Thursday, February 21, 2008

Before and After

Now that we are giving image discs with many of our packages, I have been wanting to give an example of what we mean when we say color corrected, but not enhanced. Digital photography is a lot different than the old days of film. Digital cameras have to use their brain or sensor to interpret all of the colors it sees. It is not a perfect system, which is why most say it is actually a lot more time consuming than film. In the old days, print labs would develop and color correct the proofs at the time of processing. All of the proofs would come back pretty and ready for delivery to the customer. With digital, it's up to us to make sure there are no strange tints or mis-intepretation of colors by the camera. Now, with all that being said, when we deliver to you CD of images, they are color corrected, but not enhanced proofs. We take them out of the camera, get the colors close to how the eye actually saw them, and that's it. When we design an album or process an order, this is when we actually go in and digitally enhance those photos. While you can take your disc and run yourself or grandma prints at Wal-Mart all day long, we still encourage you to order through us if you want the highest quality for your re-prints.

Our first example is the very cute couple of Jim and Mary. This was a gloomy afternoon and while the photo looks pretty good, it could use some zest.....

This is the photo straight out of the camera....
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This is straight out of the camera with a little bit of color correction like you would see on your image disc... we made it look a little less blue and that beautiful dress a little more white.....
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This is after enhancement....we popped the colors a bit and lightened the couple to really make them stand out from the background. We also took out the condo on the right which was a tad distracting......
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This is the beautiful Mary again.... a typical black and white portrait that looks pretty good straight out of camera.
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But I like this better.... We touched up the area under her eyes, popped the contrast, and gave it a warm sepia tone.
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What a gorgeous church right?! This is strictly preference, but it is a tad bit yellow for me.
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Here it is with a little of that yellow tint removed and the guests lightenend a little to make them stand out. We also burned the edges to draw your attention to the center of the photo....
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Before - Notice the skin is a little red
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After - A nice skin tone and the brighter colors slightly muted to make our couple stand out more...
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Proof:
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Enhanced:
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Proof:
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Enhanced:
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A nice shot of Melissa and her ladies.....
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A little pop of the colors again really adds a nice look to this photo...
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A nice bouquet shot that could use a little sprucing up...
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Now that's better!
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This one looks pretty good as is....
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But it can always be cleaned up and sharpened a little...
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And finally the beautiful Christine trying to stay modest with Joe....
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But we can brighten her and polish the skin a little for the ultimate album photo....
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9 comments:

Jennifer said...

And THIS is what sets you guys apart from other photographers. :) You guys are truly the best!!

Anonymous said...

WOW....I totally see the difference!

Melissa

The Schlosser's said...

That's AWESOME! You guys are amazing! I love being able to check out your works of art (your talent) online. ~Angie

Anonymous said...

Ok, you’re really not making it any easier for me to pick my favorites for my book; now that I've seen you can make any picture look great!

Christine Trovato

Jo said...

You guys are soooooooooooo good!

Lara said...

very impressive. i need to learn how to do all of that, but I think it would take me about 10 years! really amazing editing- what a difference!

Lee and Suze said...

I love the before and after pictures! You guys are ridiculously talented ... and I'm so thankful for your ability to use Photoshop to make Lee and I go from goofy-looking to pretty snazzy. :)

Kerry Lynn said...

At least this post makes me feel a little better that the photos from my new fancy camera aren't as crisp as your "afters".

Now I know it's all just fake! HAHA!

You guys are amazing and truly my photographic inspiration.

Anonymous said...

Billy and I are browsing the blog! Man, I can't believe you are sharing your techniques. The pics speak for themselves. It shows so much life and expression. I love it! I can't wait for two weeks. IT IS GOING TO BE AMAZING. You guys are going to make it incredible. Just don't make us stand in the rain, Wesley!
Heather