I’m writing a little post just to say Hi and let everyone what has been up lately at Steve Z Photography. Don’t let my lack of blogging fool ya, I haven’t been slacking!  Since my holiday trip to Mexico I’ve been a busy boy working on a lot of preparations which will make 2010 the biggest and best year yet!

The biggest news is that Ron, Corey, and I have left our downtown Boulder location and moved up to Northeast Boulder. We have a new space in all to ourselves and it is conveniently located near my home. The new space is truly a Studio, and not just an office. There is a presentation/viewing room for meeting with clients, showing artwork on the walls, and showing clients their images on the HD projection screen. In the back there is a spacious office for production work which I’m affectionately called The Darkroom. The Studio is a room with a lofted ceiling where I can shoot with either natural or studio lighting. Finally, there is a middle room that will be a changing/storage room. This is all very exciting, and I’m working hard on getting the never ending decorating and technical outfitting complete.  The building has an upscale feel to it, and we are sharing it with doctors, architects, and real estate professionals.  The common area has great large walls that are in need of some fresh artwork, so I will be working on some large pieces to display in the common areas.

Other than the studio improvement, I’ve been working on other business infrastructure during the so called ‘off season’. Last month we updated the images on the wedding and portrait portfolio sites, so if you haven’t been in a while check those out again. The wintertime is wedding booking season, and I’m currently sitting at about 75% of my target wedding goal for 2010. I attended the Imaging USA/DWF Convention in Nashville in January, and tomorrow I leave for Las Vegas for the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Convention. By attending these conventions I keep on top of the latest technical and inspirational information available in the industry. I come back from these events so inspired to continually improve my images, by business, and my client experience. And finally . . . there is another project. I’m not sure how long it will take me to actually launch, but it will be a completely new brand and genre of photography! I can’t tell you any more or I’ll have to kill you. I’ve never killed anyone before, so I’m just going to be safe and not tell you what it is yet.

So stay tuned for the Fantabulous Studio Grand Opening Party Extravaganza coming soon!  I’m hoping to have a large part of the organization here handled by mid-April.  Oh, and last weekend I already shot my first wedding of the year, so look for a post on that tomorrow!

Cheers,

Steve Z

I would like to say that I believe in the printed image. A photograph is not a digital file. A photograph is something that you can hold in your hand.  A photograph or album can be shown to guests in your living room, and passed on to your children.  A photograph is not meant to get lost in a folder on a hard drive somewhere. There are many steps that occur between the time the shutter is pressed and the final image is printed, and there are many things that can go right or wrong along the way. End preaching.

I understand the desire to have digital files, for archiving, slideshows, websites, emailing, and social networking.  Sometimes we have funny moments that we want to keep, but that we don’t necessarily need to be turned into family heirlooms.  So I offer digital files for certain situations.  But remember to back up those files friends: hard drives crash and CDs and DVDs are only rated to last 1o years.

Digital files are not created equal, and many people call different levels of processing different names.  So now I will explain the terminology that I use in my business.  First I will explain the three digital file categories, second I will provide some photos examples of each type, and finally I will explain the uses for each file type.

Part 1: Digital Negatives

Many photographers offer what they call “Digital Negatives” with their wedding photography packages. In reality, this is a misnomer, as almost no one offers digital files straight out of the camera. Digital images straight out of the camera are more flat and lifeless than film images. They usually need some added punch in contrast and saturation to look their best.  Your digital camera adds some processing before they are saved to JPG form to account for this.  But I shoot in RAW format, so the files need to be processed first.  So here at Steve Z Photography, Digital Negatives are never offered because they are just not good enough!

Part 2: Edited Images

What some call “Digital Negatives”, I call “Edited Images”. Every image that I release in digital form has been individually “Edited”. I edit the RAW files using Adobe Lightroom, then convert them to full resolution JPG files. Editing actions may include: adjusting exposure, color correcting, cropping, adding contrast, vibrance, clarity, and fill light. These actions are the minimum amount of work that will be performed before a final image is released and published to the world.

In some cases, an Edited Image is very close to being fully complete, from an artistic photography perspective. Other times, there are steps that still need to be performed in Photoshop to have the photo looking its best. For smaller images of lesser importance, go ahead an print them at Wal-Mart or wherever you want. But for larger images of greater significance, I encourage you to have the image finalized, which means Retouching in the modern digital darkroom known as Photoshop.

Part 3: Retouched Images

Retouching is the final step in the creation of a photographic work of art. Some think that by using Photoshop, we are creating an image that is no longer true to the roots of photography. However this is simply not true. There were many things that could be done in the darkroom when developing film to alter the appearance of the original negative. Ansel Adams was famous for his use of dodging and burning to create the strong lights and darks in his dramatic landscapes. In a way, photography is like cooking. You can have the recipe and the ingredients, but the meal is not complete until the chef cooks the meal, and every chef’s meal will come out differently. The same holds true for photography. You can have the digital negative and the Photoshop program, but the truth is that the full artistic creation of the photograph is not complete until the final product.

