What Musicians Can Teach Us Photographers About Finishing Our Work
As someone who spent over 20 years in the music world before diving into photography, I noticed something interesting right from the start: the creative struggles are surprisingly similar.
Back when I was making music, I used to ask myself, Is this song really finished? Should I change just one more thing? And when I picked up a camera, those same questions came back. This time, they showed up while editing my photos.
It’s something I see all the time now in the photographers I work with, whether they join one of my workshops or come to me for 1-to-1 coaching. They often get stuck in the same place, unsure if their image is "done," and afraid to share it because maybe it’s not perfect yet.
Sound familiar?
As photographers, we tend to keep tweaking, adjusting, fixing tiny details, hoping that the next little change will somehow make everything just right.
But how do we actually know when a photo is finished?
Funny enough, this is a question musicians, producers, and sound engineers deal with every single day. Their world is full of endless options too. And yet, at some point, they have to stop and say, this is done.
In this article, I want to share a few lessons and stories from the music world that helped me learn how to let go. And I think they can help you too. If you’ve ever found yourself stuck, unsure, or afraid to hit “export” or “share,” I think you’ll find something useful here.
1. When Enough Is Truly Enough
One of the most helpful things I’ve learned from the music world is this: sometimes, good enough really is enough. A lot of musicians will tell you that a song is never completely finished. It just gets left alone at the moment when it feels right. And no, that’s not laziness. It’s actually wisdom. Because chasing perfection forever often means never letting your work see the light of day.
As photographers, we fall into that same trap. We zoom in, we retouch, we fix one more thing… and another… and another. But I’ve learned to ask myself a few simple questions: Does the image tell the story I wanted to tell? Does it make me feel something? If the answer is yes, maybe it’s time to let it go.
A widely cited philosophy, often attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci and echoed by many artists, states that a work of art is "never finished, just abandoned".
That last 5% of perfection we’re chasing might not even exist. Meanwhile, the 95% we’ve already created might be exactly what someone else needs to see.
2. Fresh Eyes Are Your Best Editing Tools
One of the smartest habits I picked up from my music background is this: walk away.
Musicians often take breaks from a mix. Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes overnight. Then they come back and listen with “fresh ears.” They also play their mix on every speaker they can find—studio monitors, car speakers, phones—because each one reveals something different.
I try to do the same with photography. I step away from an edit. Maybe I go outside, work on something else, or just take a breather. Then I come back later and look at the photo on different screens, like my editing monitor, my laptop, and my phone. Almost every time, something new stands out. It’s like my eyes finally wake up and notice what they missed before.
3. The Edit-Overcooking Trap
There’s a moment in music when you realize that changing something doesn’t actually make the song better. It just makes it different. That’s usually the sign that it’s time to stop.
Photography works the same way. If I’m moving sliders back and forth without a clear reason, just fiddling, it’s a red flag. At that point, I ask myself: Am I still improving this image? Or am I just scared to finish it?
Sometimes, we tweak out of fear. Fear of judgment, fear that it’s not “there” yet. But more changes don’t always mean better results. Realizing that can be incredibly freeing.
4. How to Know When It Feels Right
Technical skills are important. But I’ve learned over the years that gut feeling is just as important, if not more.
Quincy Jones once said his goal is to create a dramatic experience, something that just feels right. Lenny Kravitz knows a song is done when he can listen to it 20 times without wanting to change a thing. Rick Rubin says a piece is finished when it matches the spark of inspiration you started with.
I love that. And now, I use it in my own work. When I look at a photo and feel that quiet, solid sense of “yes,” when it aligns with the moment I captured and the emotion I wanted, I know I’m done. That gut check matters, and it deserves to be trusted.
5. The Power of Soft Deadlines in Creative Work
Some engineers, like Joe Chiccarelli who has worked with bands like The Strokes, aim to finish a mix in 8 to 12 hours. It’s not because they’re rushing, but because they know that going beyond a certain point doesn’t always make things better. In fact, it can sometimes make them worse.
We might not have studio costs hanging over us, but I’ve found that giving myself some light structure helps. I might set a soft deadline or limit the number of editing sessions I allow for a single photo. This helps me avoid falling into the never-ending loop.
A beautiful line I heard in an interview with the great Neil Young is: "You don't get good at songwriting by spending forever writing one masterpiece, you get good at songwriting by writing 100s of songs."
A photograph is a moment. It’s your take on that moment. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be honest.
6. Your Style, Your Rules
What “done” means can change depending on your style, just like in music. A classical composer finishing a score is aiming for something completely different than a DJ producing a dance track.
It’s the same in photography. When I’m working on a landscape, I focus on scale, light, and atmosphere. A portrait, on the other hand, might be all about expression and subtle emotion.
There’s no universal checklist. But the heart of it is always the same: know what you want to say, bring it to life with care and craft, and when it feels right, step back and let it go.
What about you?
Here’s a question I’d love you to answer: How do you know when your edit is finished? Do you have any rules or a framework you follow?
Please share your thoughts in the comments. I’m really curious to hear how you decide your work is done.
Thanks for reading!
Join Me on a Photograhy Workshop
If you want to learn more about light, composition, technique, and improve your photography and editing skills at a deeper, more personalized level, I’d love to have you join me in one of my photography workshops, where we’ll work hands-on in stunning locations to level up both your editing and field techniques. If you’re interested, click the link below for all the details and sign up!
