a shot, I don’t have to go swapping files around? So thanks, I’m very happy with them – I had just shot a gazillion photos of a performer and some of the Night Colour presets make those shots WOW.
Anyhow, I can’t really disagree with what you said – I am a person who *heavily* relies on editing. I need to improve my technical understanding (yes, I understand the exposure triangle, but still manage to blow a lot of shots anyway, I’m not so good at harnessing the light) and while there is always more to learn and I’m happy to show up and hear what you have to say, I’m hoping that you do get to talking about how to use light, because while I’ve read an awful lot and sometimes get really lucky, it’s definitely my weak point.
Anyhow, nice to “meet” you and again, thanks for the presets, I’m very happy with them.
Mike, great post. This makes sense to me. I want to learn Lightroom. I am desperate to learn lightroom. Looking forward to your future emails etc. Quite excited actually that I might actually learn something!
It appears that I have a contrary opinion here. I hope diverse views are welcome. The edited photos are off putting to me because they are obviously edited to within an inch of their life. When I see these photos in the wild my reaction is that the photo is about editing and not photography. Do not misunderstand me, they look good, it is just that my eye prefers to see what the photographer saw not what the editor created.
Hello-
I’m just starting to get into your emails and information. It has gotten me pumped up and enthused. I hope I can keep up with all that it looks like you will be sending out- don’t have as much time for this as I would like. One question re editing. Is there a particular editing program that your instructions are based on and do I need it to be able to follow along? Right now I use the Nikon editing program that came with my Nikon 5200. I look forward to your guidance.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the motivation and opportunity to improve my photography skills. I’m looking forward to your posts.
Good morning Mike,
New to your site but really enjoying the content so far! Regarding editing, which would you start to learn first – Lightroom or Photoshop?
2nd would be then any editing specific courses you would recommend?
Thank you.
Cheers,
David.
Thank you for the insight Mike! Looking forward to reading more posts!
Cannot download presets I bought on July 4th. I’m using windows 7 professional. Need help.
Thanks
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the article. I also think you have it spot on. While many purists will disagree, technology has taken photography well past where it was. Mixed with creativity and vision we can make images into masterpieces, often with just a few quick edits.
I was inspired once by a presenter I saw that gave a lightroom demonstration. This gentleman had worked for Parks Canada and had the privileged to photograph so many amazing wonders in Canada, but what gave me pause, was that his original images looked just like everybody elses, but using a number of tools in Lightroom, they ended up as spectacular! While I had been using Lightroom for years at that point, he really opened my eyes up and gave me even more ways to use it to adjust my images.
I look forward to reading more of your blog and learning from your creativity! I don’t think we ever stop learning.
Just downloaded your presets – thank you! – and my new monthly subscription to LR/Photoshop. I only used Picasa for quite some time because LR/PS seemed overwhelming to learn. But, I have taken the plunge and I know that they have the capacity for editing that is needed to attend to the details you mentioned in this post. Many thanks and I look forward to upcoming info about all that you have to share.
I completely agree that it is easier to learn editing than light. Editing also taught me a lot about composition, which I am able to take to the camera and improve in camera images. Light is much more difficulty to get a really good handle on in camera, especially for those of us who can’t shoot every day.
I’m glad to hear you have some more time to spend with photography Steve! I’m very happy to have you here.
Wow, Vinko, I’m so happy to hear I’ve been able to positively impact you to jump back into photography!
It sounds like you completely were in the same place as I was with the frustration of looking at other photographers work!
I’ll do my best to put out more helpful content!
Thank you Terri, I’m happy to hear from you! I’m excited to hear you like the presets and have found the Night Color set helpful – I’m a sucker for night time photography!
I’ll see what I can do about doing some lighting posts!
Hi Bel, I’ll do my best to teach you!
Hi Paul,
You are absolutely welcome to have a contrary opinion! The subject of editing has been a precarious topic at best since its initial advent long long ago.
I think everyone has a different opinion of how much editing is too much. Some purists feel that any editing at all is sacrilege. Some feel that a little editing is okay.
Some love editing and find the real art and excitement to be about how much extra they can add to a photo in post. People like Trey Ratcliff process the hell out of their images using HDR and a ton of post processing after that and unabashedly lust after heavily processed images.
I think its all a matter of personal taste. While I don’t like what I personally consider overly processed photos (and I’m sure my definition of that is different than others), I can understand photographers excitement to bring out what they think is the best image possible to them using the tools at their disposal.
With all that said, I really appreciate you sharing your voice here. I think its important to hear everyones opinion and it likely gives other photographers an important viewpoint when considering how/if they should edit their image :) Thanks Paul.
Hi Jim,
I’m excited you are excited! Lets keep this going :)
I do a lot of editing in Lightroom, but I also use Photoshop as well. In terms of editing training it helps if you have those, but I also share posts on photography skills and lighting as well that don’t require anything over than a basic camera – sometimes not even a DLSR or mirrorless camera!
