everyone loves a good before & after

Hi Everyone!  Wow.  I certainly neglected the blog a bit there these last couple weeks, but am hoping to get back in the swing of things now that spring almost here…  Lots to talk about, including wedding plans for the big day which is swiftly (SWIFTLY!!!!!) approaching.

You guys know that my camera is pretty much an extension of my body at this point.  I don't go far without it.  But, there is another tool of my trade that is a HUGE piece of what I do in this digital world, and it is very near & dear to my heart.  And that tool is photoshop.  I began working with photoshop back in 1998, and have never ever looked back.  It is not just great for fixing stray hairs, and blemishes… It is what I use to enhance, and bring to life, the colors, and the moments that I use my camera to capture.  Thought I'd share a couple before & afters from my recent trip to Maine just as a quick example.

Here's a shot of Jeff sitting on a hill with some pretty HEFTY light behind him (aka, the sun.  Doesn't get much brighter than that.)  This is exactly what the image came out of my camera looking like, no adjustments.  Shooting into the sun like this is something I am experimenting with a lot lately.  I love the warm, hazey, glowing, feeling these images evoke, and although I think I did a good job setting this shot up (the haze is good, the lens flare is pretty, the white balance is fairly warm) I still think the depth and the colors fall a bit flat.

Same shot.  Pulled into photoshop, and tweaked to bring out the shadows a bit, bump the vibrance in the colors, warm the light up more, and just give it some sparkle…

Here's a different example… Same location, time of day, and subject.  See those cat-tails in the background of the first image?  We just walked over there and stood in them.  

The light from this angle was much more even and something I am very comfortable shooting in.  The exposure on this shot is pretty spot-on.  My histogram was perfect (not trying to sound all full of myself, I just want you to understand that shooting a technically good image – although important – does not mean it won't benefit from some edits.) Again, this image is pulled straight out of the camera with no adjustments.  But in my head, I know we can adjust things a bit and pull some tones in that will really make this image shine…

So here's my edit….

Simple edits that enhance the colors and shadows, and then for this image, I felt some slightly red/magenta tones would make those muted browns in the background pop.  

FUN, right??  I know personally I love seeing the before & after's of just about any photo, craft, or project out there.  And I figured you might like to know what I am doing to your images that takes so long after we shoot them!  I edit each image individually, and really work hard to bring out the best of each person, each color, and each element in the image.  This is the part of the process where my "vision" comes together, and I love it almost as much as I love shooting them to begin with.

Thanks for peeking!