Editing to Keep Your Photos Consistent
There is nothing more eye catching about a photographer than the first thing you’ll ever see; their photos! Most importantly, their style of editing. One of the questions I’ve been asked on Instagram so many times is how to edit photos consistently, even through different lighting. A few things will play into this, but ultimately it’s quite simple! My biggest tips will be in the way you take your photographs and then, the way you edit them.
The first thing you’ll want to know, is that photos from different shoots parts of a shoot will never look completely alike. And that’s totally ok! This is where the “sisters, not twins” rule comes into play! You’ll want them to resemble each other but each set of images will shine in their own way.
Even Light
The best way to make your editing job much simpler is to shoot your images the same! For me, I love soft, even lighting on my couples and so I’m typically shooting backlit or in shade. This way, when I bring them in to edit, a bright backlit image will need a very similar edit as one in shade since the light on my couple is so similar! I’ll tweak them both to flatter each set of images, but they have the exact same core.
One Preset Only!
Find a preset you love, and work with just that preset! I have been perfecting my preset for over 5 years now and the funny thing is, it hasn’t changed much! I have around a dozen hand made presets, and each one is a variation of my original, core preset. This is how I have always done it and I have never struggled with inconsistencies in my work, so I highly recommend this way! You will also learn so much about editing from experimenting on what works in different light and creating your own presets. Focus on the Basic tab when making alternate versions of your preset so the tone curve and colours stay the same. Try not to get caught up on a crazy comparison game of this photo vs. the eight ones beside it.
Take the photos below as an example. I used the exact same preset on all three! The photo of the bride with her dad required taking the tint down quite a bit but that was all! Minor tweaks besides that, like a small boost in exposure or taking down the highlights! As long as your skin tones are consistent, the rest will fall into place!
I hope this helps you to work towards a consistent editing style you love! Send me a message on Instagram @vanessarenaae if you have more questions!
