essential skills: digital photography in available light
Sequential editing
This example of a typical editing task, designed to enhance and optimize the image, aims to
present a user-friendly guide to the editing process and present a brief overview of each step in
the sequence. If you have been wondering where sharpening, or perhaps noise reduction, fi ts into
the sequence of post-production editing then this guide should offer a little clarity.
Stage 1 - Global adjustments
In the fi rst stage of the editing process we need to make the global adjustments - those that are
made to the entire image and are essentially objective in nature. These adjustments are required
to correct minor errors and optimize the image fi le prior to future editing work, e.g. straighten a
crooked image, remove any dust marks, suppress any noise and optimize the dynamic range of
the image. They are adjustments that do not require a great deal of aesthetic judgement and serve
to present the image in its optimum state prior to further editing. Viewing the image in its optimum
state allows us to make decisions about whether the image requires any further editing in order to
extract a particular mood or feeling that we may wish to communicate. These global adjustments
can be carried out in Photoshop’s main editing space, or to some extent in the Camera RAW
space, where the objective is to optimize the image preview and set a base level of image settings
prior to any localized editing in the second stage of the image editing process. The fi rst stage
of image editing is about as interesting as doing the housework but is essential in preparing the
image fi les for the creative second stage of editing.