From time to time I would like to share the process my images go through before they make it to the blog. Since I took my first picture in RAW format, and I’m feeling like a big girl photographer now, I figured this was the perfect time to share!

I think there’s kind of a magic to editing a photo. It’s really not just my camera that makes these images turn out the way they do. In fact, the actual camera has the least amount to do with it! I’m giving a great deal of credit to my 35mm 1.8 lens and of course the editing. The straight out of camera (SOOC) seem to look just fine when I take them… that is until I start playing around with the color balance and warmth and contrast and sharpness. It’s all these little tweaks that make an “okay” photo have a little extra oomph! I get hounded all the time by my friends and family about how long it takes to get my pictures posted. I just don’t think they realize all the extra work that goes into making every image live up to its potential!

Today was my very first foray into editing RAW pictures and all I can say is WOW! With very few mouse clicks, I went from a drab image with dull colors, to a picture that I’m actually proud to share. I added some warmth and contrast and a few random tid bits and it was like my picture was suddenly alive.

The first image is SOOC and is exactly what it looked like when I loaded it onto my computer this afternoon. The second image is after the RAW edit. I’d say this picture was good enough to share, but I decided I wanted to go just a teensy bit further. I then ran the image through the action Vintage Summer by Florabella Actions. I lowered the opacity to about 20% and flattened the image. I then ran two actions, Sharpen This and Bring On The Eyes by The Pioneer Woman. I used these to make the eyes pop just slightly. For my final touch, I used a skin smoothing action just to even out her skin tones ever so slightly.

I am very pleased with how this turned out and I am super eager to continue shooting and editing in RAW! I love looking at before and after photos, so don’t be surprised if these pop up on the blog frequently.

Oh! I am teaming up with a dear friend of mine to offer my readers a pretty awesome giveaway. Check back here the week of July 19th for all the details!