I like make-up. I always have. I like putting it on myself, friends, strangers. Okay, I have never actually walked up to a stranger and pulled out some mascara….have I considered it? Absolutely…..multiple times. Here is the thing about make-up, it only enhances what is there—adds a little umph to the natural beauty of the canvas. Don’t get me wrong, you can just as easily kill the beauty you are trying to enhance with too much of a good thing. Come on ladies, we’ve all been there…or am I the only one who has ever gone overboard? Oh that looks nice, I totally need more eye shadow. Pretty soon, I look like I’m ready for my close-up as lady smurf. I look at editing images the same way. Some photographers like their images bare, while others look like they got really excited in Photoshop. For me, its not how much editing an image has gone through, as much as can the viewer tell? Is the editing the centerpiece or is the image? My goal when editing is for someone to look at my image and to not immediately notice the particular “action” that has been applied, rather the image itself.

Over the last few months I have started to have more and more newbie photographers contact me with questions, many of which revolve around editing. (Which in itself is ironic because in so many ways I am such a newbie myself!). Nonetheless, I decided to do a post directed towards that end.

Consistency. Branding is all about consistency so when it comes to editing this is something I am constantly asking myself: is this brand consistent? I know that if I have done my job well, you can put one of my images mixed in with a bunch of other photographer’s work and be able to identity mine. Obviously, editing is a very small sliver in a brand but to deviate from the norm can alter the whole feeling of an image. Imagine how disappointed you would be if you went to In-n-Out for your favorite hamburger and they handed you a vege-burger on a wheat bun, and when you inquire as to where the normal hamburger is, the one you have eaten many times before, they tell you that the cook was feeling really creative and wanted to try something new. One of the reason that big companies like In-N-Out or CocaCola are so huge is branding….and at the core of every good brand is consistency. You can go buy one of their hamburgers or soda anywhere and get the exact same result. So all that to say when someone hires me I know they are hiring me expecting a certain end result….the one that they have seen repeated over and over again on my website and blog. So when I get a creative itch I experiment on my own personal images.

So because I am such a huge fan of consistency, when it comes to my images there are a handful of actions that I use almost every image (depending on the needs of a particular image). Not familiar with actions? You need to be. They are amazing. Actions are pricey but SO worth the money. Not only do they save you time but they can be so tremendously helpful towards the end goal of maintaining consistency. I know the 6ish actions whose effect I like and I rarely deviate from them. Totally Rad Actions are the ones that I use, however I have tried (and liked) Kubota as well.  One of the things that  I love about Totally Rad Actions is that unlike other actions I have tried, they allow you to determine the percentage of the effect that you want that given action to have on your image. So for example when I run an action instead of just being able to say “light, medium or strong” I can tell it to be at 34% opacity and 67% fill.  For someone who is type-A, that level of control is a must.

Here are a few rules I live by when editing……

Even my favorite images need a little something to make them better. This was something I did a lot when I first started shooting. I would fall in love with an image right after I shot it, think it was perfect and not touch it in Photoshop. I could not imagine editing helping it all. Well, I was wrong. Every image needs some mascara, concealer and lip gloss. In another words….basic editing: white balance (I like mine on the warm side), contrast and sharpen. To quote Jim Collins, “the good is the enemy of the great”.

You cannot polish a turd. This was something my High School art teacher, Mr. Stephens used to say. It doesn’t matter how many actions I run or what fancy tools I pull out, if it is a turd, there is no helping it. Knowing when to move on–huge.

When editing I gear my efforts towards creating the same kind of image. I try for ones that are: bright (both with light and color), whimsical and have a clear focal point.

Below are images, before they were edited and after they were edited, so you can see the difference, which actions I used and the above principles applied.

The actions applied to this image are: Contrast +, Boutwell Magic Glasses, Slice it like a Ninja, Pool Party, Select of Sharp, and Oh Snap.

I LOVE shooting backlit. I arrange every shoot I have any control in around lighting in an effort to achieve that gorgeous back-lighting. One thing to note about shooting this way is that images that have been shot backlit need a lot more help in Photoshop–primarily in the contrast area.

The actions applied to this image are: Contrast +, Boutwell Magic Glasses, Slice it like a Ninja, Pool Party, Oh Snap and the clone stamp was used to get rid of flare.

The actions applied to this image are: Contrast +, Boutwell Magic Glasses, Slice it like a Ninja, Pool Party, Select of Sharp, Oh Snap, Lights On and Ying-Yang. 

Almost every shoot I have woman somewhat jokingly (somewhat not jokingly) ask me to edit out their…..fill in the blank….double chin, red eyes, zit, wrinkles etc. Here is my thing. I like real moments, but real moments does not mean that we have to see every wrinkle or blemish. So, that being said, I soften wrinkles…I edit out zits. However, I don’t edit to the point of barbie, plastic skin. But, does she want to see every single wrinkle? I know, I sure don’t when I look at images of myself.

The actions applied to this image are: Contrast +, Warm it Up Kris, Lights On, Slice it like a Ninja, and Pro-Retouch (their wrinkle eraser).

I like my images warm and I find that cameras tend to produce images on the cooler side. Some photographers like cool images….I am not one of them. That being said, I warm every single image.

The actions applied to this image are: Warm it up Kris, Contrast +, Slice it like a Ninja, Pool Party, Pro-Retouch (their wrinkle eraser).

This is one of those images that I would have been so tempted to leave alone a year ago. Why? Because it is just so perfect. Real moments of people in love is my absolute fav, and sometimes that can blind me to what an image can be with just a little tweaking.

The actions applied to this image are: Warm it Up Kris, Contrast +, Slice it like a Ninja, Lights On, Pool Party, Boutwell Magic Glasses and clone stamp for flare. 

Yet, another example of an image I was almost tempted not to edit because it was so perfect in its natural form….so glad I did.

The actions applied to this image are: Warm it Up Kris, Contrast +, Slice it like a Ninja, Lights On, and Boutwell Magic Glasses.

Lens flare is a funny thing. Some people hate it, others love it. For me, it all depends on the flare, where it is, what it looks like–does it add to the image or take away? This image had some major flare and I was not feeling it, so I edited out the majority of it.

The actions applied to this image are: Warm it Up Kris, Contrast +, Slice it like a Ninja, Lights On, Pool Party. (Clone Stamp used to remove flare).

The image blur. For me, this is the most debated upon action to use. Primarily because I don’t do it everytime so then I start to wonder if I am being consistent. However, my rationale is that it still goes along with my brand which is clear focal points and almost all of images have this happening (due to shooting with prime lenses–another post for another day), and the effect from this action has a similar feel. This action can produce a certain element of whimsy that I just adore.

The actions applied to this image are: f/zero + f/zero Super HQ Conversion, Warm it Up Kris, Contrast +, Slice it like a Ninja, and Boutwell Magic Glasses.

Here is another example of the same blur action (f/zero + Super HQ Conversion). The other actions used are: Contrast +, Warm it up Kris, Slice it like a Ninja and Boutwell Magic Glasses.