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| Straight out of the Camera: Before & After in Lightroom |
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| Final Image |
Everyone has their own post processing style. For me, I try to keep the steps as simple as possible. You can spend a lot of time getting caught up in the editing process. Whenever possible try to get your white balance and exposure correct when shooting your subject. This will save you a lot of time during the post processing process. There are ways to save 'bad' photos, but who wants to spend all day in front of the computer?
After each photo session I return home and upload the photos onto my computer then put the memory card in a waterproof / fireproof safe. (Until the final photos are delivered to the client, that memory card does not get reused). I then backup all the photos onto my external hard drive. If you are really paranoid I recommend also backing up the photos onto a server on the internet.
Step 1: Once all the photos are imported into Lightroom I go through and choose my favorites. I label them 3, 4 or 5 stars. (I ignore the photos I don't want to keep simply for time management.) I then go back through and remove any additional ones that aren't my favorite while correcting the white balance, exposure and intensity. I then export the final images into a folder on my desktop.
Step 2: I open the photos in Preview (Mac Software). I choose my top 5-10 photos and then open those in Photoshop.
Step 3: Once in Photoshop I check the Levels. Then I adjust the 'curves' to make the photo stand out. I use the 'Dodge & Burn' tool as needed and adjust blemishes with the clone tool. If I think it's a photo that may be printed large I will whiten the persons teeth and slightly remove wrinkles. I then have an action that automatically adds my logo and photo border. Then I export the final photo.
That's it.
(The sample photos above show the original image SOOC, then edited in Lightroom and the final image after it's been completed in Photoshop.) I like to shoot in open shade when shooting during mid-day, to avoid harsh shadows.
