Why you should re-edit your older photos

By Mike O'Connor | 14 June 2023

Although it's natural to have a mindset that your next photo will be your best photo, there's a lot to be said for revisiting your work from time to time, as it will not only remind you of how far you've developed as a photographer, but it can also let you look on your old work with new eyes.

This is something I've been doing lately as I've found fewer opportunities to get out and photograph.

Instead, I've been revisiting a bunch of old photos for a book project I've been working on, and in doing so dug out old hard drives that go back to the early 2010s with images I'd pretty much forgotten all about.

In getting images ready for the book I found myself regularly cringing at my poor editing efforts, while also realising that a quick spin in Lightroom could fix many of the issues, while also in many cases giving them a much more sympathetic edit.

So, with that out the way, why is it worth revisiting your old shots?

Image editing software is getting better and better

Whether it's AI powered noise reduction software in programmes like Topaz Photo AI (and now Lightroom), or the ability to neatly and seamlessly drop in a sky with a quick click of a button in Photoshop, image editing software has seen huge advances in the last five years.

It's also one area where software companies seem to be investing tons of R&D, so if you want to see where photography is going, getting a handle on the latest editing developments is a good place to start.

The other good thing is that most editing software is via subscription these days, so you'll likely get the benefits anyway without paying any extra, and enhancements work on all photos, old or new.

Here's an example of how it can help. I shot this image of a sea eagle in 2019 on a Sony A7R IV at ISO 6400 - not all that long ago.

Captured at ISO 6400 in 2019, I always felt this image had too much noise for it to be a keeper, but kept the file just in case. — Captured at ISO 6400 in 2019, it's a little hard to see here, but I always felt this image had too much noise (especially in the oof areas) for it to be a keeper, but kept the file just in case.

I remember distinctly the feeling of elation that came with actually photographing a sea eagle in the wild, and then the distinct sense of deflation when I realised the shot I captured was incredibly noisy.

In fact, I disliked the results so much I was pretty lazy with my file management and somehow only kept a smart preview of the file at about 2500px.

Today, images like this are the bread and butter of software like Topaz Photo AI, and so it proved. Some noise reduction, and a fair bit of sharpening, and I was left with the above.

Plus, it was also able to generate a much bigger image too - a whopping 10,240px on the long edge if I wanted it.

Photos you thought were a lost cause may no longer be

Further to the point above, I've found that older images I'd parked for various reasons can now benefit in other ways from advances in image editing.

Case in point this image below which I captured in 2017. At the time, I'd always felt that the figures in the background were a distraction, but I didn't have the patience or editing skill in Photoshop to remove them.

This meant the image sat on a hard drive for the next five years until I decided to revisit it recently.

My original image captured under a bridge in Esfahan, Iran, in 2017. Unfortunately I only had time to pass under the bridge once, so couldn't hang around and wait for the background to clear.

I should add that it helps I kept the original raw file from back then as I probably knew I'd be able to have a proper crack at removing the subjects at some point in the future.

You won't always be able to keep your raw files, but for certain images it may be worth it.

The shot with the distracting subjects in the background now removed thanks to generative AI. I also edited this image differently, using radial masks on the two subjects' faces to dodge some of the shadows, and reducing the highlights with an adjustment brush on the right hand side of the frame. When I originally captured this shot I would have likely just used a global adjustment for the whole frame and left it at that.

You're a better editor now than you were when you started

Have you seen how you first edited your photos? If you were like me, those sliders weren't doing anything unless they were either all the way to the left or all the way to the right.

But the last few years has taught me the value in editing with a deft hand, and the idea that the sign of a good editor is if their mark isn't left on an image.

Of course, that's just my opinion, and if you still love that Trey Ratcliffe HDR thing, that's cool too. However, in all likelihood your editing is much better now than it was when you began, and likely your ability to understand what parts of an image need editing and what parts don't is better too.

I know that I'm much more conscious of not overusing global adjustments when local adjustments can give a more subtle result, as an example.

India, back in 2012. Unfortunately I only have a jpeg of this shot, but to me the shadows in the sleeping subject are a little dark.

A re-edit some 11 years later, with a change to the colour temperature and a little dodging around the sleeping woman. I also straightened the horizon which I never noticed back then, and desaturated some of the pink tones in the blanket as they were a little distracting.

The other thing that's worth mentioning is the wealth of educational content available online, and often for free, to help your editing.

Today there really is a YouTube tutorial for everything, and I've found my editing skills have developed hugely from both the years of familiarising myself with Lightroom, but also looking up solutions to problems when I've had them too. We really are spoiled for choice.

I'd love to hear about some of the images you've revisited - let us know in the comments.