Dear friend,

There is no right or wrong way to edit (I mean post-process) your photos.

Editing vs post processing

Portrait of my mom. Berkeley, 2014. Kodak Portra 400

Okay, so unfortunately, modern vocabulary is all screwed up in photography.

Editing: The art of choosing your best photos.
Post-processing: Cropping, contrast, filter, brightness, exposure, sharpening, etc.

Today when we say “editing”, we mean to say “post processing”.

But I’m not gonna be a verbal nazi. Moving forward, let’s assume I mean “post processing” when I say “editing”.

What flavors do you like?

What flavors or spices do you like in your food?

Spicy? Bland? Sweet?

Orange County, 2014 / Digital Ricoh GR x Eric Kim Preset

What herbs or spices do you like?

Tumeric, sake, paprika, black pepper, Jalapeños?

What kind of oil do you like?

Olive oil, balsamic, avocado oil, or bacon fat?

How much do you like to season your food?

Do you like to put in a lot of salty flavoring? Or do you prefer it less salty?

There is no good or bad taste.

Anyways, I’m not gonna go further about food.

Essentially there are who good or bad taste out there.

You make your own taste.

You have your own tastebuds. Even as some ancients have said:

To some men, even honey tastes bitter.

It isn’t your job to instruct others who flavors to like. Rather, your job is just to know your own taste. Your own flavor palette.

How do you like to season your food?

Downtown LA, 2014. Ricoh GR digital with ERIC KIM PRESET

Editing your photos: is how you season your food.

For me, I like fatty foods, with a lot of salt. I prefer animal fats, with little vegetable oils. I like spice– Paprika is a favorite. I like bacon grease. I like sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Downtown LA, 2015. Processed with ERIC KIM MONOCHROME 1600

For my photos, I like high contrast monochrome. I like to “crush the blacks”– having little detail in shadows. I don’t like grey.

Downtown LA, 2014. ERIC KIM MONOCHROME 1600

For color, I like high saturation, contrast, and vibrancy.

Toronto, 2015. Digital Ricoh GR and VSCO KODAK PORTRA 800 HC PRESET

These are just the tastes of ERIC KIM. It will be different for you. That is why I designed the ERIC KIM PRESETS the way they are– to curate my own aesthetic taste.

Visual Variety & Consistency

Anyways, whatever you like– you probably want variety in your diet.

Would you want to eat the same food with the same spices, day in and day out? Even the most delicious foods become disgusting if you eat the same thing everyday.

Also for optimal health, we need a variety of food.

Downtown LA, 2012. Leica M9 x SILVER EFEX PRO 2

But I suggest this:

Have visual consistency within a certain project of yours.

For example, if you do a photo project of your partner, do it all in black and white film, and keep it consistent.

Downtown LA, 2014. ERIC KIM NEOPAN 1600 preset.

Or for example, if you do a street portrait series, do it all on the same camera, lens, and use the same preset or editing on the photo.

Edit your photos intentionally

Downtown LA, 2013 Leica M9 x SILVER EFEX PRO 2

For example, if you were gonna serve a Korean meal, you might want to have consistent flavors. You probably wouldn’t want to mix a Korean meal with random Caribbean flavors.