Derrel said:
Let's say an author takes two years, and writes a nice, big, thick, 400-page novel. Then the novel is edited by an editor.
So...does the editor then get credit for writing the book? See how that works?
I think there's quite a difference between editing a book and editing a photo....this is my opinion on the subject...it's great to see it from everyone's point of view... thanks
As someone who makes a living as an editor (words, not photos--well, photos too, but mostly words), I would say they are not as different as you might think.
A good book/article/paper editor will correct the grammar and punctuation, and make changes to the text that ENHANCE but do not ALTER the writer's message. It is sometimes an extremely difficult balancing act, but it is critical to remain true to the writer's original message and style so that the meaning, tone and "mood" of their work is not altered, just enhanced.
A good photo editor would do the same thing--enhance the photo but not change what the original photographer's vision was. And, as a photographer, I may hire someone to do my edits for me to save time (or because they have PS skills that I don't possess and don't want to spend time on)--but I guarantee you that I would not CONTINUE to use that person if I feel that they have altered what my original vision for the photograph was. Their job is to enhance MY photo, not create their own vision FROM my photo.
EDIT: Continuing that same analogy, there is a potential benefit beyond the time savings of having someone else edit your photos. One reason that a writer should not edit their own material is because, when they read it, they KNOW what they meant, and so they read it the way they meant it--having someone else read it is helpful, because the editor may be able to point out places that are confusing or misleading if they aren't understood the way the writer understood them in their head.
Not having a good editor is how you end up with headlines like (my personal all-time favorite): "Grandmother of eight shoots hole in one." The WRITER knew they were talking about a senior citizen's golf game--the editor should have pointed out another way of reading that.
Sometimes, I don't "see" things in my own photo that someone else would--having someone else edit them would give me the chance to have them "checked" by another set of eyes before they get out to the public and someone says, "Hey, does she REALLY have a light pole growing out of her head?"
