How to Achieve a Balanced Look When Photo Editing in Lightroom
Have you ever found yourself photo editing in Lightroom, when suddenly you realize you may have taken the tweaking a little too far? You’re not alone—most photographers have been there! But the truth is that overediting can be a real problem.
As a professional photographer, every image you put out into the world has your stamp on it. As such, it’s crucial to consistently achieve a high quality edit that feels authentic and true to you.
At the same time, you don’t want to underedit a photo and miss out on highlighting every photo’s best features. So what’s the best way to achieve a perfectly balanced edit in Lightroom, and why does it really matter?
In this blog post, we'll explore the pitfalls of excessive editing (or not editing enough) and discuss the importance of finding the right balance to achieve stunning results while maintaining the integrity of the original image.
Photo by Michael T Davis Photography | Edited using PHAiTO’s Classic Look
What Does Getting a “Balanced” or “Perfect” Edit Really Mean?
Getting a balanced result when editing in Lightroom means finding a balance between enhancing the image's qualities and maintaining its authenticity. It’s really about making intentional, often subtle refinements that bring out the best in your photos.
Here are some post-production moves that can lead to an accidental overedit:
Making the photo too focused and sharp, leaving a “crunchy” looking result
Turning up the saturation beyond what’s realistic
Excessively smoothing/airbrushing
Incorrect balance of contrast and exposure
It’s really less about how you decide to edit a photo and more about the degree to which you make those edits. Sharpening, saturating, smoothing, and adjusting the light balance in your photo are perfectly acceptable parts of the editing process. It’s really taking these tweaks too far that leads to an unsatisfactory result.
What’s most important to keep in mind is preserving the beauty the image naturally contains. Overediting can sometimes cause images to lose their original essence—and excessive adjustments can alter the intended mood, atmosphere, or natural characteristics of the scene.
In recent times, there has been a stronger push for preserving the natural characteristics of a photo—especially on social media. Generally, there is a growing voice for people who want to see the world represented more closely to how it’s actually perceived, rather than “edited to perfection” or, quite frankly, grossly overedited to the point they are visually jarring!
Photo by Michael T Davis Photography | Edited using PHAiTO’s Classic Look
Is it possible to underedit a photo?
To put it simply, yes. However, this looks a little bit different from overediting. While overediting can result in an image that lacks in detail or looks artificial, underediting can leave you with a photo that’s underwhelming. You may have a photo that’s full of potential, but if you don’t take your time to bring out the best in it, its best features may never shine as well as they could.
For this reason, achieving a great edit can be a bit of a balancing act. You don’t want to strip a photo of its amazing qualities by doing too much, but you don’t want to let its best features slip under the radar by underediting either.
The good news is that with the right tools, you can easily get a professional and stunning edit that highlights a photo’s best features… without going off the deep end!
Photo by Michael T Davis Photography | Edited using PHAiTO’s Classic Look
How to Use PHAiTO for Efficiently Photo Editing in Lightroom
Over-editing in Lightroom doesn’t just degrade the quality of your images—it can also be downright time consuming. Let’s face it: “regular editing” at your normal pace can eat up a large chunk of your day as a photographer—and that’s valuable time you could probably use to spend somewhere else, whether that’s in your business or personal life.
If you’re looking for a way to get a professional, balanced edit quickly and efficiently, PHAiTO is your solution! Using the power of artificial intelligence, PHAiTO can edit individual images at a rapid pace in the style of your choosing.
Edits to your image are carefully calibrated and backed by machine learning, so you won’t get any whacky, overdone edits. Once you receive your edited photos, you may decide they’re perfect as is (as so many users do), but you always have the option to make further tweaks if you want to. PHAiTO is also affordable (just 0.15 cents per image), making it even more worth your while to use.
Striving for a balance between enhancing an image's visual appeal and preserving its original quality is crucial. When you use PHAiTO, you can trust that the integrity of your image will be maintained. This Ai editing software was designed for professional photographers by human experts to bring out the very best in your photos.
The result? Easy, balanced edits you’ll be proud to share with the world.
Photo by Michael T Davis Photography | Edited using PHAiTO’s Classic Look
Get Exceptional Ai Edits Every Time
Lightroom is a powerful editing tool, but it is possible to take your photo editing too far. It takes a keen eye and practice to elevate your images with authenticity. Or you can use PHAiTO, which allows you to strike the right balance between enhancing your images while maintaining their authenticity with ease.
PHAiTO’s Ai photo editing capabilities create a subtle, balanced edit in your style. With this photo editing software you can create visually stunning photographs that retain their integrity without sacrificing a significant amount of your time or energy.
Are you curious to try PHAiTO on your images? Start your free trial today (no credit card required).