EDITING STAGES

In my workflow, there are basically three stages of photo editing. The First Stage is the raw photo. This is what comes out of the camera. Generally, these are pretty decent photos, but you will probably never see them.

The Second Stage happens in Lightroom.  This is software that allows me to adjust the exposure, white balance, contrast, and color saturation, among other things. The Second Stage photos tend to have brighter whites, darker blacks, even (and consistent) skin tones and just a little more… pop. For wedding and engagement photos every photo goes through Stage 2.  This is a time consuming process, taking 6-12 hours for each wedding. For most weddings I outsource this  process to a company I trust called Shoot Dot Edit because it helps me get the images back to my clients faster and frees me up to run a business instead of sitting in front of my computer for days on end.

The Third Stage happens in Photoshop. This is where I do fine tweaking on the color, remove blemishes / smooth out skin, remove distracting elements in the composition, and cropping. For weddings, Stage 3 photos are only included in album photos or custom prints. This is because it is a very time consuming process to make these digital enhancements. For magazine work, or jobs with only a few images, like corporate headshots, Stage 3 is usually included in the price. When it’s not included I do this detailed Photoshop work for an hourly rate.

You can see the difference in the three stages of my workflow in these wedding portraits: