Why Edit?

Time for a post about editing.

When I began my photography career... I must admit, I never thought I would spend quite this much time in front of a computer monitor. After all, I'm a people-person, I love being outside, and I really like my on-location portrait sessions. I was so excited to leave my desk job, that I never thought I would be exchanging it for another one. :-)

What I discovered though, is that in order to really make my work stand out from the crowd, and in order to give the best product I can to my customers, I needed to spend some time inside making the magic happen on the computer screen. Thus began my head-long dive into the world of digital editing. It's really been a fun ride--looking back on it--and it seems that every week I learn a new tip or idea that helps improve my speed and the options I can provide my clients.

I've been blessed with some great people that have been helping me along the way. My brothers Rob and Jeff are those wonderfully technically inclined types, who often help me turn my ideas into reality--and show me how it's done along the way. My husband is gracious and doesn't begrudge the hours upon hours that I hide in our office working on images, and I've had the benefit of a great online community that inspires me with the amazing work that's posted daily.

So what do we mean by the "digital image enhancement" that we offer on our portrait sessions?

Take this picture for instance, when I shot it, I loved the colors, and the moment that the two of them are sharing, but with a little work at home. I was able to bring out even more of the vibrancy of the moment.

Every final image we provide our clients is hand-adjusted to bring out the color and brilliance we think looks best. This can be a time-intensive process when it's done for every proof, but it's another service that you get included in all of our portrait and wedding sessions.

Well that's all nice and fine you say... but what can you really do?

Give us a challenge! When you have someone dealing with your priceless family memories, you want to be sure that they can handle the job. Here's a recent request that we were able to fulfill for a great client and friend of ours.

When we took Rick and Kim's pictures this past fall, we were mostly looking for a great family shot. Kim had some awesome ideas (you can see a few more on our website), but when all was said and done, this was their favorite picture of the two of them.

So Kim wondered if there was any way that we could crop in on just her and Rick... I told her that I would look it over and see what I could do. a few hours later I was able to come up with a solution that both of us loved.

This is an example of the digital editing that we are able to offer our clients. Most tasks are simple, removing skin blemishes or wrinkles, adding different effects, or creating custom cards for holidays or celebrations--these things have a minimal charge associated with them--and we'll often do them free of charge when you order a print from us. Other things (such as removing people from a picture) are more difficult and are billed at $30/hour. Whatever editing you need done, we're here to help you look your best!