edited vs unedited

So I have had a few brides, friends and clients ask when they order images, digital negatives or albums, what will the pictures look like?  Will I be retouched?  Can you take that funky looking object out?  Can you make me 10 lbs thinner?  (Answer to that last one is no).  The purpose of enhancing a photo is to, as I call it, give it more 'umph', 'aw' and 'wow'.  Not to do what the magazines and billboards do and make the people or objects look fake.  So what do you receive as prints, digital negatives or albums?  As a client you will always have all images basic retouched.  This means the contrast, saturation and sometimes exposure levels are used to make even the basic shot of grandma in her chair smiling look just a bit better.  These photos are included in your digital images if you order an entire CD, or just one or two digital images.  Artistically enhanced photos are used in your wedding album, as well as on our website and blogs.  These images are also available for purchase as a digital negative or print (please inquire for pricing) but not included on the digital CD that is included in most wedding photography packages.  Lifestyle portrait sessions, maternity, newborn and other non wedding photography sessions will include some artistically enhanced images (unless it is a themed shoot) and are available for purchase as a digital negative or print.  To follow are some examples of what the differences are:

The following photo was taken at a wedding that I was hired to do as a guest photographer for a photo booth.  The client gave me permission to capture anything else I wanted for portfolio business as soon as i was done with the photo booth.  This is one of the shots captured of the beautiful (and funny) bride and groom.  This was taken as is, no other lighting source, due to a last minute "oh the sun is setting" and "the main photographer is eating" so "can I steal you for 5 minutes" quickie photo shots.

The following is the same shot but using basic enhancements (contrast, saturation and levels boost).  This is what you, as a client, would receive as a digital negative.  The bride's skin is lightly retouched due to the fact that she is close to the camera.

The following is the same image only doing extensive enhancements.  Brightening up the picture a little more, using a light vignette, slimming down the back of the bride just a tad, removing that funky tractor in the left side of the picture, lightening under eye circles, helping with redness in eyes (from tears) and adding a touch of warmth.  These types of services are done on photos that are used in your wedding album, but are also available for purchase as a digital negative if no album is ordered. Also available to non wedding sessions as well if used. 

Lets take a look at another photo taken from the same wedding.  Here it was the evening and I wanted to use just the lights in the scene to speak the feeling of the wedding.

As shot:  Beautiful fountain, right?

Basic editing: shadows and dark areas are enhanced, bringing the other areas of the fountain brighter. (this is what you as a client receives)

Now the next one may not seem that different for the extra fee of an artistically enhanced photo.  What we did next was soften the left areas of the photo, to bring the focus more to the fountain and deepen the shadows.

Pretty neat, right?  Now we can take it even further and add a texture overlay to give a little more wow to the picture.  

So which of the two artistically enhanced ones do you get?  Well, that is where we ask you to just trust us at the studio when we are working on your images.  Just know that we will provide you with the utmost quality images, whether basic edited or artistically enhanced.