My Photo Editor Mind - What is a portrait?

I am currently judging a contest, and one of the categories is portraits. I am amazed (and not in a good way) how bad some of these images are. When I think about a portrait, I want to get a sense of the person I’m looking at. Who are they? Do they have a sense of humor? What makes them smile? Are they playful or serious? Instead, what I am seeing is people posing in such a way that they look uncomfortable, so it makes me uncomfortable to even look at the image. Another issue is there is so much stuff in the images I can’t even find the subject. Over-designed, over-lit, over the top. Yes, lighting is important and composition is critical, but the most important aspect of portrait photography is the subject. Who are they? Show me who they are.

My Photo Editor Mind - Best Editing Advice

After I have completed a rather large edit for a project or story or even a website, there is one thing I always do – go through all the outtakes. Seriously, all of them. I recently edited a project and had decided on my final selection. The sequence was right, the flow of images was right, each photo building on each other, telling the story. I felt it was complete; I was done. Then as I always do, I went through the outtakes.

The process of editing is a process of elimination, so you finally have a set of photos that works, but through this process, you might have deleted an image that actually works with the final edit that may not have worked with your initial thoughts on the edit.

I always check my outtakes, and on this recent project I actually pulled images back into the edit that were initially discarded. Be patient with the process; you’ve spent an awful lot of time to get these images, now take as much care in editing them. And if you need help, you know I’m here to help.

My Photo Editor Mind

I am an award-winning professional picture editor who has helped photographers tell their stories and elevate their work, whether it was still images or video.

Every photo project, every portfolio, and every collection of photos must have a beginning, middle, and end to tell a story effectively, and I can guide you along this journey.

With over 14 years picture editing experience, most recently at the Los Angeles Times, I mentored and supported photographers from beginning to end, guiding them as their projects took shape and helping them make their final edit.

Photographers with whom I have worked with have been Pulitzer Prize finalists, RFK winners, and POYi winners.

I will encourage and nurture your personal vision, and I will bring passion to every job I work on.

My Photo Editor Mind - Contest time already?

Oh my goodness, it’s that time of year again where it’s a mad rush to get contest entries done. It’s really interesting how people approach contests. Some get in touch with me a month in advance; others are very last minute. The hardest part of my job is to sometimes tell photographers that their work isn’t contest worthy. It’s hard to do, but better I’m honest than charge someone for unnecessary work. Best of luck to those who are entering; it’s a moment of hope. For those of you still in need of help, I’m here for you.

My Photo Editor Mind - You can’t handle the truth

Clients always tell me they want me to be honest with them about their work. And I am honest…brutally. When I was a photographer, I knew the only way to improve was to hear the truth about my work, but that’s not to say a few critiques didn’t leave me in tears. I think you have to see your images for what they are, not what you felt when you shot them. Sure, your friends will tell you how awesome your work is and what a great photographer you are, but let’s face it; they have to. They are your friends. That’s not a real measure of quality.  Accepting your images for what they are is a huge accomplishment and part of the learning process. So next time you say you want the truth from me, rest assured you’re going to get it.

My Photo Editor Mind - Website Design

I have been getting a lot of questions lately about website design. My answer is always the same; concentrate on content, and the design will usually fix itself. I’m not saying design is not important; of course you want to make it easy to navigate around your site, but what truly matters is the work.

When you are organizing your images, think of the categories that emphasis the work you want to do and who you are as a photographer. You can’t be everything to everyone. I find that photographers excel when they are shooting what they love, whether it be stories, or daily life, etc. That’s not to say you shouldn’t add certain categories that compliment your passion. I recently worked with a photographer and after viewing her website, I really didn’t understand who she was as a photographer. After a short conversation about the images, finding out what they meant to her, we then proceeded to re-categorize her images into concise categories that not only showed off her style, but what she excelled at.  

We didn’t change it much in regards to design because we didn’t have to. Each category now had a defined thought and vision. So when you viewed the site it was clear what her message was and who she was as a photographer.  

My Photo Editor Mind - Contacting a picture editor

So you are trying to get your work seen by a photo editor, and one way to do this is through various social media sites. Fair enough; however, you should probably do your research before contacting that person.  Lately I have been contacted by so many people wanting me to publish their work.  Way too many. Sometimes with endless messages. I don’t publish work. I don’t work for a publication. If you contacted me regarding publishing your work, now I know you didn’t do your research. Know who you are contacting; know if they work for a publication; know if they hire photographers; know what type of work they publish; for goodness sake do your research. Sending out endless general messages to anyone with the title “picture editor” is a waste of time and doesn’t bode well for you. The latest message I got didn’t even include my name. This shows how much time this person took to find out about me. Come on people, do your job. Researching a photo editor is part of it.

My Photo Editor Mind - No Excuses Please

Either you got the shot or you didn’t. “It was too hot,” “it was too cold,” “it was far away,” “it was a long day,” “I was tired,”—all of this doesn’t matter. Sure I will lend a sympathetic ear, and some days I remember as a photographer working my butt off trying to make the perfect image and nada, nothing, it was just a bad day. What ultimately matters though is whether you got the shot or not. “I tried” won’t get the picture published, and “I worked really hard” is not going to sit well with an editor either. 

If the shoot did not go well, learn from it and move on. A client, or editor, doesn’t want to hear what went wrong, so instead of making excuses, accentuate the positive. Play up the strengths and what went right instead.

My Photo Editor Mind - Wide angle lens abuse

It’s hard to concentrate on an image when there is too much distortion, and that is what happens when a wide angle is used incorrectly. A hand can become bigger than a head, portions are disproportionally stretched, and it detracts from your subject … and your message. I appreciate that sometimes you might be in a tight space, trying to capture an area, or a group of people, but if all I see is the distortion, sorry but that’s a fail. I’m not saying don’t try, but me mindful of anything under a 35mm lens, and understand what you are doing. There are other options. Try only shooting a portion of the scene, the most interesting aspect of the scene. Be mindful of that lens distortion.

My Photo Editor Mind - Good morning

My first task in the morning is to read my emails to see if there is any urgent work I need to tackle. However, the best emails are the ones where there is success. It’s a pretty amazing feeling helping someone reach a goal or two. A great way to start any morning is hearing you got into Eddie Adams, the portfolio review went well, or they want to see more of your work, and the best is “I’m getting published.” I love starting my day this way.