The first image is straight out of camera (SOCC), no retouching, color correction or anything done to this image. Just downloaded to my computer.
It's pretty flat and boring don't you agree? I would never present this to a client. It needs some help first to make it look the way I envision. Part of the creative process if you will. There's so much more to photography than just taking the picture. The countless hours spent retouching and processing after the shoot is very time consuming. But it needs to be done to each and every image. Kind of like the Digital Darkroom.
SOCC
SOCC
The final result below! Much better. It pops off the page now. The eyes just sparkle.
Here's what I did:
Cropped and straightened the image
Color corrected and levels adjustment
Saturation and Contrast boost
Sharpened (just a tad)
Added Gausian Blur (leaving eyes and mouth sharp)
Adjustment layer soft light at around 40%
Adjustment layer hard light at around 50%
That's it. Now it's ready! Of course I don't do all of these to every image but always do at minimum, color correction, saturation boost, contrast boost, levels adjustment and cropping if needed. Occasionally, I'll also run Portrait Professional for extra creamy, perfect skin. It's great for headshots and boudoir portraits.
Final Image,
Model: Christina
Photographer, Syracuse
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