I’ll just put it out there: Ansel Adams’ prints look nothing like the negatives used to create them. He was a master of the darkroom — the original version of Photoshop. I came from that world too. I photographed, developed, and printed my own work using chemicals, and I was the photo editor for my college newspaper and yearbook long before digital tools existed.
All of that shaped how I think about editing. I’m not a fan of heavy manipulation or creating images that feel artificial. I went through a brief phase with the old, grungy HDR style, but I’ve moved past that. These days, I spend more time resisting the urge to over‑process than anything else — and I’ll admit, it’s still hard to step back and let an image breathe.
For me, editing is about refining the photograph, not reinventing it. I want the final image to feel true to the moment, even if it’s been thoughtfully shaped along the way.
Leave a Reply