Hi Terrie,
My pleasure, I’m glad to have you here!
Hi David,
I’m a big fan of the ease of Lightroom to start with. Photoshop is insanely powerful and very helpful to have, but I think its easier to start in Lightroom for most people as its far more accessable and easy to understand.
As for editing courses, I suppose it depends on what you are looking to learn! The best ‘how to’ I’ve personally used is my friend (and neighbor!) Phil Steele’s Lightroom Training Course. Phil has an excellent method of teaching and he covers Lightroom from top to bottom, front to back in his course “Lightroom Made Easy” which is only $39 and 5 hours long.
After you get a basic working knowledge of Lightroom you are more than welcome to check out my new Monthly Edit Membership, which provides 5 new videos each month in which I let you look over my shoulder and show you how to edit 5 different images from front to back, explain the tools I’m using and why I’m using them, and delivers 10 new Lightroom presets each month.
I hope this helps get you started!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Peter!
Hi Al,
I’m just seeing your comment here on the blog but I’m glad you emailed me as well so we were able to get your presets downloaded and installed. I hope you are enjoying them!
I agree 100% with you Janna. The whole genre of photography is evolving, which I personally embrace.
I do see a lot of people who hate the idea of editing, and I think many people feel its unfair that they have to learn deeper editing techniques to stay ‘relevant’. Not to say there won’t always be a place for unedited photos, but I personally embrace the change and disruption in everything and welcome the ability to push images further than we ever thought possible.
Very cool Judy! I’m excited to hear that you are ready to rock with learning Photoshop and Lightroom. I promise you that once you get the hang of it you will wonder how you ever got by without it :)
I can’t wait for next months Monthly Edit Membership videos!
Hi Laurene,
Welcome to the blog and thank you for commenting! Great point about learning composition through editing. After thousands of cropping your images you tend to start thinking “why don’t I just take an extra second and get this right in camera?” haha.
Lighting is a tricky one and I’d like to start writing some posts on better lighting without needing a ton of gear.
I was reading through the comments and thought I would say something about post production. From my experience the only way you can really see what the photographer saw is to be with him/her when they took the picture. And even then there is a possibility you will not “see” the same thing.
I think what a lot of people are looking for is a “natural” looking photo. Unless you were there you cannot always be sure excessive adjustments were made or not. Obviously, sometimes you can be sure. The first time I saw pictures of The Wave in Arizona/Utah, I was positive they were photoshopped. How could land look like that? They weren’t photoshopped. The curves and colors were natural for that landscape.
Sometimes, during post production, surprises occur because the camera sees differently than our eyes do. The detail you can get in photo raw can easily be more than your eyes noticed. The mood of the image can change and be more dynamic than if you just took the original. I like natural looking images but I also recognize photography is more and more an art form than a documentary.
Mike:
I just found your website and completely agree with this blog. I use LR and fell like I get good images with it but I don’t know how to get to “wow” and achieve some of the impact I see from other photographers’ work. Hope to learn from you and your site to take my images from good to great!
Hi Robert,
I’ll definitely be showing you how to get more ‘pop’ out of your photos so stay tuned!
I too have been of the opinion that better hardware=better pictures. I’ve been shooting around 2 years now, with a Nikon D5100, and have a nifty 50mm, a 55-200mm and a 18-55mm kit lens. Assuming the glass was holding me back, I did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that the ‘X-Factor’ missing from my shots is down to post-editing, rather than initial capture. I’ve only ever worked with Nikon’s own limited software, which is useful for minor corrections, but doesn’t go nearly into the depth that Lightroom and Photoshop combined can. So, I’ve took the plunge, and I’m now just starting to get to grips with the basics. Much more practice needed, but I am IT savvy by trade, so I should be able to figure things out as I go. I do lack artistic talent though, so it’ll be interesting to see how some of the pro’s approach certain things.
I’m glad to have you Lee! I’ll be helping you as much as I can with new tutorials coming soon so stay tuned!
Hello!!! I’m a beginner. I use a Cannon Rebel T5 EOS, which I got as a gift. And please believe me when I tell you how frustrated I get while taking the classes. For instance I love taking shots of flowers, enlarging them, take advantage of the vignette so the background is dark and the flower POPS! So while editing them in Light Room, I still don’t have a detachable flash . And quite truthfully, I don’t want to invest anymore until I’m sure this will be my new hobby. I have a camera bag that I use with all my my lenses (plus a lot of extra (will spare you the details).
So any advice. hmmmm. please do tell!
Hi Christine! I want to help but I don’t think I understand what you are asking for advice for as I didn’t see you ask a question. Can you rephrase it so I know what you’d like advice on?
