On our recent visit to see the world’s largest Easter egg, (more about that in yesterdays post), I especially enjoyed this little spot in the park that houses the giant egg.

The day was warm, the sky was blue, the fountain was gently splashing, and even the stone bench looked inviting.

When I chose my feature photo, I noticed that the buildings and power lines/poles on the other side of the pond belied the serenity at this spot, and I wondered if editing them out might help. I did a few quick edits in the Touch/Retouch app. If I was going for perfection, I’d have taken more time. Here’s the result:

Now, here is the question: It’s not so much which photo you prefer, but rather, do you think removing the distractions from the attempted capture of the serenity is a good idea or not? Do you think that removing the buildings, power lines, and power poles takes too much of the reality away?

Editing in photography is much like editing in writing. It’s always a decision as to what to keep as is, and what to toss or correct.

Photo Note: Even though we were at this spot in the late afternoon on a sunny day, the sun had moved enough that it’s light wasn’t directly overhead, so it wasn’t excessively harsh. When I took the photo into Snapseed to check the white balance, it was spot on, so I didn’t adjust anything else in that app. The feature photo is “as shot” except for cropping to optimum size. For the edited photo, I just did quick edits to “test the water” (mentioned above) in the Touch/Retouch app.

“I’m a big fan of editing and keeping only the interesting bits in.”

Sarah Vowell