Thursday, March 01, 2007

A great photo or great retouching?

Hopefully you can never tell! Then it's definitely GREAT retouching. That's if it's been done at all. Has it? Nah doesn't look like it. Maybe... Who knows.

The wedding shoot went really well. It was 11 hours of HARD work though - from arriving at the brides house at 7:30am right through to leaving the reception at 6:30pm. Exhausting and my eyes were very, very tired at the end of it all. I think the main thing about weddings is that you just have to shoot everything, and what may look like a silly shot to onlookers could well turn into one of the best shots. Photography isn't at all about just setting up and taking the photo anymore - there's soooo much more into it post-shoot. Most professional photographers these days have fully embraced the digital world, and that includes the post-shot work - it's all just part of getting that perfect shot I think.

I'd say not a lot of people want to show the retouching performed on a photo, it's usually about presenting your finished product and everybody sighing and wowing in appreciation. Well I like that too - who doesn't?! But I just wanted to post some of the before and afters of this shoot. Some of it isn't that much, some may just be getting rid of a few distractions in the background. Some is huge which involves opening eyes that are closed, making a bride smile when she wasn't, replacing a whole face cause who knows what they were doing when I took the shot!

Oh don't get me wrong I don't retouch every photo I take, usually it's just slight colour correction. But these are probably the most important photos the couple will ever get, so wedding photography is quite a stressful thing - the bride and groom put so much into their day, they're planning it for months and the expense is huge - it's the most important day of their lives. The photos are all that's left for the rest of their lives to remember it by. And there is only one chance to get it right - that's a fuck of a lot of pressure on the photographer! There can't be a re-shoot. So I'm spending a lot of time on the photos making sure that the bride and groom will be thrilled when they seem them. Well I hope anyway! LOL Just decided to post a few - by no means am I nearly through processing the 1500 photos taken! Then it's album design and once that's gone to print there's the video editing and DVD production. GULP!

The last two photos have been extensively retouched. Can ya tell what's been done? Have a guess if you think you can see it.










15 Comments:

Blogger Sandra said...

Saffron!!! Hi, you're back!! I hope everything is better for you now. ; )

These photos are truly AMAZING and GORGEOUS!!! Wow!! This young lady is very lucky to have had you photograph her wedding!! What a wonderful gift you have!! Thanks for sharing! And you do all of the rest that goes with it as well! That is truly amazing! You are gifted in so many areas! I love that about you! ; )

Here's my response to your comment on mine:

Saffron!!! Hi!!! You're back!! Yippee! Woohoo! You are always so very sweet to me!!

You are very welcome for the comments! You've been dearly missed! ; )

I'm good, I'm just very good at letting things stress me out! I'm trying not to though. ; )

I wish I could spend more time with my 3 year old during the day but I can't, I have to work. ; (

How sweet, it sure is nice to be loved by people from around the world. ; ) I never thought I would enjoy this so much. I love all of you guys and gals, too!!

Anthony (Carbineblog) is the only one that I have met in person. I've known him a year now. Meeting him was a true pleasure. He's gotten me to wake up to the world of technology. He's the one that got me started with blogging. I was sending him really long emails about life in the country and he suggested I try blogging. Well, I love it! I've met some really wonderful people because of it who really know how to make me smile which is something I really needed.

Thanks for also being you!! Lovely meeting you through blogging!! ; )

"See ya" soon!!

Luv and smiles always for you as well!,

Sandra

*Sorry that I wrote so much...I was just really thrilled to hear from ya! So glad that things are better for you. ; )

1:23 pm  
Blogger Divemuster said...

Hi Saffron!
First... Welcome back!

Those pictures you posted are certainly lovely. There's always a debate on whether a photo should be touched up or not but if the reasons are not for competitive purposes, why not? The results from what you have done is wonderful.

Cheers to you!

- divemuster -

3:17 pm  
Blogger moggie said...

she's back! missed ya', saffron.

excellent photos! learnt a lot in this post.

great to have u back...keep shooting and posting!

1:52 am  
Blogger Saffron said...

Sandra - HI! Thanks very much and it's great to have met you through blogging too :)

Divemuster - it's good to be back! Thanks very much. Totally agree with you - it is a tough one, to retouch or not. I think, as with everything, it has it's place. Sometimes I truly think an image shouldn't be altered at all. But all in all I think it's become just another step in professional photography. We used to develop the film and now we process in a different manner. The computer and Photoshop are just part of the tools in photography now :) Just my opinion of course! hehe

Moggie - Hii! So nice to be missed - thanks :) And thanks a lot for your lovely words. I feel great that you learned a lot from this post - wow, thanks :)

10:08 am  
Blogger Tanya Ruka said...

Hi Saffy.. beautiful photos.. your awesome :)

11:45 am  
Blogger Saffron said...

Thanks Tany!

11:08 pm  
Blogger LadyHawk said...

Hi Saffron!! Welcome back! You take really great photos. I really must learn how to retouch photos .. it is a great skill.

3:07 pm  
Blogger Anthony said...

Hi Saffron! Greetings from Los Angeles! The frist two pairs of shots here are really impressive-- you've really created something nice there!!

6:11 pm  
Blogger Saffron said...

LadyHawk - HI! Thanks and thanks :) Retouching is great, just have a play around with Photoshop and you'll get there.

Anthony - Greetings from little old NZ to you in LA! Thanks for your kind words.

6:43 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

At a guess did you take someone out of the very last picture who was standing on the Bride's right?

I love the first couple of pics btw, you really brought up a beautiful image in both.

Sean

5:45 am  
Blogger BD said...

Which reminds me...

7:05 am  
Blogger Saffron said...

Hey Sean - nope there wasn't a person on the brides right. But there was a person on the bridesmaids left and there was a different head on the bridesmaid (fuck knows what she was doing in the real shot! hehe) and the bride wasn't smiling so I replace her mouth and smiled her eyes up a bit if ya get what I mean. hehe

10:35 am  
Blogger Saffron said...

BD - What reminds you of what? I'm intrigued.

10:36 am  
Blogger BD said...

Sorry, I was lazy. Wedding photos storyboard, another thing on the TODO...

1:15 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You replaced the head on the bridesmaid? that's just totally cool.

I'm in awe!

Sean

5:17 am  

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