for photographers...

i have received so much help, support, and tips from so many photographers, and their blogs, that i thought it fitting that i pay it forward and continue the tradition of photographers helping photographers. this network is so crucial for any photographer, especially wedding photographer, to really reach their potential.

so, with my first "for photographers" blog, i'd like to talk about post-editing software. i have found and stumbled upon some really super-terrific-fantastic programs out there that can really have dramatic effects to even the best photograph.

normally, in my post production work i use mainly adobe lightroom, and supplement with some photoshop (with the david jay showit 2.0 installed). now, in my opinion, this was a great launch pad for my business. but, after a while, using the same effects began to make the job boring and repetitive. plus, doing 2, and sometimes 3 rounds of editing was extremely time consuming! so, in my search for new and better ways to expedite my editing, i found david jay's brilliant!, which is a lightroom plugin. i immediately got excited, ordered it, and downloaded it right away. only to be disappointed with the presets. (i love david jay, and this is the first thing i've seen from him that i haven't liked. i think it may be better to use in adobe bridge, than adobe lightroom. so, as i continued my search, i finally found the Kubota Artistic Tool Action Packs, and Boutwell Studio Total Rad Actions for photoshop. Now, when all the actions are installed, it's a bit overwhelming, because there are SO MANY ACTIONS!! but, if you can sit down, and really weed out the ones you would use with the ones you wouldn't, it can produce some beautiful and drastic effects! it took me several hours to really play with them and see which ones were my favs.

the beauty of this is that i am able to streamline the workflow since lightroom can open select photos in photoshop, and the photo still remains in lightroom.

here's a before, and few afters with some various effects:

so, i think the best advice to any photographer that does or wants to do post-production editing, you definitely need the right tools! i've tried editing with non-adobe programs, and even aperture by mac, and in the end i always find my way back to adobe products. they're efficient and versatile!

good luck photographers!

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