Using presets in editing

Presets Good or Bad?

It's funny how times change. Back in the days of film, manufacturers spent fortunes on trying to develop films with accurate colour rendition, low grain, and good tonal range. At the same time us photographers would have to deal with the cool blues of Ektachrome or the vibrant greens of Fujichrome, all the time wishing Kodachrome was available at higher than 64 ISO! Today it seems all the rage to bring those "faults" back into the image, and a whole market has arisen to do just that, with a bewildering array of software, apps, plugins and presets.

It's fantastic that digital gives us the ability to make such adjustments (even non destructively) to an image, and there is probably some interesting underlying psychological basis as to why we wish to add a seemingly analogue element to the sterile world of digital. However I can't help but feel that there are times when the reasons for their use are somewhat misplaced.

I know of many photographers that seem to collect presets, and have dozens sitting in their directories ready to be applied at the click of a button. The problem is that while there are hundreds of different presets, the variety of photographs is infinite so it's unlikely that any filter is going to give the perfect desired result. Unfortunately some seem to think that a preset is an easy one click solution, where as it's normally just a starting point for further manual adjustments. However to make those changes requires an understanding of the various controls, what they do and how they affect the image. All of this takes time and effort, but unless you invest in that learning and experimentation, you are never going to be sure you are doing an image justice, and will be tied to the author of the presets interpretation. The added benefit is that, once understood, you are no longer reliant on other peoples offerings and are free to make your own.

Presets are a very useful addition to any editing workflow, and I use my own creations all the time. However it's very rare that I don't make adjustments to the basic settings, even between pictures from the same shoot. The knowledge and ability to be able to make those changes is what enables you to take control over the final image.