5 Photo Editing Tips From Petra Collins

Petra Collins is a Toronto-born artist whose photography explores contemporary femininity, identity, self-discovery, the female gaze, and other matters particularly important to the millennial generation. She first gained recognition for her work on social media.

Early in Petra’s career, the filmmaker and photographer Richard Kern mentored her. She was also a frequent photo subject of photographer Ryan McGinley. Petra has since shot editorial for some of the most well-known fashion publications in the world, including Elle, i-D, and Vogue. Her collaborators in the fashion world include the creative director of Gucci, Alessandro Michele, and the founder of Rookie magazine, Tavi Gevinson.

The Canadian artist has photographed or directed ads for international brands Adidas, Calvin Klein, Nordstrom, Stella McCartney, and others. Among her directing credits are also several short films, as well as music videos for Cardi B, Selena Gomez, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Olivia Rodrigo. Petra’s work has appeared in exhibitions in New York, San Francisco, and Toronto, as well as at Miami’s Art Basel.

Renowned artist Petra Collins favors film photography over digital photography but still sometimes uses a computer when editing her image selections down to a final few. “It's really nice to get the prints, so you can see them physically beside each other,” she says. “But it is an extra added cost, so it's not necessary to do it. … I usually do it on my computer actually because I'm always on the go.” Here, Petra shares photography tips for a polished edit of final images:

1. 1. Check for errors. At the beginning of her editing process, Petra sets aside any photos that do not work for her preferred aesthetic or that feature errors, such as weird light flares. “Although I am often drawn to imperfect images, I do also like to look for mistakes in this pass,” Petra says. She will also sometimes check for focus during this step but acknowledges that an out-of-focus image is still perfectly usable due to the emotion it elicits. “It doesn't have to be on focus to give you a feeling,” she adds.
2. 2. Get a second opinion. “A lot of times, I … will send selects to my friends, or family, or whoever,” Petra says, “because I think it's important to get a fresh eye on the photos.” Others might notice errors or interesting qualities in your photograph you might have overlooked. Share your best photo selections with people whose opinions you trust and ask them for honest feedback.
3. 3. Look for what makes the photo unique. Petra tries to select different types of images when making her initial pass. “Sometimes you get photos that look the same,” she says. “And you have to really study them to see [the] differences between them.” Taking the time to identify nuances in the exposures, shutter speeds, lighting, and model’s movements across multiple photos can help you determine the most desirable qualities.
4. 4. Remember your intention. Petra regularly ends up with great photos that do not necessarily align closely with her goals. When this happens, she suggests returning to whatever your intention was. For example, maybe your goal was to produce an image that communicates movement or one that communicates intimacy. Look for photos with that quality, then set the others aside. At the same time, Petra urges beginners to embrace outcomes they couldn’t have predicted. “The unexpected photos are my favorite photos,” she says. “They usually end up being my favorites when I'm about to take my camera away. 'Cause, it's just … sometimes when your subject isn't fully noticing, and it's those in-between moments that really count.”
5. 5. Trust your instincts. After years in her profession, Petra has honed her talents and techniques; however, she still relies, in part, on her instincts to tell her when she’s captured something special. “So there's the initial first look,” she explains. “I usually take, like, a grand sweep. And then I start weeding them down. … I'm just going off of my initial gut reaction to these photos. … I usually think about movement, and texture, and space. … So I'm just trying to find something that feels I think the most intimate, and the most I guess moving, and inquisitive.” With time and practice, you can improve your own instincts when it comes to spotting standout shots.

With film photographs, much of the image editing must occur during the development of the film. It’s possible, however, to digitally scan the film photographs and tweak them further using software—similar to how you would edit digital photographs. Options include overall adjustments to your image quality as well as targeted changes. Here are some of the most basic editing tools and terms to help you get more professional photos:

• Brush tool: In photo editing software, a brush tool enables you to “brush” on changes using a mouse or pen or tablet. You can also use brushes to remove blemishes.
• Burning: After you shoot film, you have to develop it in the darkroom. Manually “editing” in the darkroom involves different editing techniques in the printing process. One of the simplest exposure techniques is burning, which involves increasing the exposure to make part of a photograph darker.
• Contrast: This term refers to the variance between the light and dark parts of the image. Adding contrast to an image during composition, film development, or digital editing will make your darks darker and your brights brighter.
• Clarity: Adjusting contrast in the middletones of your photo increases the image’s clarity. Increasing clarity has the effect of enhancing texture and brings a little grittiness to the image. Conversely, decreasing clarity can give your photos a dreamy quality.
• Darkroom: Once you’ve shot a full roll of film, it’s time to develop it. You can have a lab develop the film for you, but if you have the time and the means—and the access to a fully equipped darkroom with proper lighting and ventilation—many photographers find it satisfying to develop film themselves. With the right methods, you can adjust things like contrast, shadows, highlights, and color in a darkroom.
• Dodging: When developing film, one of the most basic exposure techniques is dodging, which involves decreasing the exposure to make part of a photograph lighter.
• Exposure: The overall brightness or darkness of the image is what photographers mean when they refer to exposure. Highlights control just the brighter parts of the image. Shadows control just the darker parts of the image. Whites set the brightest point in the image. Blacks set the darkest point in the image.
• Film: Developing film in the darkroom takes longer than digital editing and might require more trial and error. Once you develop your film, you have the option to scan it and create digital copies of the images. Use a photo editor to make adjustments to your images in different categories, including white balance, exposure, contrast, clarity, saturation, and sharpening.
• Grain: In terms of film, grain refers to the texture that results from small particles on the celluloid. A high-grain film, for example, will result in a lot of visual noise in the image. Photo editing programs allow you to apply or adjust this effect digitally.
• HSL: This abbreviation stands for hue, saturation, and luminance. When editing an image, you might choose to finetune the HSL of a particular color. For example, you could make all the reds in a photo appear more orange, more saturated, and brighter.
• Photo editing software: Most professional photographers use editing software to organize and edit pictures. With powerful editing tools, you can achieve nearly any effect you can imagine.
• Saturation: This term refers to the level of color information in the photo. Saturation is similar to vibrance, which heightens the more muted colors in your image without affecting the colors that are already highly saturated. You can manipulate saturation in both film development and digital editing.
• Sharpening: Software that includes a sharpening tool can help you increase contrast anywhere a light area meets a dark area, making the photo look sharper.
• White balance: In digital editing, you can adjust an image’s temperature and tint so that the colors are correct. In doing this, you ensure any white space in your photograph appears truly white.

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