Hi friends,
A friend of mine, who I have had the pleasure of photographing, mentioned that she’d like to see a post about before and afters – what a photo looks like SOOC (straight out of camera) and what it looks like when I deliver it to a client.
I’ve been working hard over the past couple of years to perfect my method – which means, I’ve tried to make the image right in camera, rather than having to fix something later. It takes time to learn your camera and to learn what light does…and what light does is what photography IS. It is all light.
Anyway, I’m going to share a couple of before and after shots with you, with a little explanation of why I chose to process the image the way I did. I am by no means the expert of all experts at image processing – but I have been able to nail down my specific style. I continue to learn new techniques each day.
What you should know: I shoot every photograph in RAW. If you’d like to know exactly what RAW is and means, click here. RAW files are basically negatives – digital negatives. They perform like a plain old film negative would. They need to be “developed” by a software program – their information must be deciphered and compressed in to a TIFF or JPG. Most digital SLR cameras can shoot in raw OR jpg – you can choose. While RAW files are simply shot, like film, inside your camera; JPG files are both shot and developed inside the camera. All of the decisions about what that image will look like are made by the camera’s settings. This isn’t a bad thing – but the difference is control. I want control. So I shoot everything RAW.
RAW files are just color and light data. I have my cameras programmed to produce the most basic file possible – I don’t let the camera do any color correction, profiling or compressing for me. I make those choices after the job is done. For small jobs, I’m able to process images individually, and for big jobs like weddings, I process them in bulk groups.
This allows me to choose the contrast and saturation levels of the image (something that is very specific with my style , and that I like to have complete control over) without losing any quality to the image. However, because of this, files right out of the camera are realllllllly dull looking – even if they are correctly exposed.
Now, on to a couple of images.
This image of Kate and Ed is dull out of the camera, but has the exposure I was going for. All I needed to do was apply a camera profile (In this case, I used a preset called VSCO Film in Portra 400), and set blacks and contrast. I thought the image was just a touch cold, so I changed the white balance just slightly to the warm side. For this particular set, I was able to edit several images at a time – as I took many in this location that needed the same color treatment.
This image of Ali and Luc was taken on a freezing cold, thick foggy day. They picked the location for this image – right in front of the ship’s helm. It’s really difficult to shoot on foggy days, because the light is so dull. Because of the light, once I put a camera profile on this image (VSCO Fuji 160) , I opened it in photoshop and darkened the background to make the couple stand out more. Even though I would have processed most of Ali and Luc’s images together in bulk, there are times when a formal photograph needs extra attention, on it’s own. Like this one.
The last image for today was shot for an album cover. Because it’s an image that will be printed large, I spent a bit more time working with it. Out of camera it has the exposure I was going for and the basic color. I developed the RAW file using VSCO Portra 160, and then opened the file in Photoshop. The client is a singer/band leader and this particular image is extremely stylized. Because of this, I touched up her curves and tucked some lines on her body and face – much more than I’d do for a portrait or wedding photograph. It’s got to be an attention-grabber. You’ll see a bit more hair, a bit less skin, brushed face and brightened eyes – but she’s still natural. That’s the key.
Again, it’s most important that you can take an image with your camera that looks good on the LCD. The more work you need to do to an image after you’ve got it on the computer, the more you’ll damage it’s integrity. However, being able to control the basics, like contrast, color balance and color profile is great for allowing you to have a particular style.
Maybe I’ll share more another day!
More images to come.
!!!!
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