Skillzzzzz . . .
Ever hear the expression, “The opera is not over until the fat lady sings?” Well, I am the fat lady who finishes the job. And by finishing, I mean editing and retouching.
I recently took the image above to try out a new technique in Photoshop to retouch a portrait. Before that, I had multiple shots of a bride and her bridesmaids where one did not look at the camera for several shots and when she finally did in the last one . . . the maid of honor had her eyes closed. Time for a head swap!
It happens. And no one has perfect skin, perfect eyes, or perfect teeth (and please, perfection is boring). So a photographer has to know how to enhance your images with skills in Lightroom and Photoshop (both are industry standards), as well as how to prepare them for print.
All too often I see low cost photographers deliver images straight out of the camera and don’t even try to correct exposure or contrast to make them pop. Worse yet are photographers who follow the latest trend in presets - if you don’t know, presets are small apps a photographer can run that applies a myriad of edits to a picture to have a certain “look.” They can be a good starting point, but since every picture was made under different circumstances with regard to light or composition, one size does not fit all. But some photographers hit the button and poof! Light and airy! Or dark and moody! Wait, what happened to the greens in the picture and why are their faces orange?
Listen to this fat lady - your images are unique and have to be treated as such. And the finished product should be exactly that, finished and polished. If you are worried about something, say, your teen’s braces, talk to me about how that can be handled (and yes, I’ve removed braces from teeth).
Let me show you my skillzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .!
Did everyone jump at the same time? No. Did everyone execute a perfect jump? No. Could I take the best of three photographs and make this image for the couple’s album? Yes!