Do you want to make your photo editing process effective and efficient? 

Then let’s first understand what is culling in photography? 

Culling your images is a part of the editing process that makes sure that only the best photos are chosen. It is an essential step in the process. But, it can be tricky if you’re unsure of how to go about it. This stage of the editing process requires you to look at every photo in detail. This is when you need to pay attention to details like

  • Is the image in focus?
  • Does it have the proper lighting?
  • Is there any unwanted element that needs to be cropped out of the picture? 
  • Is the image worth keeping, or should it be discarded?

Photo culling tips

You need to ask yourself these and many other questions before deciding whether a photo is worth keeping or not. It requires you to go through them methodically and make the proper judgment.

Through this blog, we will take you through the culling tips and tricks for your photo editing process.

Why is Photo Culling Important?

Culling photos is essential for two key reasons:

  • Choosing the right and efficient image to represent you as a photographer.
  • Enabling you to make the most of your photo editing time.

Professional photo culling services can save you an enormous amount of time.

Let’s take a look at some photo culling tips that will help you in the way forward.

Cull Photos Effectively: A Step-By-Step Guide

  1. Organize Photos in Collections

    When you’re done with a big shoot, it can be tough to go through all your images and pick out the ones that need work. There’s nothing worse than sifting through hundreds of photos to find just the shot you want. But with a system in place, it becomes manageable and easy!

    Using collection settings will help you organize your images into groups that can be managed and worked on separately.

  2. Create a Rate Collection

    Creating a rate collection will help you determine photo quality at one glance.

    Here’s how:

    • Use star system to rate your photos. Go to the Library module and select all the images you want to rate.
    • Right-click on a photo and click Create Collection.
    • Compare the images in the collection and give them a rating of one to five stars.
    • If you find some photos are not good enough, delete them from the collection.
    • Pick your favorite photo and keep it in the photo collection. You’ll know which photo you want to edit next by checking this photo!
  3. Give Photos a Priority Rating

    Now that you have sorted out your photo collection, it’s time to give them a priority rating.

    Go to the Develop module and find your photo editing collection. Right-click on the photo you want to edit and hit Set Capture Priority. Now, your image will automatically be picked out when you’re working on photo edits.

  4. Trial and Error Does the Trick

    Who better to judge your photo than yourself?

    Sometimes, we know we like a photo, but we don’t know why or what about it makes us like it.

    Give yourself time to analyze your photo and make the right decision about it. To simplify the photo culling process, you can also get the help of a photo editing company from our photo experts.

  5. Quick Eyeball Test

    Quick photo culling can be done by simply looking at the photo’s thumbnail. Take a photo and double-click on it to view it as a thumbnail. Scroll on through your photo editing collection and quickly pick out the photos you want to keep by the following method

    First pass: Your first pass is to quickly reject as many images as possible in a way that will save you time.

    Second pass: The next step is to separate the images that haven’t been culled from those that need to be reviewed again.

    Third pass: Now that you have only the best options left, it’s time for final selections.

  6. Keep High-Quality Photos in a Separate Folder

    Working on photos for photo editing is time-consuming. So, it’s best to keep photos that you know are good enough in a separate folder. This way, you understand that all photo editing will be done on the images in your photo edit collection.

Tips for selecting high-quality photos

  • Look at the photo clarity
  • Study photo composition. Does it work?
  • Check photo highlights and shadows for blown out or dark photo
  • Look at the photo colors

This way, you can identify the types of photo adjustments you need to fix your photo and get it ready for photo editing.

Multiple photo edits can be tedious. So, if you need affordable image editing services, we can help. Our photo editors will study your image and provide photo culling services that meet the quality standards

Conclusion

The photo culling process is a bit time consuming, but it’s worth the effort. Using photo collections and rating your photos will help you pick out the best photo for your editing.

If you need photo editing or image culling services, we can help. Just contact us, and our photo experts will get in touch with you!

Want to know how you can benefit from our Photo Editing Services?

Take a look at this!