Retouching can encompass many many actions. The most common ones are: skin retouching, fine tuning colors, adding of textures, lightening and darkening areas (dodge and burn), removing distracting objects, and even making clients thinner (yes, it’s true, and you would never know!).  I only print Retouched Images, both in my albums and my prints.  Prints may be purchased both in the studio and in wedding online proofing galleries.

Part 4: Image Examples

I have published some examples of photos in the various states of processing to illustrate some of the differences between Digital File levels. This first image is a photojournalist capture during a wedding ceremony. The couple is standing in bright sun at the alter, and this moment is just after The Kiss. Here is the original “Digital Negative”, which is a color image.  It is a nice image, and not too shabby as it is.  But it can be so much better!

Photojournalist Wedding Image: Color Digital Negative

I feel that this image is stronger as a black and white image since I don’t believe the colors add much to the composition. I want to emphasize the expressions of the couple, as well as the strong black and white lines of the background.  Here is the black and white Digital Negative.  It is a little bit flat, and the skin tones are a bit overexposed by the bright sunlight.

Photojournalist Wedding Image: Black and White Digital Negative

This next image is the “Edited” version.  I do custom black and white conversions, where certain color tones are lightened and some are darkened.  So when you view the black and white preview in the Online Proofing Gallery, you are not necessarily seeing how the final conversion will look!  In this example, the skin tones of the bride have been lowered to recover some of the highlights. Then some much needed contrast was added.  The original cropping looks good, and we do not need to worry about the color corrections since it is black and white.

Photojournalist Wedding Image: Black and White Edited Image

Finally we have the final retouched image.  I lightened the groom’s skin to be closer to the brides.  Some wrinkles have been softened, but just slightly so as to be realistic.  Some of the skin highlights have been smoothed out. The lights and darks in the backdrop have been dodged and burned for a stronger pattern. A little bit of the “Liquify Tool” has been used to give the bride and groom stronger jawlines.  Finally, some flyaway hairs on have been removed from the brides hair.

Photojournalist Wedding Image: Black and White Retouched Image

My next example shows the post production process on a Sport The Dress Image featuring a bride in a tree.  I also want to show that this was an actual image, and that I didn’t paste her in the tree using Photoshop!  I commonly get asked “How did she get up there?!” The answer is quite simple.  I brought a ladder!

Here we see the original image which shows the lighting setup that is key to this whole image.  I clamped a strobe to the tree limb in front of her,  and this provides the strong lighting which really pops her out of the composition.

Sport The Dress Image: Digital Negative

The edited image shows how the contrast and colors have been adjusted for more punch.  However, this image clearly needs the final retouching step since we can see the light source.

Sport The Dress Image: Edited Image

This image is an extreme example, but shows what is possible in the digital darkroom.  I removed the light source and replaced the bright branches with other branches from the tree so that the lighting setup is hidden.  The colors have been manually adjusted to darken the blue sky and brighten the yellow branches.  Some of the tree branches have been darkened to match the other branches.  And finally, there has been retouching on the brides skin that is not apparent in this small web image.

Sport The Dress Image: Retouched Image

In my final example, I show the retouching on a High School Senior Portrait.  The Digital Negative shows the typical flat contrast and colors of a normal digital file.

Senior Portrait Image: Digital Negative

The Edited image shows improved contrast and a warmer color hue.  I cropped the photo in for a stronger composition. This photo would look pretty good at this stage, if it was not for the obvious acne of the subject.

Senior Portrait Image: Edited Image

The retouched image has the acne removed, so that the focus of the image is true to the portrait of the girl, and not on her skin condition. The few stray hairs on her forehead have been cleaned up. Additionally, the reds and greens in this image have been brightened, while leaving the skin tone a natural color.

Senior Portrait Image: Retouched Image

Part 5: Summary – Which File Types Are Offered For Weddings and Portraits?

Digital Negatives: These are below the baseline standard of work which I will present.  Never offered!

Edited Images (Weddings): These are the images that come with all of my wedding packages.  These are full resolution digital files in JPG form, suitable for printing.  These images are fine for printing small photos for personal use.  However, for important photos and wall hangings, I recommend Retouched Images.  I price the Edited Images per hour of wedding coverage. For each hour of wedding coverage, you get all of the final Edited Images taken in that hour.  It does not refer to the number of hours that it takes me to edit the images.

Retouched Images (Weddings): All of the images that are in your Wedding Album and posted on my websites and blog are Retouched Images.  These are the final printed works of art that I create.  Images purchased for printing either in the studio or through the Online Proofing Gallery will be Retouched Images.  Matted images and canvases that are wall hangings will be signed unless requested otherwise.

Edited Images (Portraits): The images that are projected in studio for the Ordering Session will be shown in the Edited State. I only retouch images that are going to wind up in a happy home!

Retouched Images (Portraits): All final portrait images delivered in any form will be Retouched.  Portrait photos are selected to be the best of the best, and I want only my finalized, best work to be shown as part of your family memories.

It was boiling over Houston . . .

. . . then into the calm of Mexico . . .