Editing Procrastination: Why Waiting To Edit Is A Good Idea

editing procrastination.  let me start this post off by saying that procrastination has never been in my vocabulary.  ever.  when i was a student and was given an assignment, i would complete it overnight…even when the due date was weeks away.  i don’t procrastinate.  i just don’t do it.  it’s not in my personality.  especially when it comes to editing.  i shoot, then i edit.  end of story.  i love the feeling of always being caught up so i make it my mission to complete tasks accordingly.

cue motherhood.  once my little girl was born, i found myself taking endless photos of her…only to import them into lightroom and leave them for months unedited.  here i sit with an eight month old, finally getting some time to sit down and edit the photos taken of her in the hospital when she was born.

i found myself sitting down to a lightroom catalog that was eight months in the making, with over 10,000 photos in it.  no i am not exaggerating, there were 10,000 unedited photos starring me in the face.  for a moment, i wanted to cry.  where would i even begin!?  how was i ever going to edit all of these photos before her first birthday?  would i ever feel caught up on editing again?  as i took a deep breath and began culling my images, i started to realize that waiting to edit was the biggest blessing i’d been given.  yes, my editing procrastination was the best thing i could have done for myself.

do you have a daunting amount of photos that you need to cull?  check out my 5 tips for choosing good photos to edit.

Editing Procrastination : Why Waiting To Edit Is A Good Idea

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as creatives, we are are biggest critic.  while others can praise our work, we are sitting there pinpointing everything we did wrong.  i am constantly critical of my photography.  i am always pinpointing my use of compositions, limb chops, white balance, and focusing.  sometimes, i find the importing my photos into lightroom is both equally exciting and stressful.  it’s exciting, as i can see what i captured with my camera, but it is equally stressful as i begin to pinpoint my mistakes.  just as soon as i fall in love with my images, it seems like i fall out of love with them.

that is, until i began the act of editing procrastiation.

there is something so refreshing about taking time away from your images.  it is like that old saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”  well, it’s true.  especially when it comes to looking at our photography with fresh eyes.  for me, this is something i did by accident.  once being one that always edited immediately after shooting, the busyness of motherhood took over and i found that i only had time to import my images, not edit.

fast forward a few months and it’s like christmas morning as i open up my lightroom catalog.  and instead of instantly critiquing my images and pinpointing my mistakes, i am pulled into my images emotionally and cherishing the memories that i captured for what they are.  i am looking past all the technical mistakes, and relishing in the fact that i photographed my daughter’s smile perfectly.  i am looking past the imperfect white balance and seeing one of the many baby milestones that i photographed.  instead of looking at the technical aspect of my photos, i was looking at the moments those images held.

had i looked at those images right after importing them, i would have deleted more than half of them.  i would have said, “i can try again, i can do better.”  i would have only seen technical flaws and, in turn, considered those images not worthy of keeping.  but because i was given the grace of time, and chose to shoot now and edit later (months later), i was able to look past the flaws and look at the photographs for what they are…memories.

and hear me when i say, your memories don’t have to be technically perfect.  they just have to exist.

we all get caught up in the stress of editing and feel that constant pull to always “keep up.”  well, let me tell you, it’s okay to procrastinate this time.  it’s okay to let those images sit for a bit, allowing you the time to fall in love with them all over again.  editing procrastination is not always a bad thing.  sometimes it’s a blessing.  should you feel frustrated with your images, step away and come back later.  later could mean in an hour, a week, or a month.  it’s okay, your images will always be there waiting for you.  and to be honest, your images deserve a fresh pair of eyes and a fighting chance.

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