My editing process and what's included
If you're a client, you've heard me say, "I don't base my being booked on how many sessions I shoot in a week or a day, I base it on editing". I'd like to explain what I do behind the scenes in this blog post.
First, I want you to know that I like to take my time to edit each image. I don't like to edit multiple sessions simultaneously, or edit while I'm exhausted. I'm human, I'll miss things and HBP is a one person business. I also try to limit how much I edit while my daughter is at home. I am a work from home mom and my smarter-than-me little girl is only young once. :)
Second, depending on the size of your session, I upload between 50 and 150 images from my camera card, onto my computer! Especially if it involves a kiddo that doesn't want to smile, I tend to hold my finger down and click away as I'm trying everything to get him or her to smile. No matter how many images I take, I sift through each and every one of them, as you'll know if you keep reading. :)
Third, I shoot all sessions in RAW format. That probably doesn't mean anything to you, but it means a lot to me! RAW files are like digital negatives. They're unprocessed and I have more editing control with them. Also, I couldn't give you digital images in that format.
Now that you know a little more info, here's the process:
I upload all of your images to my computer, then bring every single image into Adobe Bridge. I go through each photo in Bridge, pick the best out of duplicates and give them 5 stars; I leave out any that are out of focus, or any that just look awkward, then bring the 5 starred images into Adobe Camera Raw. From there, I start my process of adjusting exposure, sharpness, color, etc., if needed, on every image that I narrowed down. For groups of images that are exposed about the same, I will adjust them in bulk, otherwise, I adjust each one separately. After I hit the save button, my changes will save to a different folder, in a jpeg format. At this point, I set aside 3-5 that really stick out to me, finish editing them, save them web sized, then email them to you as sneak peeks. Also, at this point, if I have a previous session I was working on before I shot yours, I stop the editing process on yours and get back to theirs, because it's only fair!
AIRBRUSHING AND MORE: So, now I have a folder of all the images I picked out and most of them are your final images. Some are close to perfect, but I still tweak and enhance them a little more, using Photoshop. In Photoshop, I adjust the blacks, the color, add in missing backdrop, take out distractions, straighten the horizon and things to that nature. I always soften dark shadows under the eyes and on the face, using Photoshop. Sometimes, my clients will ask me up front, to do certain things for them, like remove blemishes, remove bra straps that are showing and make some "weight adjustments" here and there. I will do those things, but it is beyond my style to make drastic changes and completely change a person's appearance. I typically edit what I'd want edited on myself. I want acne faded, I want a double chin reduced and I don't want shadows under my eyes. I don't want my clients to bring their professional photos into a phone editing app, or use a social media filter! With that being stated, after I send sneak peeks and there's something you'd like done throughout the rest of your gallery, please let me know ASAP!
Samples of general editing on myself below, since I never show airbrushing type of edits using my clients:
Straight out of RAW -Lighting adjustments, sharpening and color adjustments were done in RAW, then saved as a jpeg before brought into Photoshop for finishing touches.
After usual editing -More lighting adjustments, color adjustments and airbrushing under eyes and along the side of my face, where my glasses create distortion. Then, I cleaned up cords from Christmas lights, along with pine some pine needles and changed my sweater color slightly, to blend better with the truck color.
HEAD SWAPS: For any images that have the potential to be the perfectly posed and smiling shot, I will superimpose 2 pictures together to try and make a "perfect" picture! For instance, I love capturing your unposed, real moments, BUT I feel like I also need to try to get the shots where everyone is smiling and looking at my camera too; I will then try to make a composite, *as long as the lighting and posing are the same/similar*. A lot of times, I keep both of the images I used, plus the new image I created with them in your gallery.
Samples of a basic head swap/composite below:
Head swapping in Photoshop.
After fully editing each email, I also convert them to black and white, then save those to your final folder too. For an Ultimate outdoor family session, I get 65+ edited images in your online gallery, but if you include black and whites, you get 130+ images!
It takes me, on average, 15 minutes to edit each image, but I've found myself here and there, spending an hour on an image to try and make a composite look real. Depending on what I have to edit before your session, it could take me 1-2 weeks to edit your session, if you picked my largest collection. Usually, I edit in under 1 week, but I can get behind for reasons like, sickness in the family, family emergencies, power outages, mandatory evacuations, or scheduled vacations (which I let clients know about in advance).
Shew! That's the full explanation of my process. Bottom line: it takes more time than you might think!
UPDATE FOR PROFESSIONAL EDITING COMPANIES: I still edit all of my own work and am not looking to hire anyone, no matter how busy I am. Thank you! :)