Some of the questions I hear the most from potential clients – and read the most on message boards – are the ones about the quality of the images they receive. I think most photographers these days, myself included, are providing high resolution files to their clients. My price list and FAQ specify that my clients receive the color corrected files, adjusted for exposure.
So what do all the terms mean when a photographer says they provide “color corrected” files? Or “retouched” files? Or “exposure adjusted” files?
The first file is the one that photographers refer to as SOOC – which stands for “straight out of camera”. In other words this is the picture as it was was photographed, without any adjustments in the computer. You can see that it’s a good solid image. It’s a hair under-exposed and very warm from the late evening light when the photograph was taken.
The first step in my editing process is to color correct the file. That means to remove any color cast from the light and make the image a little more neutral. A lot of color correction is a matter of personal taste. Some photographers like their images a little cooler, some a little warmer, and some want their images exactly neutral. That’s all part of the photographers style. Me? I like a little warmth to my portraits for the most part. So this is how I color correct:
Once the color looks right to me, I’ll adjust the exposure … just a little brighter. I want to make sure that whites are truly white, but blacks stay black, so I might add a little bit of contrast as well. I like my images to “pop”, so most of my photographs have been adjusted for contrast in this way.
This image is the one that my clients receive. Every image is color corrected and adjusted for exposure to be correct, but also to match my style and the feel of image that I like. Some images will be converted to b&w at my discretion. And when I say every image, I mean EVERY SINGLE IMAGE. All the portraits. All the getting ready shots, all the reception shots. I touch every image before it’s added to my client’s collection.
My clients can take their files anywhere they want to get prints, although there are labs I recommend that they use in order to get the best quality.
But what’s after that? If I’m including all these color corrected and adjusted files to my clients, why should they come to me for reprints or enlargements? For the most part, believe it or not, I tell my clients it’s not cost effective for them to come to me for reprints. If they’re going to print up 100 4×6 prints from their wedding to include with holiday cards or thank-you cards, I can’t meet the inexpensive price that they can get from having bulk prints made at Costco (which actually does have a pretty good quality lab, believe it or not).
When I do recommend clients coming to me for prints? If they want one or two or three special prints for their house or their desks at work. If they want something particular like one of my fine art paper images (printed on recycled watercolor stock), or a canvas wrap print, or a collage. Or if they want press printed cards or postcards. Or .. any images that go into an album. In those cases, the print that they get will be completely retouched, in addition to the color correction and exposure adjustment above.
But what does that mean? What is doesn’t mean is plastic skin, weirdly white eyes, or funky effects. It means that for those images that my client wants printed by my studio, I’ll take the time to individually retouch the details. For images going into an album or candid images, it might mean removing an “exit” sign from a reception hall, or an electrical outlet from the wall, or a little creative cropping to make the image fit in a layout or design. For a portrait it’s going to mean smoothing skin (a little more for women, a little less for men), lightening skin under the eyes, removing blemishes and stray hairs, lightening the eyes a little, and probably adding a little bit of a vignette. Like so:
When you look at the series together as a progression, you can see that the overall effect is very subtle. It’s not about creating something unnatural or overly processed. Nor is it about “fixing” photographs that didn’t come out in the camera. As a photographer I believe first and foremost that it’s my job to get it right the first time – with my camera. After all, that’s why you hired me as a professional. The post production work done in Photoshop is only meant to “sweeten” the image … to add the finishing touches that perfect an already good image.
So this was kind of a long, wordy, and a little bit technical post, but I hope it’s helped to explain some of the terms that photographers use, and to give you a better understanding of what you’ll get when you hire me as your wedding photographer!
