This was supposed to be an outdoor session but unfortunately, it started raining right before the session time. As I discuss on my FAQ page, there are several options for you if i should happen to rain for your session time. Nicole chose to move the session to her home, rather than to reschedule, which is a great option as I love capturing families in their own surroundings.
Another issue that Nicole had was that little Scarlett got a fairly significant boo boo on her chin before the session (isn’t that the way it always happens?), and Nicole was afraid it would show in the photos.
I reassured Nicole that Scarlett’s boo boo wouldn’t be too hard to remove in editing, so not to worry about it. So I thought this might be a good post to go over what I will and will not edit in family portraits.
What I will photoshop:
- That random zit that popped up right before your session.
- The boogers in your two year olds nose (but lets try a Kleenex first please!)
- The bruise your four year old got riding her bike (or boo boo on her chin).
- Generally anything “temporary” that isn’t part of what you normally look like.
- That ugly trashcan in the background that I saw, but knew it was worth it to remove in editing.
- The horrible bike lane stripe on my favorite path.
- Minor “wardrobe malfunctions” that result from clothing not laying perfectly because I don’t operate perfectly posed portrait sessions. For example: your bra strap is showing, or maybe your shirt or dress is poofed out in a weird way.
What I won’t photoshop:
- “Can you remove this logo from the shirt I chose to wear?” (I might could depending on the location, print, etc, but if you want it done more than once or twice, I’m going to need to charge extra.)
- “Make me look 50 pounds smaller?” (You are beautiful, just the way you are.)
- “Can you make most of the photo black and white and leave this one part in color?” (I just don’t want to.)
- “Can you get the wrinkles out of my husbands dress shirt?” (Usually, no…especially if it’s a print and not a solid color.)
So my general rule to myself when it comes to editing…I want you to look like you, because you are gorgeous. But if something happened recently that isn’t a part of your normal, let me know and we can probably work on that.