FAQ's: Enhancing A Photograph....

Welcome to the first installment of FAQ's. I was incredibly excited to get my first question last week regarding the editing of photos. Via e-mail, Jenna wrote, "Hi Kate! I am interested in photography and just starting to understand all that goes into it. Would you mind sharing more information about editing and examples of different ways you edit images?"

Well, Jenna. I would love to. :)

Some call it actions. Others call it editing. I like to call it enhancing. Whatever the term, it is the process of altering a photo after it is taken. Most of the time, it entails tweeking of the brightness, levels, contrast or coloring. It may include subtle whitening of teeth or lessening of under-eye circles. I've found that the better you are with the actual photography part, the less you time you have to dedicate to the editing post-session. Typically, photographers use a program called Photoshop to assist with this process. In our digital era, this aspect of photography has become more important and can really help further define your style as a photographer.

Overall, I really enjoy this aspect of my job. I have alot of freedom and creative license to really develop the emotion or look I had in mind as I took the image. Below, I've taken the time to show you several different "enhancements" to the same image. (ps: as you can see, I REALLY loved Tonya's wedding day images as I have been using them often for examples!)

Here is the shot SOOC (Straight out of Camera):

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Which one do you like best?