Tag Archives: post-processing

Portraits | Children’s Portraits | Before and After Post-Processing

Sep
25
2015
by heather rae | 0 Comments

Continuing down the path of showing you before and afters, here’s one of my favorite shots from Marissa’s fairytale session. I seriously love the after version of this shot! The before however? Well…

I’m just going to go ahead and admit that I overexposed this shot like a mutha…you get the idea. Actually, I’m ridiculously embarrassed to show this to you. I questioned my sanity when I chose it as the before and after shot of the day. But I’m just going to be real and admit to you that I freaking messed up. It happens. We’re all human. I don’t know why I did it, and I don’t remember the circumstances. It was likely just plain old operator error and my lack of checking the back of my camera. And…yeah, shit happens.

Regardless, I wanted this shot in her final gallery! I wanted a bit of a dark and mysterious look to the photo. So I rolled up my sleeves, took out my ninja editing skills, and got to work. I knew it was going to take a bit of creativity to get a really overexposed shot to look dark and moody. This is the beauty of shooting in RAW and knowing your way around Lightroom and Photoshop.

Honestly, I’m so glad I didn’t just delete the photo. This photo turned out to be one of my favorites from the session. And for it’s creative edge, one of my favorites ever.

So take it from me. Even bad shots are often salvageable (not all of them — but many are). You’re not a bad photographer if you make a mistake. Rather than being upset with yourself, explore what you can learn from your mistake. Perhaps you can learn something about your workflow in the field. Perhaps you can learn a new editing skill. Perhaps you’ll just learn to check the back of your camera on occasion. Whatever you learn, pay attention, and soak it in. It’s all part of your journey.

xo

Here’s the shot straight out of camera (SOOC). OMG, eek!

Heather-Rae-Murphy-Photography-Children-Portraits-Marissa-1A

And here’s the “after” version after applying ninja editing:

Heather-Rae-Murphy-Photography-Children-Portraits-Marissa-2

Posted in Fine Art Photography, Portrait Photography Also tagged , , , , , |

Portraits | Children’s Portraits | Before and After Post-Processing

Sep
15
2015
by heather rae | 0 Comments

Last week I introduced you to Ashley and Destiney, and the styled portrait session I did with them. It’s still one of my favorite sessions! I’ve really been enjoying sharing all these portrait sessions with you, and even more so, sharing my editing style through before and after photos. 

This before and after is a special one. I had an idea in my mind for an artistic portrait. Of course, as I worked on the shoot, I got wrapped up in other photos, and I nearly forgot to take the artistic portrait I was hoping for! But I remembered just in time. We were losing the sun behind the mountains, but we had just enough to get what I needed.

What do you think? I love the warm tone, the added the light, and the hint of magic. I’m a sucker for magic. Fine art portraits are fast becoming some of my favorites.

xo

Here’s the shot straight out of camera (SOOC). It’s quite a bit different from my final edit, and that’s exactly what I intended:

Heather-Rae-Murphy-Photography-fine-art-portrait-Destiney-4

And here’s the “after” version with that bit of magic added in:

Heather-Rae-Murphy-Photography-fine-art-portrait-Destiney-2

Posted in Fine Art Photography, Portrait Photography Also tagged , , , , |

Portraits | Senior Portraits | Before and After Post-Processing

Sep
04
2015
by heather rae | 1 Comment

It turns out, it was kind of fun sharing that before and after with you last week! I really do love to edit (perhaps not 500 photos in a row, but I love to make art with my photography, and much of my art comes through in my editing style). I used to worry what people would think if they saw my before and afters (I don’t know why — I’m just one of those overthinkers sometimes). But I took a photography class a few months back (I’m always taking new classes, working to learn new techniques), and my teacher really impressed upon me that your editing style is all yours. It’s personal preference. Some people are going to love it, and some people are going to hate it. And some people really just won’t care. So I’m embracing my editing style, and I’m letting you see my art in the raw, before it’s totally complete. And I kind of love that! There’s something cool about seeing a person’s vision from beginning to end. 

On a side, note, I just finished redecorating my art room a bit (not everything, but still lots of changes), and I am IN LOVE with it. One of my favorite changes is that I now have a pretty, comfy new chair that is set up specifically for plopping my laptop on my lap and editing while Netflix (or whatever else) streams in the background. I seriously want to go in that room and sit there for hours. And I really think that room is making me love editing even more (because I just love to be in there). I’ll be showing you a before and after of the art room next week. Can’t wait to share!

For this week I’m sharing a portrait from the collection I showed you earlier in the week. My gorgeous student, Tamar.

Here’s the shot straight out of camera (SOOC). I still love the shot as is, but you know, I love to add a little of my own flare:

Heather-Rae-Murphy-Photography-Senior-Portraits-Tamar-Before-1

And here’s the “after” version with a little golden sunshine and a color pop added in:

Heather-Rae-Murphy-Photography-Senior-Portraits-Tamar-After-1

I hope you enjoyed this week’s before and after! Thanks for stopping by, my friends! xo

Posted in Portrait Photography Also tagged , , , , , |

Portraits | Maternity | Before and After Post-Processing

Aug
28
2015
by heather rae | 3 Comments

I often get some wonderful compliments on my photography. And I’ve got to say, it makes me blush and makes me feel really proud of my work. I love that my work makes people smile. Those smiles make it ever so meaningful to me.

One thing many people don’t know is the reason my work has a specific look. You see, it has more to do with my post-processing style (or editing style) than with my style of capturing a photo in-camera. Granted, I do shoot in manual 99.9% of the time, and I love using my manual settings to capture a photo in a specific way. But once I’ve captured a photo and I download that photo onto my computer, the artist in me comes out. I love to play! I love to see what I can create!

My artist self sits on that cozy couch editing — a blanket over my legs, TV playing in the background. If it weren’t for my janky eyes, I could edit for hours on end. It’s fun to see what I can create!

I don’t often share before and after versions of my photos. But then I was thinking — hey, it might be fun to let you in on a little of the behind the scenes action!

So here I am today, sharing a before and after with you. This particular before and after is of a photo I posted earlier this week from the maternity session with Christa. The afternoon we took this picture was entirely overcast. The skies were threatening rain, and it was getting late, so we were losing light fast. The conditions were far from ideal, but we had a limited window in which we could do this shoot, and we had no plans to give up! This is one of the reasons I love shooting in RAW and one of the reasons I love the ability to edit in post-processing. Even if the conditions are not ideal, there is SO much I can do to correct a photo after the fact. And that, my friends, is awesomesauce.

Here’s the shot, straight out of camera (SOOC):

Heather-Rae-Murphy-Photography-Maternity-Christa-1

And here’s the shot after bringing the colors back to life, working a bit on the sky, and adding a touch of my own flare:

Heather-Rae-Murphy-Photography-Maternity-Christa-2

In my opinion, the change is not too drastic, just enough to make it pop! And I love a little pop in my life.

Thanks for checking out my post today. I hope you enjoyed this peek behind the scenes! xo

 

Posted in Portrait Photography Also tagged , , , , , , |