jayme wier Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 I recently shot a quinceanera. The shots were done at a local park and the lighting was beautiful...(which was amazing). I'm happy with the way the pics turned out but I feel weird leaving a lot of them un-edited. I did some bw conversions and played around with a few others. I did a few touch ups on pics that needed them. Is it ok to leave the rest straight from the camera? I'm attaching one of the photos that I would leave alone. Do you agree or should I do more with this pic? I appreciate your suggestions in advance! Jayme<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colleendonovan Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 I work my rear off so that I don't HAVE to edit. I say leave them and pat yourself on the back!! I consider it a bad job when I have to edit a ton and I'm always dissapointed with myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesp Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 Especially if you're using a digital camera, almost every shot can use a little warming over. I gave your shot a contrast boost, burnt the distracting background highlights, and dodged the subject's face. Took about 2 minutes, and a fairly big improvement. Mild touch ups like this can be the difference between okay and striking.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesp Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 looking at that again, I think i dropped the shadows a little too much... but you get the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Keep the originals and pat yourself on the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 Back in Ancient Times when Film RULED you told the client "these are just proofs". Then when they got their order of "finished pictures" they could see the difference. With digital I can understand maybe coming up with a couple of fully corrected images to show what can and will be done. Beyond that you're probably just wasting time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 Is it ok to leave the rest straight from the camera? Depends on what you're planning to do with them next. Are you going to print any? Give them to the client on a CD? Most every image can benifit from at least some levels adjustment and sharpening. With some batch actions it doesn't really need to take all that long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_levine Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 In normal word usage, "editing" means to include or not. What ever term/word you want to apply to digital "touching up" is fine, but "editing" is already taken. The reason I mention this is that I "edit" my wedding work, but I shoot with film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob - london uk Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 If this is typical of the rest I wouldn't touch them. You may be able to improve on them slightly but I always wonder if the effort is truly discernible to the usual client. They will almost certainly be delighted with these they way they are. Rob London UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 That's a nice image Jayme. But flat in tonal quality. If most of the work is like that, I'd batch correct some contrast into all of them. Not much, just enough to make the images sing a little more. Editing has a different meaning to me. To edit is to eliminate or separate good/better/best and eliminate those not to be seen. Processing is what you are talking about I think. If you shot on film the machine processing at labs would balance out each image on an average basis. RAW digital files can be batch processed in this manner, and jpgs can be done using PS actions written for different needs. So, yes I would adjust the image you showed above, but not by itself ... if you do each one separately you'd be at the computer for a month of Sundays. For example, I shot a Corporate picnic yesterday and "Edited" down to 90 images from 130 shot. I then batch "Processed" 7 or 8 different groups of pics in ACR. Then sent all of them to the PS "Image Processor" for conversion to 300 dpi LZW Tiffs at 3000 pixels (10") wide. From there I selected a few tiffs for further retouching. I got home at 5 PM last night and the whole job is done and being proofed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrin ballman www.crossl Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 the batch adjustments are your answer....the original could definitely benefit from it - although, yes I'm sure the customer will be pleased anyway. Like Marc mentioned - you can save yourself the time by doing the batching. If you try to evaluate each one...balding sets in quickly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayme wier Posted August 5, 2006 Author Share Posted August 5, 2006 Thanks for all of your input. Marc- a little bit of contrast is wonderful! I have another question: When editing (as in culling through pictures to pick the best) what do you do with pictures that aren't up to par? Also, what do you do with pictures that are good but didn't make the # cut. I shoot digital and have not yet deleted any pictures for fear of wishing I had them later. However, eventually I am going to run out of space and it seems silly to keep pictures that I won't ever use. What is your policy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrin ballman www.crossl Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 Jayme - about editing. If you don't want to delete them, then just burn a CD and file it. Then get it off your hard drive.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Gardner Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 Jayme, It's a little flat...but if you have some that you have fixed up already. I'd leave the rest alone...remember these are 'Proofs'. Explain that some you fixed up to show a finished product...but most are still proofs. Once they pick the ones they like....you'll fix them. that's just what i do....and if you let them know they'll understand....and it will save you a lot of time and work. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandonhamilton Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Jayme, To answer your question about which to keep and which to toss, its purely up to you. What I personally do, is make a single pass over my RAWs and completely delete any obvious blunders (accidentally hit the shutter, person got in the way on the dance floor,etc.) Then I make another pass and pull out all the top keepers and stick them in their own new sub folder. All the images that are decent, but not in the "show to customer" pile, I just keep them where they are, the originals folder. Every once and a while I will scan back through and see if anything new jumps out at me... sometimes that happens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayme wier Posted August 8, 2006 Author Share Posted August 8, 2006 Thanks for all of your help and advice! I will let you know what they think of the proofs. I upped the contrast a bit and was pleased with the results. There is still SOOO much for me to learn- but that's the fun in this field! I appreciate the time you all have given to help me on the way. Jayme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayme wier Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 They were thrilled with the proofs! Now I am waiting to hear which pictures they are choosing for there print package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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