Before post-processing

After post-processing

The sun was very bright and you can see from the first shot that the colours were slightly washed out, so I’ve boosted the saturation and done a curves adjustment. Other things that I thought needed some attention were the ariel sticking out of the chimney, some cracked tiles, markings on the roof and some distracting details in the background. The shadows on their faces were a bit harsh, so I’ve lightened those a bit. I’ve increased the blueness of the sky which makes the fluffy clouds more noticeable, and I’ve even put some missing bricks back in the chimney (estate agents, I am available for hire). Finally I’ve added a very light glow effect to give it a more romantic feel.
I think this turns what was originally a nice image into something quite special. As I mentioned in a previous post, this can be very time consuming, so I wouldn’t do this amount of work to every image on a CD. As you can see from the first image, you’ll get a perfectly well exposed and usable image on your disc, but if you want something that has a little extra it’s probably worth ordering your prints directly from me.

See the previous post on retouching wedding and portrait photos here
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If capturing a good image on camera is the most important part of photography, then post processing comes a close second. I said I would show a few examples of the difference between the basic corrections you would get on your CD of photos, and how the same image could look after professional retouching. I’ve been having a bit of trouble finding something to show you without upsetting any former clients, so I’ve picked a portrait rather than a wedding photograph.

The two photos below show Michelle with her six month old son, Elliot. Michelle looks lovely in any photo, but was up with a teething baby for most of the previous night and is a bit tired. (Elliot, on the other hand, has had a very nice rest and is looking forward to his next daytime snooze!).

The difference between the two photos is quite subtle and I hope it shows on your computer screen. The photo on the left is how you would receive it if it was part of my wedding photography package. The basic work has been done, the colour and density are fine. This could be taken to a printers and you would get a perfectly good print. The photo on the right shows the same photo with retouching. The most obvious work is underneath Michelle’s eyes. I’ve lightened and smoothed the skin here, which makes her look as if she has had a decent nights sleep. I’ve also done some light retouching on the skin, taken off some shine, lightened the eyes and done some dodging and burning on both their faces. I’ve done a curves adjustment to increase contrast and reduced a slight yellow cast. The edges of the image have been darkened and blurred a little to bring the focus more to the faces. In preparation for printing I would also sharpen the image, depending on the final size, and put on borders and keylines as required.

Anything you can see here would be much more obvious in a decent size print or in an album. I recommend to my clients that they order their more important photos through me, rather than printing straight from their CD or DVD. This way they will cost a bit more, but you will be getting the very best from your images.

This is a very light retouch, just a little tweak can sometimes make all the difference. I like to keep portraits looking natural and not overdo the Photoshopping. There are other times when some of the more noticeable effects and adjustments can look great, I’ll try and show some of those in another post.

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From the photographer’s point of view there’s one very good reason for this, we make money out of the prints, it’s traditionally been an important part of our earnings. It’s equally clear to the customers that they are going to save money by getting hold of the files and printing their own photos.

Despite our grasping natures, making money isn’t the only reason photographers want to print the images for you, it’s also because they are going to look better.

When a digital file comes out of the camera it almost always needs to be adjusted in some way. After selecting the wedding images I plan to keep, the first thing I do is to make basic adjustments to all the files. These will include exposure, white balance and contrast adjustments. When everything looks good I will burn these files on to a disc and these are what my clients will receive. You can take them to a high street printer, get a set of photos for a few pounds and they will look OK.

If you decide to order prints or an album through me, I then go back to those photos and try to get the very best from them. At this stage I might do any of the following:

• Tonal adjustments

• Saturation adjustments

• Black and White conversions

• Blemish removal

• Lightening teeth and eyes

• Softening wrinkles and shadows under eyes

• Borders and keylines

• Re-sizing and sharpening

• Assorted fancy stuff!

They will then get printed in a professional lab with strict quality controls.

I was going to post some really fantastic examples of blemish removals here, but then I thought my previous clients might get a bit upset if I published photos of their monstrous pimples, eye bags and bad skin. I’m not planning to move out of Brighton at the moment, so I don’t think I’ll do that (come round and I’ll show you, heh heh).

Anyway, this stuff does make a big difference to the look of a print and is an important part of the photographic process. It’s very time consuming, so you can’t do it to 500 images for nothing. If you are going to have a packet of photos to carry around and show your friends, high street prints will probably be fine. If you want to put photos in a frame or an album it’s really worth having the professional prints.

I’ve decided to include digital files as part of all my packages at the moment. I also include a set of boxed prints which have had the extra work done on them. I suggest to my clients that they have some prints done themselves and compare them. If they can’t tell the difference that’s fine. If they want the extra service I’m more than happy to do it. I never pressure people into letting me do the processing and printing, but I do think it’s shame if people, after paying for a professional photographer, end up with wedding photos that are half as good as they could be.

I’ll be posting another page with examples in the near future.