I had a conversation not too long ago. This is how it went:

“Lori what type of editing do you do in Photoshop?”

“I will edit blemishes, maybe lighten or darken a photo, sometimes bump up the color. If I am going to do any sort of  major Photoshopping it will be obvious. But for the most part, I edit a photo so you don’t notice it.”

“What do you mean, so I don’t notice it?”

That is when I tried to explain, I don’t edit photos to prove I have edited a photo. I want you to see the people and places in a picture, not any sort of heavy editing in photo. It takes away from the purpose of why I take pictures. I want to show the light in people’s eyes. To see the beauty I see. Personality and relationships and love. I try to edit in the way that though there may be editing, I don’t want you to think about your photo being edited.

If you would have never seen the “before” picture, you would you thought I did a lot of Photoshopping to the “after” picture?

My goal is that your answer is no.

Granted, this means, sometimes my clients wonder what they have paid me for (hahaha), but in this day and age, when photos are manipulated to the point of awful distortion and lack of realism and truth, I don’t want to be a part of that.

I have thought time and again to go back to film for that very reason. It keeps you honest and makes you work hard and think better. But I also enjoy technology. I love looking at a picture right after I take it…if I need to. I like the option to take 15 pictures in 15 seconds. I am able to capture some amazing real moments when I am able to hit that shutter button numerous times in a matter of seconds. If you ask any of those who have been in front of my camera, they have heard that shutter go off a lot at times.

So I try my hardest to find the truth that film brings by thinking about the photo I’m taking while still taking advantage of technology.

I hope this brings a little more understanding to my post work and the work I do in Photoshop, or don’t do in Photoshop. (;

I am happy to talk more about things related to photography, the things I have learned about having a small business and about photography in general. I have had the opportunity to share a meal or two with a few different people to discuss anything photography related…or not related and I just ended up making a good friend! (:

Shoot me an email lori@loriwongphotography.com. Or Facebook me www.facebook.com/loriwongphotography. Or my website www.loriwongphotography.com.

I have not posted these two session on the blog yet, they are coming soon.