Thoughts on Editing Photos?

[Derrel]

Editing to me means selecting the best images, and eliminating the weaker images. Editing to me means "culling" the bad shots, and selecting or grouping the ones that seem to "work", with others that seem to "work".

Processing, or developing, is the part of photography that involves adjusting the images, so they look the "right way". But what consititutes the "right way" varies from person to person, and from photo to photo.

There is realistic processing, traditional processing, light processing, extreme processing, and so on. Each person needs to determine what he or she feels is the right degree of processing, for each photo. Some people want to do very extreme, or over-the-top levels of manipulation, so that their pictures are VERY heavily processed. And hey, if those people like that, then they're welcome to do that. It's a big,big world. There is room for both photography, and digital imaging, and also room for photo illustration.

 

[The_Traveler]

In RE: 'getting it right in the camera'

Mother Nature does not care what you want.
There's no way, without added light in the form of a flash or a reflector, that you could get the second image 'right in the camera.'
If you exposed for the face the background would be blown out.
As it is, the face is low in contrast and too dark. - a reflector would have helped here.