Editorial Photo Editing: Techniques to Elevate Your Work

How does a photographer become a published editorial photographer? Well, there are several reasons. Alongside lighting, technique, artistic vision, and more there lies editing. The professionals of the industry understand what it is that needs to be enhanced, cleaned up, and even subtracted away from a portrait shot. 

Now, at the very top level, photographers may have others do their editing for them—this is very common. But on your way to the top, you will have to do your editing work yourself to help you get that one step closer to being published—which is exactly what we will be looking at in this guide. 

\We are going to help you understand what is needed to be done to help your portraits stand out and progress your editing skills. Let’s get started!

What is Editorial Photography?

At its core, editorial photography refers to images found in magazines, newspapers, or other forms of publication. These photographs are often used to illustrate a concept or convey a story. They are typically highly creative and of exceptionally high quality and visual appeal. A significant amount of money can go into a single photoshoot aimed at being published in the world’s top fashion magazines, newspapers, or online.

Editorial photography aims to capture the narrative conveyed by the accompanying text. These images are not used to sell products, but rather to help visualise a story. Branding may feature in an editorial shoot, provided there is a narrative emerging within the sequence of images shown.

Editorial work isn’t just about creativity—it can bring in serious money if you land the right gigs. This is why many portrait photographers aspire to secure this kind of work in the future. It’s lucrative but also extremely difficult to reach this stage, which is why it’s important to develop many different aspects of your photography skills, including editing, which we will take a look at next.

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How to Prepare Your Photos for Editing?

Setting up your workflow effectively will ease the process of editing your images. So, before we get to the fun part, let’s do a quick bit of housekeeping to prepare for a smooth editing session:

1. Browse through your images before bringing them into your editing software to streamline your editing session and keep your workflow clean. Look for images with the best composition and lighting to work on.

2. Ensure that you are shooting in RAW mode to get the best results with your editing. RAW files offer far more dynamic range than JPEG images, giving you greater flexibility in the low and high ends of exposure.

3. It is essential to check that your computer monitor is calibrated for accurate editing. This ensures that the colours you’re working with are true to life. An uncalibrated monitor may apply its own colour treatment, leading to discrepancies when your images are viewed across different devices.

Getting Started with Core Editing Techniques for Editorial Work

How do photographers and editors achieve such high-quality results when it comes to editorial editing? To begin with, the photo itself needs to be of exceptional quality in its RAW state. This is often due to carefully planned lighting and composition. As mentioned earlier, these shoots can involve substantial budgets or make excellent use of natural light, especially in outdoor environments.

From there, the editing process begins because the job is far from over at this point. Let’s explore the key elements to focus on during editorial post-processing.

Step 1: Lighting

Start by adjusting exposure and contrast to establish a strong base for your edit. Keep these adjustments subtle, as overly bright or dark images can distract from the subject. To enhance depth, carefully increase contrast, ensuring the image retains a professional and polished look.

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Step 2: Sharpening and Details

Enhance details in key areas such as skin, eyes, hair, and textures in the clothing. This adds an extra layer of quality and clarity to your image. If the original lighting was excellent, much of this detail should already be present. 

Quick Tip: Use sharpening and clarity tools sparingly as overdoing it can make the image look harsh and unnatural.

Step 3: Colour Grading

Colour grading adds a distinct style to your images, helping them stand out. Adjust tones in shadows, midtones, and highlights using tools like the tone curve or colour grading panels. The Hue, Saturation, and Luminance (HSL) sliders also allow precise control over individual colours. Be cautious not to introduce unnatural tones, especially in the model’s skin or clothing. 

Quick Tip: Editorial photography often requires an accurate representation of colours, particularly for fashion shoots. Ensure you’re working with a calibrated monitor to maintain true-to-life colours.

Step 4: Skin Retouching

High-quality skin retouching is a hallmark of editorial imagery. This typically involves achieving smooth, blemish-free skin while retaining its natural texture. On-set factors like good lighting and professional hair and makeup can significantly improve results. However, if such resources aren’t available, tools like Aperty offer excellent skin retouching options. The key is to keep the edits subtle and natural, avoiding an overly processed look. Zoom in to address blemishes, stray hairs, or uneven textures, ensuring every detail looks pristine; even eyebrow hairs can be refined for a polished finish.

The Importance of a High-Quality Base Photo

Professional editorial images share one key element: a high-quality base photo. This often involves well-executed lighting and contributions from a skilled team, including hair and makeup professionals, to create a flawless starting point. Proper lighting not only enhances skin quality but also brings out the texture and depth needed for exceptional shots.

While not everyone has access to large budgets or extensive resources, professional results are still achievable with a strong editing workflow. This often requires more effort in post-processing, but modern tools can significantly streamline the process. Next, we’ll dive into how Aperty might just be the answer to your prayers. 

