Original subtitles

Okay, before we start on the demo edit

where I'll take you through step by step

how I edit my images, I want to

give you some insight and ideas into what

I look for and how I approach the

process.

And much like how I have shooting principles,

the principles I hold myself to when it

comes to editing.

And before we even start on editing, I

want you to know this, the edit starts

way before the raw file hits Lightroom.

If you haven't taken this on board from

the shooting techniques and visual trigger sections, let

me just recap what goes into making a

strong image.

Light a key ingredient and component to any

image, recognizing the type of light and working

with it to create a strong frame is

vital.

Location and scene.

I've shot the community hall wedding before, the

ones with the purple up lighter or 20

fire exit signs.

Don't fall into the trap of comparing those

venues to an outdoor Tuscany wedding.

They're not comparable, but you do need to

know how to work those difficult spaces to

manage them and still create strong imagery.

Kit.

A lack of kit should never be an

excuse for making strong images, but on the

flip side of the coin, the expensive lenses

are expensive for a reason.

If you want sharp images and good colors,

kit plays a huge part.

Finally, couples and personality.

Not only is my subject's personality reflected in

my work, I allow them to be themselves.

My personality also shines through and the inspirations

and visual aesthetics I take from life on

a daily basis is all a part of

my work.

Also, it's worth noting the comparison culture we

live in today and the sheer volume of

content you can see on a daily basis

from all around the world.

Just remember and have an awareness that you're

seeing a curated body of work.

You might be seeing 1% of all

the images I take if you look at

my social media.

These are often the best frames, in great

light, great locations.

Don't let that stop you getting out there

and doing you.

This is all a process.

We're all on our own little journeys here.

Okay, presets.

Now, amongst the photographer community, presets can often

get a bad rap.

It's not genuine if you buy a preset,

it's cheating.

Let me tell you what I think.

And I think a couple of things in

response to that.

Firstly, a preset never rescued a shit image,

ever.

If you think a preset is the answer

to your problems, you're looking in the wrong

place.

But honestly, I don't care whether anyone buys

a preset or not.

If it works for you, then great.

All I care about is getting to the

end result.

And that's how I see presets.

A shortcut as such.

Something to help you get to the end

result.

I'm not saying you shouldn't explore the preset

and figure out what it is that works

for you and what you're drawn to.

But you're ultimately buying someone's work and time

to develop that look.

Here's one of the key things though.

If you do get a preset or if

you create your own grade and you find

a look that you like, stick to it.

Be consistent.

Because inconsistency in editing will make couples question

exactly what it is they're going to get.

If they don't know because you constantly change

your final look or grading, they're subconsciously or

even consciously going to question whether or not

you're the right fit for them.

So, one thing I've done for the past

eight years is to make no changes to

my base preset during the wedding season.

Once that first wedding lands and I apply

my grade, that is it for the year.

During the down season, I will address my

grade and decide if there are any adjustments

I need to make.

But they'll be minor and subtle.

And ultimately, that's my preset.

Also, and we'll cover this more in the

demo edit, but you should have a base

preset and you should be applying this on

import.

Again, this is all about being efficient.

If you open an image in Lightroom and

have to manually apply a preset every time

or you build your preset on every single

image, you're wasting serious, serious time.

Again, we'll address this in the demo edit

next.

Just a little bit about my experience and

background of editing.

I've certainly been guilty in the past of

being influenced by others' work.

I can still remember attending a workshop in

the first year of my profession and changing

my preset because of it, but then realizing

a year down the line that I preferred

my original grade.

Again, my work is mine, preset regardless.

I'm pretty sure if I started from the

ground up now, I'd probably end up with

the same result.

It's also worth noting there are often subtle

differences between camera systems.

I know having shot Canon alongside Nikon second

shooters, that matching them up can be difficult.

I also recently started using Imogen AI, and

outsourcing your edits is certainly a topic worth

considering.

But let me say this, nothing will ever

save me having to edit.

However, Imogen AI certainly speeds up the process,

and that's how I see it.

Applying my preset gets me 50% of

the way there.

I upload the gallery to Imogen AI and

that adds another 40%.

The final 10% is carried out by

me.

If I have a 700 image gallery, Imogen

AI saves me several hours in front of

the editing screen.

But I will never get a gallery back

and just send it on to the couple.

I still carry out checks and make small

adjustments.

Okay, I want to run through a few

very quick principles and ideas that I apply

during the editing stage.

Things I look for, things I always edit

and adjust, or notes that I take.

First and foremost, be critical.

I am my biggest critic and I always

use the culling stage to look for improvements

in my work.

You can always learn and develop during this

stage.

Which is why outsourcing culling is something I'd

struggle to do.

In the same way I believe you can

take a lesson or learning away from each

wedding you shoot.

I believe the same applies to each edit.

An example is this scene here from Daniela

and Carlo's wedding in Tuscany.

Just note the light, the location.

That path acts as a reflector.

The light and the colours in the scene

give it that tone.

But this next frame, this is the lesson.

What bugs me so much about this frame,

as much as I still love it, is

that Daniela's hand is cut off from the

bottom of the frame.

So I noted this and since this wedding

it's a conscious effort to avoid this happening.

Again, it's marginal.

But you know I'm all about those marginal

gains, right?

Always ask why.

If you take a bad frame, ask why.

Could I have done better?

I took this during groom prep a couple

of years ago.

Why is it blurry?

What did I do?

Why did I do that?

ISO needed to be higher so I could

get my shutter speed up.

Okay, noted.

Editing wise, I've touched on this already, but

refine over time.

Avoid drastic and major overhauls.

Just tweak during the down season and refine

your preset over the years.

Clean the frame.

Always take your time when the opportunity is

there for a big frame.

Can you tidy this up to make it

really pop?

Are there any distractions in the scene?

Taking away those bushes in Photoshop helped draw

the eye to the couple.

They're no longer in the frame distracting the

eye of the viewer.

Who is in focus?

I'm always asking myself this when I shoot

a wedding, when it comes to lens choice.

Who is my focus here?

And the same principle can apply to the

edit.

I want to draw attention to the subject

I'm trying to focus on.

And in this case, it's the builder in

the doorframe.

You'll see as the edit moves on progressively,

how each change is geared towards drawing more

attention to that person.

Straight lines.

Straight, straight lines.

I hate wonky images.

Anything that's Dutch tilt or sloping away, fix

it.

And in this image, you should be able

to notice the original has a green hue

to it.

My focus during the edit is always first

drawn to skin tone and colour.

And this is on the green spectrum here.

Also, if the frame looks too yellow, it's

too yellow.

I will often edit white balance and tint

beyond what I think is the right level,

then reign it back in.

Again, we'll demo this next.

Finally, cropping.

This can be a hugely powerful tool and

I use it regularly in my work to

create more intrigue in my images.

This frame, for example, one of my all

-time favourites.

This isn't the original.

The bride has actually been cropped out of

the frame.

Her hand on her dad's shoulder is enough.

You don't need to see more to know

it's her.

She knows it's her.

But can you see how much more impactful

that frame is with the bride and the

groom cropped out?

Finally, the second pass.

This takes 15 minutes at the end of

an edit, but I will always sit down

after a break from editing and scroll back

through the gallery view to look out for

any frames that just don't sit right within

the edit.

Frames where the tint or white balance are

a little off.

Your eyes and how you perceive colours will

always differ slightly over the course of an

editing session.

So to ensure a high level of consistency,

this is a worthwhile task.

Okay, next up, let's get 100 images into

Lightroom and do a little demo edit for

you.