Periscope Recap: 3 Ways I Drastically Reduced My Editing Time!

Periscope. Have you checked it out yet? For someone used to being behind the camera, it's a little intimidating, but I'm getting the hang of it. Honestly, I think it will help me with my public speaking skills, so high five for that! Last Friday was my first, legit, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing, broadcast. You can find me on The Scope, as I've heard it been called, at @kamron_khan.

I received a question on my Instagram page and decided that would make for the perfect chance to test my Periscope skillz. Thank you @demi_11 of Demi Photography for the great question!!

Demi asked: How do you get your images back so quickly? How can I cut down on editing time?

OK, if you are anything like me, you LOVE taking photos, but could do without the editing. I've wanted to outsource this task for quite a while, but have a little bit of a control issue. Can you relate? So, until I get over that hurdle, I'm trying to make this part as painless as possible. I prefer to spend as little time as possible doing this and have found 3 things that have helped me drastically cut down my processing time!

1. I stopped overshooting! I know the feeling of not wanting to miss a thing. I get it, but when I end a family session with 500 images, knowing I need to cut it down to about 35, it really drags out that process. Slow down, think about what you want to capture, and focus on that. 30 shots of the same pose is not necessary. Shoot with a purpose!

2. I added Lightroom to my workflow! OK, I admit it. I was once a Ps only girl. This is great for more intricate edits and composites. But for simple color adjustments, it was just not practical for me. I am a creature of habit, so it took a long year before I tried Lightroom. The first time I tried it, I uploaded, culled, and edited an entire family session in 45 minutes. I was sold! I love that I can save even more time by creating my own presets and sync the same settings to multiple images at once. Lr, what would I do without you?!

And I definitely saved the best tip for last. In my opinion it is THE most important thing to cutting down your editing time.

3. Get it right in camera! Learn about proper exposure, about different lighting scenarios. Know the ins and outs of your camera and apply your technical knowledge to creating well exposed images. This takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. It also takes preparation. Watch your surroundings, look for the ideal lighting situations, make sure there aren't any distracting elements in your backgrounds. There's much more to think about than just the person standing in front of you. Do not shoot with the intention of fixing everything during the editing process. I would much rather spend my time getting my images as close to how I want them as possible DURING a one hour session, and spending an hour editing, than STILL spending an hour shooting and multiple hours editing everything I didn't take the time to notice.

So, those are my 3 tips! If you have any other tips that work for you, please share! I'm always looking for ways to improve my workflow.

And because every post needs a photo!