Hi Mike:
I discovered your blog and website yesterday and I am very much looking forward to learning from your videos. I have taken photos as a hobby for years, primarily landscapes, and I’m totally self taught. After completing a couple of Boudoir shoots for my daughter and her friends I have decided that it is time for me to step up to the plate and learn the techniques to shoot and edit like a professional. I’ve been using Lightroom for years without much difficulty but I’m finding that I need Photoshop to edit portraits. Photoshop has challenged my ability to be calm…lol I have a second-hand set of studio lights that I use but find them bulky, heavy to transport and not needed for most shoot. I choose to shoot with natural light when possible. I most recently upgraded to use Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC. I know there is so much to learn! I do have one question that could help me in the next week with another shoot that is on my schedule. What is the best portable light system to buy? I need it to be compact, portable and easy to use for a lone photographer.
Thanks again and looking forward to your lessons and advice.
Best regards, Sandy
Hi Sandy,
Thats exciting to hear! I’m glad to hear you are ready to take it to the next level and start using off-camera lights!
I’d say the best affordable portable lighting system would be to use some inexpensive speedlight/flashes and inexpensive radio triggers to use them off-camera.
I haven’t used them myself but I’ve heard great things about Yonguono flashes and triggers. Check out this set on Amazon which comes with a trigger that mounts on your camera and two flashes that it controls wirelessly: http://amzn.to/1KtHUie. They are only $177 total and you can always buy more speed lights if you need more.
After you have those its just a matter of buying some cheap light stands (these are cheap but I can’t vouch for the quality: http://amzn.to/1hnAgdD – $18/each) and any lighting modifiers you need like small softboxes or (even cheaper) umbrellas to soften the light.
If you ordered them today you should get them all in 2-3 days so hopefully that would be fast enough turnaround.
I hope this helps!
This article is great, thank you for sharing. I’m a newbie only been in this field just under 12 months and I know I have so much to learn. I am always learning and your guides/blogs sure do help and I am very greatful. I think it’s a bit silly for people to take this post the wrong way though because it actually isn’t what they are thinking. It sure is an eye opener say to speak, and although I have figured out some of the tools in PS I’m still learning. Also it’s taken me only u til recently to figure out LR as I had no idea what to do or what I was doing. I can’t wait to follow your blogs I’m sure I will learn along the way. Thanks so much :)
Hi Megan, I’m looking forward to helping in any way I can! Just keep reading and experimenting!
This is my first time to visit your blog and I look forward to learning more! I “dabble” with Photoshop and know that editing can do some marvelous things to a less than hoped for photo, but I’m so ready to learn more, in particular Lightroom.
Hi Mary, thanks for your comment! You are right – proper editing can absolutely turn an image around, just like a precious stone needs work to bring it to its potential.
I have a lot of good Lightroom tips to share so stay tuned :)
Thank you for the encouragement and the tips and tutorials. I confess to feeling a little overwhelmed by what LR and PS can potentially do. A lot / most of the functions are concepts that I haven’t confronted before, and I look forward to working towards a better understanding and gaining skills at a manageable pace. Thank you again, Mike for sharing and supporting us along our personal ptgy journeys. C
Hi Carmen,
I’m glad you wrote. I think we all feel this way at some point (or at several points :) in our photography journey. You are in the right place, as we’ll help you along and keep you motivated as well. Its all just a matter of patience, experience, and trying out new things to learn. There is no right or wrong way to ‘do’ photography, which is what I truly love about it. I’m glad to have you, welcome!
Hi Mike!
I was downloading your LR presets that lead me to reading this very article. You definitely persuaded me to click the link haha..
Anyways, I’m agree with you about the lighting and editing. One can’t survive without the other, and both are very important to get better results everytime.
That being said, I still need to learn a lot about lighting. Just curious, what under which kind of lighting do you prefer to take shots?
Cheers!
Thanks for your comment! Lighting is, in my opinion, THE most fun and important thing to learn about. The lighting really depends on the photo and what you are trying to do with it. Some photos will use available ambient light, sometimes I prefer a speedlight on top of my camera body, whereas other times I’m taking a more deliberate path and need 5 studio lights and lighting modifiers!
Thanks for the reply. Up until now I always do mostly outdoor landscape shots and have never fiddled around with artificial light in flash. Do you have suggestion for the low cost setup for playing around with light, i.e. what kind of flash? PS: I’m very beginner when it comes to taking (indoor) portraits.
Good article, lighting is for me also a very important thing.
Because the “eyes of a man” see more then the “eyes of the camerasensor”. It is always a challenge but i feel that as a nice challenge.
Working with lightroom “post after” is working very good. I’am not only happy with mij camera but also happy with lightroom and at most my eyes.
I agree 100%. Learning light is by far the most important aspect of photography. Nothing impacts the image as much as knowing proper lighting :) Thanks for your comment!
This is such a helpful article! I just discovered your blog yesterday and I’m so thankful that I did. I’ve been shooting for a little over a year and am completely self taught. I mainly shoot landscapes and nature and it has been quite an exhausting and frustrating journey with a lot of botched photo opportunities due to lack of understanding. Thanks so much for this. I can’t wait to get out and shoot today!!!
Hi Audra,
I’m really glad to hear that this was motivational to you! Get out there and take some great photos today!