Photoshop Is Fun!

Photoshop is truly an incredible tool. There is some controversy as to how much it should be used in professional photography. I personally like to play with it a lot to stay sharp with it. If I do include an altered photo with the final images from a shoot, I usually include the original just in case the client doesn't take to well to it. I will often times create some really contrast-rich photos such as a color and black and white mix, or use it to soften skin or whiten eyes and teeth on a close up portrait shot. But the true magic lies in the effort where the client (or anyone else for that matter) doesn't even know you altered the photo.

Photoshop has really saved my butt a couple of times and has turned some OK pictures into some really great images. This is not something I rely on in my photography. I always try to get every image in camera, but sometimes reality is just not good enough.  Take this image for instance. How much better does this look without that bed in the way. It was just not possible for me to move the bed this far out of the way, because it was already up against the wall. Let's face it, it was a nice idea, but that bed was ruining the shot. So I played around in photoshop and came up with something that I thought looked good and the client didn't even notice until I showed them the original. The bride was very happy that I took the time to create this shot.
 
This next image was fun. The couple really wanted a cool shot of them through the window from outside looking in. This is a nice picture to have and I try to include it whenever I can. Interesting enough, every time I went outside to snap a few frames, the couple were greeted by guests and really did not get good shot of the two of them. Well, the cake was right there in the window and so was this nice little statue of a bride and groom dancing and hugging. This could have easily been pulled of by simply asking the couple to dance a few steps in front of the window, but I don’t think a posed shot would have ended up looking that nice. Instead, I found a nice picture of the bride and groom dancing….on the dance floor and pulled this off.


Gotta go for now, my daughter is waking up and needs her Daddy.