Photography Editing Styles Explained

Have you ever scrolled through your Instagram feed & wondered at the vast editing styles you see from different photographers? Maybe? Maybe not?

Let’s talk a little photography history:
Once upon a time, photographers captured images on film. Any edits were done in a dark room & were typically minimal. Then came the 80’s. I’m not sure what you think of when you think about 80’s photography, but I know what I think about: images blended together. I’m sure you’ve seen them – you have a portrait of a baby looking off into the distance, and the baby’s parents are faded into the upper corner of the image, looking all cloud-like. Does that ring a bell?

Then came the digital age and selective color became the thing: the entire image was black & white except for a pop of color. When done right, it’s kind of cool, but when most people think of selective color today, they think “Ew, how dated”. (And by all means, do not ask certain photographers their “stance” on selective color – you’ll get an ear-full!)

And here’s my point. Photography trends are just that: trends. They come & go and when they go, they leave a big red stamp on the image screaming when it was taken. For that reason, I’ve intentionally steered my editing style away from the trends.

Here in 2017, there seem to be two prominent “trends”. In the early 2000’s the trend was Light & Airy images and that trend is still hanging around today. And then, starting around 2015, the Dark & Moody trend came into existence (probably via someone looking to do the opposite of the light & airy) and it’s very much reaching popularity today.

The easiest way to explain it though is by simply looking at images.

Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC)

So, here is where every photographer starts – with a raw image. This is an image from Tara & Matt’s wedding & this is the version that came straight from my camera. No edits, no tweaks, nothing. It’s not a bad image.

My Edit

Before I show you the two trending photography styles, I wanted to show my edit of this image. My goal in editing is simple, clean, bright, and true to what the eye would see in real life. So, if the eye sees green grass and peachy skin tones – that’s my goal. I want the image to look as much like real life as possible. My edits tend to be a simple boost in contrast, making sure the white balance is accurate to real life, bringing down the highlights a bit, and brightening their faces.

Light & Airy

If my style leans toward a certain trend, it would be the Light & Airy trend, but I still wouldn’t go so far as to call my editing style “Light & Airy”. This trend typically leads to images with super bright highlights, little contrast, and a more whimsical feel. Obviously, there are variations of this as everyone edits slightly different, but below is an example of a more “Light & Airy” edit of this same image.

Dark & Moody (aka Zombie Edits)

You’ll have to forgive me if I’m a bit cynical about this newest editing style trend. As a photographer who strives for real life images with real life color, I get a little frustrated over Dark & Moody edits. Sometimes, they work really well. For example, I think certain lifestyle images are absolutely beautiful in a Dark & Moody edit. But for an entire wedding day to be edited this way is such a disservice to the beauty of the day.

I call the Dark & Moody style “Zombie Editing” because I feel like a lot of it looks like it could come straight from a zombie movie. Outside of the image being “dark” – one of the major stamps that classifies an image as “Dark & Moody” is turning everything that is green to be gray. In fact, most vibrant tones (your bright pink bouquet, your bridesmaid’s blush gowns, the green grass & trees) are turned into more of a gray color.

It’s super trendy right now and images with this feel are everywhere – I’m confident you’ve noticed them (and my edit of this image probably isn’t “dark” enough, but you get the idea).

Does seeing the same image editing several different ways help? Can you see the difference?

My goal has always been to stay above the trends.
My goal is to produce timeless images.

It’s not that the trends aren’t cool – they’re fun to play around with. And in certain circumstances, they can really be beautiful. There’s just one problem: like the neon green & yellow foil wallpaper in my Grandma’s hallway, trends come & go. What’s super cool today will be dated & out-of-style tomorrow.

Which is exactly why my goal as a wedding photographer has always been to steer clear of the trendy & stick with classic. Real colors, bright images, and green grass. There should be nothing about my editing that stamps your wedding images with what year you got married (your dress, hairstyle, and the clothes your guests are wearing will be enough to do that).

What do you think?
Are you super into a certain trend of editing?
Have you ever thought about why?

Leave me a comment below – I’d love to hear your thoughts!