Before and After

Many people don't know what a photographer does with images once they take them off of the camera, so I thought it would be fun to show some before and after photos!  A good photo should not need many corrections, however a few adjustments to the exposure, tone and crop(just to name a few) of a photo can take it from being a good photo to a great one that really pops!

I'll start with this one.  Cute, right? Mom and dad in the back, baby playing with leaves in the front.  I would totally want that picture of my family!  As much as I like the photo, it could be a little better.  

  

I am a natural light photographer for a reason.  I like to take photographs of people in a natural environment that really captures what is happening in the moment.  I want to create a moment and preserve memories, not alter them in my post process.  Therefore, I really try not to go over board with the editing.  Here is my final product:

It definitely stands out a bit more!  So, what did I do(don't worry, I won't get too technical)?  First, I bumped up the exposure just a tad.  A slightly brighter picture makes colors stand out a little better, especially since I took these photos on a very cloudy day.  Next, I up'd the contrast a bit to make the darks slightly darker and the brights slightly brighter in a way that they continue to compliment each other.  Then, I went down to the split toning section(this section can change the tone of the colors and completely change the color scheme of a photo) and adjusted the tone of the photo.  In the first photo, the greens aren't as green, the reds aren't as red and the oranges aren't as orange as they were in the actual moment(thank you clouds!) so I chose a setting that brought some of the life back to the fall colors that we are looking for.  Once I get that right, I added a little vignetting to edge of the photo, which really draws the eye to center/subject of the photograph.  And voila!

When I'm editing a big batch of photos from the same shoot and I find a look that I like, I can easily create a preset and apply the same adjustments to other photos that I am working on.  I can't always just add the preset and go, different photos will require slightly different adjustments, however it helps to speed my editing process and well as create a uniform look to the set of photos.

Here are a few more, just for fun!

Before

After

Before

After

Subtle, yet very effective adjustments, in my biased opinion : )  It is my plan to show before and after pictures at least once a month, so I hope you all enjoyed.  Let me know what you think!