My editing process and what's included
First, I upload all of your RAW files to my computer, then bring every single image into Adobe Bridge to sort through them. I look at 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 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. Groups of images that are exposed about the same can be adjusted in bulk, otherwise, each one gets adjusted separately. All changes that were made in Adobe Camera Raw will be saved from a RAW file to JPEG format. At this point, I set aside 3-5 images that really stick out to me, edit them in Photoshop, save them as web sized, then email them to you as sneak peeks. At this point, if I have a previous session I was working on before I shot yours, I stop where I'm at with your gallery and get back to theirs, because it's only fair to go in order!
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 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 of that nature. I always soften dark shadows under the eyes and on the face, too. 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! There's a form linked at the bottom of this blog post, or you can just tell me by email, or text if you already have my number.
Samples of a photo composite, general editing on myself (since I never show airbrushing type of edits using my clients), glasses glare removal and a complete background transformation are shown below. Most of the "improvements" are small and you maybe wouldn't notice without them being pointed out, but that's good right? Slight adjustments make the images look finished, to me!
Head swapping in Photoshop -For this particular photo, 2 images were composited together, using a layer mask in Photoshop. It was easy to make it look realistic because the 2 images had the same lighting, background and the same positioning.
Info about head/face swaps and other composites: For any images that have the potential to be the perfectly posed and smiling shot, I will composite 2 photos 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 do what I can 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 composite images I used, plus the new image I created in your gallery.
Straight out of RAW -Lighting adjustments, sharpening and color adjustments were done in RAW, then saved as a jpeg before I brought the image into Photoshop for finishing touches.
After general editing -I made more lighting adjustments, color adjustments, then airbrushed under my eyes and along the side of my face, where my glasses create distortion. Then, I cleaned up cords from Christmas lights, along with some pine needles and changed my sweater color slightly, to blend better with the truck color.
General editing from start to finish : I will automatically adjust color, lighting, fix glasses distortion, clean up background distractions, lighten under eye shadows and just little things here and there.
Reducing glasses glare with Photoshop -For this image, the glasses glare was adjusted using a levels adjustment layer. I also cloned in skin and airbrushed a little bit.
More info about glasses glare: Sometimes, glasses glare is unavoidable. I will do what I can in Photoshop to improve, or remove glasses glare, or distortion. If your glasses glare seems bad while we're shooting, I may get you to remove your glasses for a few photos, in case I need a clear image of your eyes for a composite.
The '53 Chevy and the pallet shed, straight out of RAW.
The '53 Chevy and the pallet shed transformed into a rustic barn scene -A barn roof was added to the pallet shed, a tree was removed, sun was added and, of course, the lighting and color were adjusted. The roof was created in Photoshop from a few images composited together and is saved as a layer to be used when needed.
Complete transformation: Sometimes, I just add extra work to my plate to try and stand out from the rest haha! The pallet shed started out as a wooden wall, to be used as a backdrop. I was afraid the wind would blow it over, which is obviously not safe. Now, it's basically a backdrop that escalated into a pallet shed, where I store Christmas trees for Christmas minis. I always add some kind of roof to it.
After each final image is edited in Photoshop and saved to the final gallery folder, I duplicate and convert to black and white, then save those to the final folder as well, which essentially doubles the amount of digital images you will receive. 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).
What about Lightroom? Some have asked me questions about Lightroom, but I just never use it because I don't need the extra step! I learned to use Adobe Photoshop and how to sort images with Adobe Bridge at a local college, then I learned how to process RAW files with Adobe Camera Raw online. Other photographers use it for sorting and I hear horror stories about importing the images from one place to the next. I sort in Bridge, I know I can accomplish everything I need without Lightroom and to me, Photoshop is superior LOL!
Click here for a link to my editing preference form.