Unedited: Sassy Class

Steph in her raw beauty:

Im starting another series showcasing photoshoot with no edits applied. Usually I try to keep editing to a minimal, but for the sake of showcasing work, I will edit, typically I will crop, straighten, make basic exposure corrections, edit away blemishes, marks, clothing lines, etc, then I will color grade.

In this case none of that has happened. What you see is what we got in camera.

I may start posting the curated gallery then later the unedited gallery to show the difference. I like the raw nature of it but at the same time I like a polished look of a curated and edited gallery.

This photos shoot was called "Sassy Class" Steph was in a sassy mood that day. I was also making fun of her, she was running alot and appaently skipping meals as she does sometimes when she's so busy with work... (not good for her, ive talked to her about that) so she looked like some hippy on drugs with that huge bush, and super lean figure. But she was/is beautiful nonetheless. I love her smile, her small features, lean abs, and her overall posing which was all her, none of my direction. 

There was one shot, she had her back against the wall and arched her hips towards me... she was joking in a rather obscene way as a couple might do sometimes, but I said, hey that works... let me get that shot, she said NO! you can see inside me! I figured that was rather crude and not artsy but then we decided it could be a fun shot. So we did it. I would rather not include it in the main gallery, but if you'd like to see that shot and others like it I can put it on appreciation tier. 

Anyway, The point I am getting at on this post is that while editing process is important, getting it right in camera is more important, and right is not measured by anyones's artistic standard other than your own. What is the goal of your photoshoot? Or what is that one shot you know you want? Sometimes you wont know, until you get the shot, but it's always a good idea to have some sort of idea going into a shoot.

Sometimes you see photos that are so heavily edited it takes away from the overall point of the shoot. Some commercial brands are realizing they are losing their audience by the clean commercial productions, so they are resorting to lower quality to be more relatable. I think it's a sweet spot, a fine balance of editing and putting in the effort during the shoot. 

For model shoots, some photographers and/or editors will smooth the skin so much and whiten teeth, enhance eyes to the point the model looks like some barbie doll monster. I know starting out I was one of them. 

Any way challange yourself if you are starting out in photography to keep it very simple with editing, get your exposure right in camera ( or to the best you can) and just have fun with it, and appreciate the photos you get, not the photos you manipulate.