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As a photographer who cut his teeth on large format film, I have always tried to “Get it right in camera” and carried this mantra over to my digital photographs. With the popularity of HDR, VSCO presets, and plenty of other trends, I generally lean towards the safe side of editing. In many ways, I am a traditionalist, and until recently I haven’t been interested in altering my workflow or style. Over the past few years I have been added to a variety of Facebook Groups both locally focused (NJ/NY) and larger (like VSCO Users.) The images that started showing up on my timeline inspired me to rethink my philosophy and approach to editing. All of the awesome photographs showing up in my feed made me feel a little bummed about my “boring” work. I decided to take a crack at revisiting some of my older wedding photographs, to see if I could improve them.
From time to time I tend to revisit favorite non-wedding images, especially landscapes. Reworking landscape images comes naturally, but I never considered digging up old wedding images in my Lightroom catalogs. As I saw it, there would be always be future jobs to show off newly learned skills and experience. The wedding market in NJ/NYC is super busy and there is always a friend or “friend of a friend” looking for a photographer. However my new friends quickly taught me that consistent style and aesthetics are crucial to branding and gaining new sources of income. I have photographed many weddings as a second shooter for big studios, but only have about fifteen of my own jobs under my belt. Something needed to change. Showing varying styles of photographs across the years of my career wouldn’t be appropriate. I desperately needed to present myself in a fresh consistent manner.
Trying Presets
Throughout my transformation I learned that it isn’t a bad thing to try presets. In the past I always thought that presets were for people following trends, making cookie cutter photos. This can be true if you just stamp every image without making any adjustments. Maybe trends are ok, after all clothes, music, and hairstyles go in and out of popularity. It is also important to note that perhaps these presets are merely a starting point for individual expression. Over the next year I hope to continue solidifying my aesthetic and vision. I tend to edit a bit darker with more contrast than most. I still enjoy raised black points, but not to the point where richness is lost. In some ways I feel that I wasted time over the past several years by playing it safe and not exploring deeper editing in Lightroom, but there is no use in dwelling on the past.
The Examples
The example images in this post are from a wedding I photographed a few years ago. Up through today, I consider this wedding to be one of my most successful and interesting jobs. Everything flowed together perfectly, from the relaxed setting to working with a fun, friendly couple. I mean, how cool is that horror movie themed arm sleeve that the bride is rocking?
Throughout the day I used a mix of natural light and basic off-camera flash. Hesitant to stray from my traditionalist roots, I edited the job by correcting exposure and white balance. In a few images, I made a half-hearted attempt to create what I thought looked like a “hip” look, but the results were far from what I would consider cutting-edge by current standards.
The Solo Bride Portrait
Editing the Couple Indoors
The Couple in the Sun
On Editing
The ultimate irony in all of this is that I spent most of my early 20’s in the darkroom perfecting black and white silver prints. I used Ilford Multigrade filters and romantic hand gesture dodging/burning. There really is no difference when this type of skill is applied digitally. I truly respect photographers who “get it right in camera” and still firmly believe there is credence to paying attention to lighting and detail when initially making a photograph. It is also foolish to assume that post-production isn’t a major factor in creating a final result. If you can nail everything exactly right in camera, more power to you.
It is possible, but these situations are far and few between, and usually in an indoor studio setting. Using local and global adjustments in editing enables you to put a special signature touch on your images. No matter your skill level or how many years of photography experience you have under your belt, it is well worth the effort to revisit older images.
Ansel Adams, a photography legend, often revisited prints such as the iconic “Moonrise over hernandez” as his vision changed over the years. If it’s good practice for someone like Ansel Adams, it should be acceptable for us. In 2016 everyone has a great camera (iPhone to at least a basic DSLR), with the ability to apply easy edits in free software. It only makes sense that professional photographers take a few more moments to edit, and fine tune their work.
