You’re about 40 if you’re on your way out soon from this demographic, and 25 if you’ve just made your entry into this select age group. We’re the generation that grew up with the internet in our teens, and contributed to making it the over-utilized, super-connected global network that it is today. As millennial photographers, we’re also probably the youngest generation to have made a foray into digital photography. Before that, we’d pop a roll into an autofocus compact or an SLR and head over to a studio to develop after 36 clicks. But when it came to developing them, we were at the mercy of two significant factors: the film stock we used, and the developer at the lab we went to.

All images in this article are used with permission from their owners.

Digital photography was a whole new ballgame. The first digital camera my family owned was an Olympus (possibly one of the early CAMEDIA models) in 2003. I think it barely had 2 megapixels of resolution (keep that in mind before all you Generation Alpha photographers whine about your 24-megapixel files). And it probably was another four or five years before I began to understand the intricacies of editing software like Adobe Photoshop. It took two more years of having digital files all over my hard drive before I was introduced to Adobe Lightroom (3.0?). Things started becoming streamlined here with the presence of a sound file management system. Saturation, Contrast, Curves, Hue – a few things that I began playing with each time I took would start my photo editing.

Easy to Get Carried Away

The possibilities were endless, but so were the errors. What made it a fun process was the fact that it was all non-destructive in nature. Tapping away on my ancient Dell laptop, I was able to do, undo, redo, undo, and correct to my heart’s content. It didn’t matter that the results weren’t professional looking. Unbeknown to me, I was learning something new that would one day be valuable in my professional career. Editing an image was something I enjoyed thoroughly and something that, for the most part, I still enjoy today. The thought process behind this has probably changed entirely, though. I would previously click a photo and then try umpteen edits to see what could make it look better.

I don’t hate presets, and I think they are sometimes an excellent way to have an editing starting point. But I can say with surety that you can get carried away by them. Because when you have 1,000 different instant looks at your fingertips, you tend to feel overwhelmed. I now firmly shoot with a vision to edit. I will always compose and expose my photos, as best possible, with an end edit in mind. This prevents me from becoming distracted when I sit down to edit a picture, but it also means I need to edit an image shortly after I click it. I was curious to know what other millennial photographers thought about photo editing. Do they enjoy taking a shot from “nice” to “wow,” even if it means spending a significant amount of time before a screen?

The Evolution of Editing

“I used to enjoy editing my photos a lot when I first started out. I believe it distinguishes some of us,” says photographer Atamash Javed. Originally from Pakistan but based in the UAE now, Aljvd (as he is more commonly known in the local photography circles) likes to keep his photography process simple. “More recently, I have been finding myself not to edit as much. I guess it’s part of an evolution,” he says about his photos.

Altamash Javed

“.where heavy editing is required I am capable of doing it, but I mostly try to keep it very simple now.”

I enjoy Altamash’s work and find him a source of inspiration on how to produce striking images out of seemingly simple, everyday surroundings. I also agree with Altamash on a critical point he makes about revisiting older images. “As I have learned more in general and the usage of new software, I actually enjoy going back and editing old photos,” he says. “Sometimes, you just have to be in the rig...