Editing Software: The Boss Fight

My current weapon of choice for the battle against the dragon of photo editing!

PHOTO JOURNAL 2026

James Bradley

8/27/20266 min read

Editing Software: The Boss Fight

Editing Software: The Boss Fight

The Camera captures the photograph, but for the most part, editing brings it all together.

My current weapon of choice for the battle against the dragon I call photo editing is Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop. Yes, it’s a battle, at least for me. I’m old and semi-technologically challenged.

All of these programs give me control over exposure, color, contrast, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction, masking, and removing distractions. Everyone knows exactly how much control I have over anything, but we can talk about all of that in a future post.

All of this editing software is extremely powerful, but it can also be extremely scary when you first open them. Hell, they still freak me out and I open them almost daily.

Since we’re talking about my gear and goody buying frenzy over the last year-ish, as you can guess I’ve also acquired a whole bunch of editing software. All in the name of making me a better photographer, right?

Amongst these programs, were Affinity Photo 2 and Luminar Neo, one time payment editing programs unlike the subscription based programs like Adobe’s Photography plan which includes Photoshop and Lightroom. Then there was Topaz AI, which was supposed to be the best AI noise reduction tool in the business. In theory they're all helpful for certain edits, especially when I want a specialized tool like sky replacement or heavy noise reduction. Me having access to all of these programs made it possible to take an edit much too far. Don’t ask me how I know that.

One of my biggest editing lessons has been this. Just because I can move a slider all the way to the right does not mean I should. It's easy to over-edit and add too much contrast, too much saturation, too much sharpening, too much vignette…wait I mean too much of everything.

When I edit, I can either improve the photograph and clean it up or turn it into an abstract art form with creative editing. I like clean photos. Other different styles of photography use it to edit specifically for some wild effects and boy are there some wild ones out there. I’ve learned that minor adjustments should suffice. If I had known how to use my camera more proficiently and sooner, instead of just buying all the gear to make me a better photographer, it might have helped.

I'm getting better at recognizing when an image needs another adjustment and when I need to stop messing with it.

For me the hardest part of editing is deciding the photograph is finished. As my shooting myself in the foot skills improve I am finding it more difficult to choose which ones I even need to edit. This is a good thing right? It is!

What I Have Learned About Buying Gear

I’ve gleaned many insights since I started. First and foremost is that I have learned that gear should solve a problem.

If I want to photograph birds or wildlife from farther away, a longer lens makes sense. If I want to shoot low-light landscapes or long exposures, a tripod makes sense. If I want to photograph tiny details, a macro lens and macro rail make sense. If I want aerial landscapes, a drone makes sense. If I want to carry everything safely, a real camera backpack makes sense. If I want smooth video footage, a gimbal makes sense.

Holy crap, that’s a lot of IFs!

But all of those “ifs” mean that buying gear just because it looks cool or because I think it will make me a better photographer gets expensive very quickly.

Yes, photography gear has a bad habit of looking very cool. Last spring, Susan and I were up in Yellowstone Park getting some shots of Harlequin Ducks, at LeHardy Rapids. We were walking down the boardwalk by the river and we passed multiple other photographers that had the really cool lenses, like the 400-800mm lens and a 600mm f/4 prime lens. Let’s just say lens envy is a real thing. It made me want more gear. The 300 f/4 alone is between $11,000 and $16,000 to purchase, depending on make of course. This could be a problem. EEEEK!

The danger is believing that a purchase like one of these will automatically solve every problem. They don’t

Sure, sometimes new gear helps. It gives me more reach, better low-light performance, more stability, or access to a completely different type of photography, but the real problem is that I need more practice with what I already own.

This isn’t the fun answer, but it’s the honest one.

If you are new to photography, don’t buy everything at once.

Start Simple

Use what you already have. Learn what frustrates you. Learn what really pisses you off. Pay attention to the kinds of pictures you enjoy taking. Then buy equipment based on that. Take time, try it all with your base set of gear, Hell, do it with your cell phone.

Take family pictures, portraits, travel photographs, or everyday shots, you don’t need a giant wildlife lens today. Learn to shift your feet or change location based on your subject. Go sneak around in the woods trying to get a sneaky shot of an owl.

If you want shots of flowers, insects, textures, and tiny details, put your camera in close, snap the shot and see if you like the result. If you do then macro equipment may be worth considering.

If you want to photograph landscapes, night skies, waterfalls, fireworks, or long exposures, get a cheap tripod to shoot with. $20 will help you find out if you like that kind of shooting. Maybe move up to a wide angle lens and add it in sometime down the road.

If video is your thing and you want to create reels, or smooth moving footage, find a cheap (I have a non powered gimbal) gimbal. It might be useful and you’ll love it.

Drones are another story. If you want aerial views, a drone opens an entirely different world, but it also comes with extra responsibility and extra cost. This is a situation where you get what you pay for. When we bought ours, I had no idea what we were getting into, but I won’t go into details other than to say “Part 107.”

My point here is that the gear should match the goal.

It’s taken me a while to learn it, but much to the relief of my wife, I think I finally have. Even though I am always still looking. Old habits die hard!


If I could start over knowing what I know now, if I could go back and give beginner-me some advice, it would probably be this:

Do not worry about having the perfect setup right away. Learn the camera. Learn light, learn composition. Find out what shutter speed, aperture, and ISO actually do.

Do some research and learn how to hold the camera steady for a great shot. Do research and learn how to edit without destroying the photograph.

Shoot all kinds of subjects and find out what kind of photography you actually enjoy. I am still smack dab in the middle of this process.

Once you have done all this, then start buying equipment based on what you need, not just what looks fun or what you think you need. Now you will have some basis in experience to make a more informed decision about where to spend that $4000 on a new toy be it a camera, lens, drone or otherwise.

Gear can make photography easier, but in my case it gave me more crap to research and struggle with and more ways to screw up my photos.

A more advanced camera has more settings.

A longer lens is harder to keep steady.

A macro lens makes a steady hand absolutely necessary.

A drone creates new angles, but also adds new things to manage.

Advanced editing software offers more control, but it also offers more ways to make an image look completely unnatural. I’ve done it. Ask Susan about the baby crabapple tree. It was one of the shots from the first week of my photo challenge. Needless to say, it was bright cherry red. Susan informed me that this was not how the tree naturally looked. I thought it looked cool. Sue me! Love you Susan.

The reality is that every tool adds possibilities, but they also add something new to learn.

Where I Am Now

At this point, I have built a pretty decent photography setup.

I have multiple Sony camera bodies, several lenses, a drone, tripods, gimbal gear, editing software, a serious camera backpack, and some macro equipment. I’m sure I probably did a few things as well.

The good thing is that I still feel like I am just getting started, which is one of the things I enjoy about photography. I always have another skill to work on.

I am always looking for another type of photography to try and there’s always another mistake waiting around the corner, that makes me feel like I have no clue about what I’m doing.

But, every so often everything works.

I catch the light is right.

I hit focus.

My settings make sense.

Once in a while I get the shot I have pictured in my head. Believe it or not I almost always have a shot pictured in my head.

When this all lines up, all the learning, missed focus, bad settings, lame compositions, and costly purchases feel a little more worthwhile.

My Parting Thought

Gear matters, but it isn't the whole story. A good camera helps. A good lens helps. A tripod, drone, backpack, editing program, gimbal, or macro rail can all help, but none of them can replace learning how to see the photograph before taking it.

That’s what I am still chasing.

The gear is just an operator aid.

Thanks for reading!

I would love to get some feedback from you all about the photography learning process.

Please feel free to shoot me an email through my contact page