Behind the lens

Why I still edit every image by hand

Presets are fast. Hand editing is slower, and it is the reason the photographs still feel like you.

Alexander Mils

Why I still edit every image by hand

Presets are fast. Hand editing is slower, and it is the reason the photographs still feel like you. Here is how it comes together, step by step.

Learning from every session

I review every gallery after delivery and note what worked: a location at a certain hour, a prompt that made someone laugh, a lens that suited a street. Those notes become the starting point for the next session.

Why it matters

Photographs outlive the moment they were taken. Treating each one with care is a small way of respecting the people in them and the time they gave to the session.

The habit behind the work

Photography is mostly patience. I spend far more time watching than pressing the shutter, waiting for light to settle, for a gesture to finish or for a street to empty for a second. That habit came from years on fashion sets, where one good frame can take an hour of quiet preparation.

Editing by hand

Each photograph is edited individually. I adjust colour, balance skin tones and remove distractions, but I never reshape faces or bodies. The aim is a picture that looks like the best version of the day, not a different person on a different day.

Gear matters less than you think

I work with two camera bodies and a small set of prime lenses. They are quiet, light and fast, which matters more than any specification. The less equipment there is, the less it gets between me and the people I photograph.

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