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Here’s how this works.
This series of posts shows images I’ve dodged and burned for printing in a wedding album. By default you’re seeing the finished work. Put your mouse on each one to see the original with only RAW adjustments.
A photographer’s ability to finish her work this way is the dividing line between a middle-of-the-pack and a high-end product. This is something your digital lab can’t do for you.
Finishing a print doesn’t have to be time consuming. I typically spend 60 seconds preparing an image for an album in Lightroom (or Photoshop if I’m really loving the moment). All my albums have over 100 prints so I’ve got to be efficient. There is no correlation between quality and time spent sitting in front of your computer.
I wish I had these kinds of before-and-after examples when I started out because I learn well through comparison.
We made this simple image on the beach during the sunrise, which feels like it happens more quickly than sunset! The character of light is often very different in the mornings so sometimes I try to get my couples out early. We photographers are used to shooting in the afternoon light but the sun has more looks to offer us. Try it!
The viewer’s eye is usually attracted to the lightest parts of an image, which are often the wrong parts of a backlit scene. Here I burned just enough to bring some visual weight back into the sand and ocean-sprayed background.
Next I dodged just enough to put a bit of fill light on their faces so my bride’s expression – the visual center of gravity – will be instantly felt by the viewer. The goal is always to draw your viewer into the story with zero effort on her part.
