Friday, August 31, 2012

My Thought Process


I feel as though I've been a bit of an editing machine lately, really trying to solidify my specific style and practicing shooting and being REALLY comfortable with it (yaiyee portfolio building!). Zoey has been a great help. From time to time she will stop and pose but normally she keeps me on my toes going from shade to sunshine forcing me to be quick with my adjustments to ensure proper exposure. I see on most photographer's fb walls how important a great SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) and I honestly scoffed at that at first because I shoot RAW and have lightroom & photoshop. Oh I have learned so much since discovering metering and how much more amazing my images can be when shot at the perfect exposure from the get-go. When you depend on having to 'fix' an image and the more manipulating you do the more details get lost and become grainy and only ensure that you can print a 5x7 shot at the largest (my standards are high and I want to possibility of much larger images being printed).


Now from time to time I like to play and present a bit more of a retro or magical feel with fun textures but for the most part it stays true to my style and I hope that consistency will become apparent starting now. A photographer is always learning and fine-tuning their 'look' but elements will always stay the same to allow people to look at an image and recognize what photographer took that shot!


The image above is my happy spot for exposure and sharpness. I love how her eyes stand out and how the crisp yet soft it is at the same time.


My husband took the shot above and in terms of tone I love this edit. Some portraits (like the single one of Zoey above) are nice with minimal tonal changes but with open fields and interesting backgrounds I find adding a bit more color to the overall atmosphere to be pleasing.


For black and white images I love a bit of softness/haze but something about a more contrasty image moves me more.


This post is really just my opinions written out and a little bit of my thought process behind why I am editing the way I'm editing. I know not everyone likes the soft, hazy, retro-tinted images but that's what is so amazing about photography. If you like images a certain way there IS a photographer out there for you! At the end of the day the client needs to be happy with their images and want to hang them on their walls or frame them in beautiful frames to sit on the mantle so always be sure to look through a photographer's portfolio for consistency and a style you love! <3

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