Do you ever procrastinate on editing an image you like?

[outwithmycamera]

I often stand off from editing photos from a session for a little while, but not always. A lot of this I think has to do with the the strength of the images to begin with. How many times have you taken a picture that you think is the cats pajamas only to look at it a bit and realize that it doesnt cut muster? Similarly i often review older images and find ones that i felt pretty ho-hum about but in retrospect find a gem. So, my pause is simply to be able to approach the subject matter a bit more subjectively than i would if I jumped into them right after shooting. Often once I've been out on a shoot, I am full of ideas, some of which I will write down and I have found that working too close to when I took the pictures doesn't always let me really think about the best ways to achieve what I want. And then there are those times I like an image, but just don't know if I have the technical ability to deal with it so spend time researching technical approaches.

[William W]

. . . Maybe I'm afraid that I like the image so much that it will be extremely difficult to find the 'perfect' edit and so I will continually have to make changes, go back and forth, and spend countless hours on it.

I suggest that you begin by addressing the reason, the vision for which you made the image in the first place: then move on within that framework.

If after finishing that version other versions are apparent to you, then make them also. There is no reason not to have several versions.

If, however, on the other hand you are shooting willy-nilly and without purpose for each shot and that is the cause of your hesitance in post production, then I think that is a matter which you might consider addressing.

WW

[JHzlwd]

An odd but interesting question. Too much processing/editing is probably worse. I often find after spending a lot of time on an image to get exactly the right appearance that I later do not prefer that version to any number of other ones created earlier. IOW, which is the best version is more a matter of taste and mood than any objective standard. At some point you have to discipline yourself to cut to the chase and just print the darn thing. As for viewers of your image ... you will never please everyone and there will always be someone who will say you should have done this, that or the other thing.

When it comes to writing, "wordsmithing" is an analogous phenomenon. The writer will slave for a day over half a page of prose only to toss it out and go back to an earlier version.

Obsessing over the pursuit of perfection in this way can become a serious obstacle to actually creating something. I have known a number of individuals with whom the problem is so severe they never even undertake a creative effort or, if they do, will not share their work for fear some flaw will be discovered. Fortunately, I have come to accept I am incapable of producing a perfect image but brazenly share my work anyway. If some doesn't like what they see, they are free to look elsewhere ;-)

Best wishes,
jh

[Tom47]

I often put off editing photos. I will print a photo unedited and put it somewhere that I frequent bath room next to my chair in the living room or kitchen. This seems to help me to decide how I want to edit some photos. I also may ask a friend to look at a photo and make suggestions. I have a windmill that I shot while in Wyoming and have been stuck on it for over a year.

[carl89]

Maybe I would rather avoid editing than looking for a reason to edit.