My approach to photo editing as a family photographer
If you’ve ever wondered what happens between having a photoshoot and receiving your gallery, then this blog post is for you! I think there’s a lot to talk about when it comes to editing because every photographer has their own process and style, so I thought I would take a moment to explain my personal approach to photo editing as a family photographer in Brisbane, Australia.
Why I choose to only share edited photos
The first thing you should know, is any photo you receive from me will be edited. I think this is important because editing has the power to completely transform an image. In fact, it might be controversial but, in many ways, I think that editing is just as important as the actual photoshoot.
Sure, I might be able to save time by sending you all of the images unedited and letting you pick your favourites, but I think that would risk some of the best images being missed. The truth is, many of the images I’m most proud of have not necessarily been the best photos I have ever taken. My family photography style focuses on capturing genuine, candid moments and let’s be honest, people (particularly children) can be unpredictable. So, sometimes I’m just not ready to take the ‘perfect’ photo when a moment occurs. Instead of missing the moment altogether, I will quickly take any photo that I can. That might mean my camera settings weren’t quite right causing the photo to be over or under exposed, or maybe I wasn’t holding my camera straight resulting in the horizon being on a 45-degree angle, or perhaps I took the photo from too far away and it’s hard to see how beautiful that moment actually was. These are all things that may cause you to skip straight past the unedited image without realising just how special that moment actually was.
How I decide which photos to edit
So, if I don’t share the unedited photos with you to pick your favourites, then how do I decide which images are worth editing? Well, I handpick every single photo that will be edited and included in your gallery. This is quite time consuming because it means going through every single photo that we took during your session, often multiple times to make sure I didn’t miss any. I take this process really seriously because photography is subjective and there’s really no way for me to know which images you will like best. Sure, I will always have my own personal favourites, but that doesn’t mean they will be your favourites too. I therefore do my best to select a broad range of images by including any that I think you might like.
My editing style as a family photographer in Brisbane
As a Brisbane family photographer, I am passionate about capturing genuine moments that feel like a true representation of you and your family. I therefore aim to take a very similar approach with my editing style. While I will edit the images to enhance the overall look, I still want them to look natural and be a true representation of the real-life moment that occurred. For this reason, I don’t like to alter your appearance (other than minor edits like fixing stray hairs) or change the entire look of a photo. Instead, I focus on refining the details that are already there such as enhancing colours, brightness, contrast etc. For example, I might increase the pink and orange tones in the sky to make it look extra magical, but I won’t remove the sky entirely and replace it with one that never existed during your photoshoot.
While I personally don’t like to edit an image to the point where it no longer looks realistic or doesn’t accurately reflect the real moment, I think it’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that my editing process is quick, easy, or that I don’t make many changes to the original image. The truth is, I typically spend a lot of time editing and I make a lot of changes, although I would consider each of those changes to be fairly minor on their own, but together they help to enhance the overall look of an image.
Why editing impacts the cost of your photoshoot
Editing is included in all of my prices. This may make a photoshoot appear expensive relative to the length of time we will spend together in person, but that’s because I then go home and spend a significant amount of time reviewing and editing your images, which often takes a lot longer than the actual photoshoot.
So, if you're looking for a family photographer in Brisbane who will take the time to edit your images while still maintaining a natural look, please contact me - I'd love to work with you!
Comments