All photographers edit their photographs from their shoots in many different ways, this blog post is how I like to edit my pictures after a shoot. I specialize in couples, family sessions, maternity, and portraits. When editing I try my best to not manipulate the raw photo too much. I do not use photoshop very often, if I do it is to remove an unwanted object in the background. All my photos that I decided to edit are uploaded into Lightroom. I love editing photos to add my personal style to each photo. I use Lou and Marks presets for editing my photos. I think they have so many options for every style of shoot or type of photo.

Just a heads up – it is a long process when you’re new to it but once you’ve got it down, it’s like second nature! Let’s get at it.

I shoot everything in Raw on my Canon EOS R5 with a RF 28-70mm lens. I just recently switched to this lens from a 35mm and a 50mm standard lens. This lens gives the same creamy background as a standard lens gives which is something that I love. When I take my photos I try to take them in a way so I do not have to crop or remove anything out in the photo.

The aesthetic that I always go for is bright and crisp, yet natural. I’m not huge on bright colors and always prefer muted tones. If you’re going for a similar aesthetic or one that’s slightly different, my editing process is a great place for you to start and then make your own. I also like to add warmth in photos rather than cool tones.

The first step in my editing process is to open up my photo in Lightroom icon. I create a folder with the name of the person I did the photoshoot. I upload all the photos that I have chosen to be the best and the ones that I want to edit and send to my client. I normally like to use the same Lou and Mark preset for all my photos to stay consistent.

Lou and Marks presets have so many choices for presets and are very affordable. I purchased the entire library because it gives me access for life of all the presets that are updated and even news ones that are added. If you do not use them, you should. There are so many options. Some of my favorites are vintage b&w, wanderlust, frosty, golden hour, and muted tones.

Once I get my photos into Lightroom, the first thing I do is go to my “go-to” presets and play around with which one suits my photo best. Once I decided on the preset group I want to use I go and start added it to each photo.

The preset I chose is one that isn’t a drastic change to the photo. I like to stay as close to the Raw as possible. The only change I make to the photo once the preset is added is the exposure.

Once I’m finished in Lightroom, I add my watermark and save all the photos to my desktop to upload to my website for the client to save his or her photos.  

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!

That’s my current photo editing process. It changes from time to time but the basics stay the same. I hope this helps for when you decide to edit your own photos. I know that a decent camera, Photoshop, and Lightroom are huge investments but they really do pay off and make a huge difference.

The editing process does not have to be scary. Develop your own style and go from there. I make the editing process as simple as possible to ensure I get my photos out to my clients as soon as I can.

Thank you reading, if there is anything else you would like read or know just email me

Christina