This is our second year doing this photography gig. We’re grateful they were so pleased with our work that they reached out again to have us do the job.
Remember that homeschool co-op we joined? Unfortunately we weren’t able to join them again for this school year but we have kept our connections open. I am truly thankful for the opportunities that have opened from being a part of this group.
Before we started doing the portraits there was another lady that was hired to take them. She took the pictures outside during a sunny day and they didn’t come out so well. Everyone looked washed out and overexposed. Sadly, she refused to fix her mistake and gave us the photos as is.
Dejectedly, those pictures were put into a yearbook that year. Here’s a snapshot I took from it so you can see what I mean…
This photo of my friend was not even the worst. There were so many faces that blended into the background which made it hard to see them. I don’t think she took the time to do any edits at all.
You can imagine how upset and frustrated the administration was. We all were so excited to get our pictures taken for the co-op yearbook. Once I seen those photos I volunteered myself to take the portraits the following year and that’s where it all took off.
The administration expressed to me that the work we did was the best they’ve ever had ☺️. It really boosted our confidence and encouraged us as business owners to continue exploring new opportunities.
Today I want to share with you some of the portraits we captured for this school year. I reached out to one of my friends and got her permission to use her family’s photos.
I will show you the before pics that I took in the RAW and then the after pics that I have edited. I use both LightRoom and Photoshop to do my editing.
Let’s start with the cover photo.
I was so happy this little cutie smiled for me all on his own this year. Last year his big sisters had to make him laugh for me to get a smile 🤭.
Here’s his before shot:
We brought our bar stool from home for everyone to sit in. We plan on purchasing one that has a skinnier back rest so it won’t show up in the photos. This is extra editing I have to do in order to hide the chair when taking shots of younger kids.
The other thing you’ll notice is his shadow behind him. We have to make sure to place the chair far away from the backdrop in order for it not to pick up shadows.
Also for this portrait I needed to make sure it was centered.
Here are the after results:
Next I’ll show you one of his big sisters. Here’s the before:
I get very particular when editing portraits. If I see any hairs out of place I’m going to fix it. If there’s a glare in glasses it’s gotta go 😄.
I will never remove birthmarks, moles or any other permanent marks because that makes up who that person is. You don’t want someone looking at their photo and thinking ”this is not me”.
I do however remove blemishes such as pimples and cold sores. I don’t want people to look at their pictures and be reminded of that annoying white head that wouldn’t go away. Or that bruise or cut on their child’s face from when they got hurt the week before.
Now for the after:
Another thing I focus on when editing is the vibrancy of the images. I love seeing the difference once I saturate and brighten up the photos a bit. I think you can see that difference a lot in the next photo.
A final touch I do when editing is lowering the clarity a bit in the faces. This gives a light glow and helps smooth out any rough edges. Taking the noise out of a photo helps with this effect as well.
Here are a few more before and afters of the family:
Don’t worry, in the original photos I sent to the client the heads weren’t cutoff or so close to the top. This only happened when I collaged them for you to view 😉.
We were gifted a really nice backdrop stand and have acquired the school backdrop along with a black one. We used the black backdrop to take some family photos that day as well. They were celebrating Grandparents Day so it was really special taking pictures of grandparents with their grandkids.
I’ll try to remember to take some shots of the whole setup to share with you next time.
I remember being excited to take school pictures as a kid. I would have never guessed I’d be the one behind the camera taking the shots ☺️. I really do enjoy it.
That’s the latest on our photography work. I’ll keep you posted with any other jobs we do!
I did not use our new Sony for these. I only used our Cannon EOS Rebel T6. I’m hoping by the Summer to be confident and comfortable enough to get out the a7IV to use for our gigs. We’ll see 😊 ~