Why Choose Aperty for Professional Editorial Photo Editing

All the essentials mentioned in the previous section can be time-consuming and challenging to implement when striving for professional results. With Aperty, you can achieve these results without much effort. This software allows you to perform retouching tasks with just one click, all while maintaining textures and delivering natural-looking skin. And even more… In the next section, we’ll explore its features and how it can streamline your workflow.

Basic Editing Tools

• Essentials: Aperty covers all your essential photo editing needs. You can control exposure, enhance depth with contrast, and bring out details and clarity. By combining editing and retouching tasks in one software, Aperty eliminates the need to switch between multiple apps, making your workflow more efficient.

• Colour Grading: Add style to your images with Aperty’s colour grading tools. You can manipulate tones using the Tone Curve and HSL sliders, allowing you to create dynamic and polished visuals, all without leaving the app.

• Creative Tools: Want your portraits to stand out? Aperty’s creative tools let you add that wow factor. Create light sources in your images to replicate professional studio lighting and apply hues to mimic gels. Experiment with LUTs for quick styling or add bokeh to shots where you couldn’t achieve it in-camera. These tools allow you to completely transform your shots and elevate your work.

Retouching and Shape Adjustments

This is where Aperty truly sets itself apart. Instead of painstakingly performing manual edits, Aperty’s advanced AI technology enables professional-level results with just a few clicks.

• Retouch: Forget about manually masking or drawing paths around your subjects. Aperty’s Retouch section offers tools to smooth skin, remove blemishes, and even apply makeup effortlessly. You have full control over the strength of these adjustments to maintain a natural look. Additionally, features like face and facial feature brightening are automated by the app’s AI, saving you time while delivering precise results.

• Reshape: Aperty doesn’t just stop at facial features, it can identify and adjust body segments, too. You can resize eyes, refine the nose, reshape the abdomen, and more. The app’s AI recognises these features automatically, sparing you the need for manual input.

Group Editing

What about photos with more than one model? Typically, this would mean multiplying your workload, but Aperty has a solution to save you time. The software recognises multiple individuals in a photo using its People tool, allowing you to apply edits to all subjects or focus on specific individuals. Since different models may require varying levels of retouching, this tool ensures every subject achieves the same professional, polished look.

Time-Saving Workflow

Aperty’s tools are designed to save you time, keeping your hands on your camera rather than your computer mouse. Batch editing further enhances efficiency, allowing you to apply adjustments across multiple photos simultaneously. The filmstrip feature at the bottom of the screen lets you select multiple images and transform them with a single click.

With Aperty, achieving editorial-quality edits is quick and effortless. Features like blemish removal, skin smoothing, and facial brightening can be applied with one click, offering full control to maintain a natural yet polished look. Batch editing streamlines your workflow even further, freeing up more time for what you love most: shooting!

Common Mistakes to Avoid

One way professionals set themselves apart from amateurs is by avoiding these common editing mistakes. With so many new and exciting tools at your disposal, it’s easy to get carried away experimenting. Let’s take a look at how to sidestep some of the most frequent issues.

Mistake #1: Over-editing

The tools in Aperty allow you to control the strength of edits, helping to avoid over-editing. For example, smoothing the skin is a necessary adjustment for many photos, but it’s essential to strike a balance between enhancing the skin and maintaining its natural texture. While Aperty is designed to preserve these textures, it’s important to remain mindful of this, no matter what software you’re using, to ensure a professional finish.

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Mistake #2: Inconsistent Style

Experimenting with various editing styles can be fun, but applying different looks across photos from the same shoot creates an inconsistent presentation. Professionals focus heavily on maintaining a cohesive style within their portfolios, making their work instantly recognisable.

Mistake #3: Unnatural Colour Grading

This point has been mentioned, but it’s worth reinforcing: your colour grading must look natural, particularly for the model’s skin tones and outfits. Brands demand accurate colour representation, and any unnatural hues, especially on skin tones, can look amateurish and detract from the overall quality.

Mistake #4: Ignoring Background Distractions

It’s easy to become so focused on the models in your shot that you overlook what’s happening in the background. Be sure to check for and clear away any distracting elements by erasing or blurring them. A clean background ensures the viewer’s attention stays where it belongs: on your models.

The Bottom Line

A common dream for many portrait photographers is to see their work featured in the world’s top magazines or newspapers. Editorial photography is one of the most lucrative forms of photography, with huge budgets dedicated to creating these pieces, making it one of the most sought-after photography jobs. 

To reach that level, photographers need to master not only the shots but also the edits. High-quality retouching with flawless skin is a challenging process, but thanks to apps like Aperty, you can achieve those results quickly and effortlessly. By maintaining natural textures while delivering professional results, Aperty will help you step up your game and get closer than ever to landing your dream client and securing that full magazine spread.