Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday, by COAP Online

After a full-on day at an airshow or on a busy airfield, the hardest part is often yet to come. You’ve got to get through the volume of images, finding the time, patience and discipline to do so.

The good news is that - whilst it might feel like it at the time - editing hundreds of aviation photos doesn’t require superhuman motivation.

What keeps that needle moving is a workflow that reduces decision fatigue and keeps your set consistent.

Let’s see what that looks like…

Step 1: Separate selection from editing

The most common mistake is editing while you’re still deciding what’s worth editing. That turns every file into a debate and slows everything down.

Instead, commit to culling first and editing second.

Step 2: Use a three-pass cull

Pass 1: Speed pass (remove the obvious dead files)
Cull anything that’s clearly not usable. Missed focus, heat haze fuzz, blocked subjects, awkward aircraft attitude, clipped wings, messy foregrounds. Get rid (or at the very least, filter them out).

Pass 2: Quality pass (choose the best version of each moment)
This is where your aviation-specific standards help. Choose files with:

• Clean aircraft shape (wings and tail looking “right”)
• Good light on the airframe (especially on fuselage whites and canopies)
• Minimal distractions behind the aircraft
• Good visuals on markings, liveries or registrations (if these meet your goals)

Pass 3: Story pass (build the set you actually want)
Now pick the images that work together. Think those that have similar light, similar angles, a mix of wide and tight, and a few strong ‘hero’ moments.

Step 3: Batch edit for consistency

Sets of aviation images look best when they’re coherent. If 10 images from the same pass have ten different white levels and ten different sky colours, then it starts to feel messy and your decision making is hampered.

A reliable method is:

• Group images by similar light and background
• Edit one hero image first
• Sync settings to the group
• Do small individual tweaks (crop, minor exposure, local masks)

This preserves your style and saves a amount of time.

Step 4: Keep your effort proportional

Not every image needs a full edit. A simple approach is to label:

• A selects: Full edit (think 5-Star rating and/or Red label in LR)
• B selects: Quick edit (think 3-Star rating and/or Blue label in LR)
• C selects: Archive only (think 1-Star rating and/or Yellow label in LR)

That keeps your time focused on the files that deserve it.

If you want to go further, COAP Online goes deeper on high-volume workflows, including the exact culling criteria we use for aviation, batch edit setups that keep skies and aircraft surfaces believable, and how to move from “too many files” to a finished set you’re proud of. The Merge post drills into practical Lightroom tools for speed (flags, stars, colour labels, sync, and local tweaks).

Explore COAP Online with a free trial at www.coaponline.com.