Every decent photographer will hear this at some point: “Oh, these photos look really nice! What camera are you using?”. Imagine someone asking Michelangelo what kind of chisel he was using for creating “David”. No doubt, it’s important to have the right tools, to know how to use them and certainly not all tools have the same quality, but the camera is just one part of it. So what’s the secret ingredient to an above average photo then?
When people started to ask me how they can improve their photos, I was looking back on how my photography had evolved and if I have to pick a single change giving me the biggest boost, it sure was switching from shooting JPG to shooting in RAW format and starting to edit the photos. For most people it’s seeing a photo opportunity and taking the shot and that’s where it stops. For better photos you need to go beyond and start editing them. Assuming you have at least a bit of a sense for situations and what makes a good motif, editing will improve them infinitely. And if I had to pick a single most important thing in editing, then I’d say cropping your photos to the right size and format helps an image tremendously.
Why is RAW so special?
The short answer: It allows a wider range of editing an image without breaking it. There are plenty of sources explaining this in detail. I just want to give you an example here:
What else is important in editing?
- Consequently pick only the shots worth keeping and editing
- Crop them to get the subject into the right focus and get rid of disturbing elements
- Respect proportional rules like Rules of Thirds or Golden Section
- Learn to read the histogram
The first step is to go beyond just taking the shot. Once you get the basic editing done, you can start experimenting or go all in and start retouching on a detailed level.