Hi friends!  I have been getting a lot of inquiries about how we edit photos — both our “professional” images and our iPhone shots — and I am an open book, happy to share anything and everything!  This is such a fun topic for me to comment on because it is what I love to do.  I feel like I could talk endlessly about it (I’ll try not to).  I have a Masters in Photography from SCAD and we just launched a line of Fine Art Prints.  I’ll take any excuse to get out in the world and to create something beautiful.  A day spent shooting and is like magic to me; I would love to pass on some of our enthusiasm and teach you a little bit about our “behind the scenes” process.  I know that learning photography can be intimidating, so please don’t be shy to ask questions.  I would love to play some small part in your photography journey.  Of course, I am still learning too!

Charleston is full of “visual treats” and we are so, so lucky to live here.  It is warm, sunny, light-filled and full of pastel painted houses, overflowing window boxes, secret alleyways and beautiful gardens.  It is easy to take a pretty picture, slap a filter on it and call it a day.  I know that we are so fortunate; I will get into shooting in trickier circumstances later on in the series but, for now, I’ll take these ideal conditions and show you how I like editing photos.

So much of editing is personal preference, there is no “right” way.  I lean towards vibrant yet dreamy images.  I love warmth in an image because I think it evokes feelings of happiness and beauty.  I do 99% of my editing in Lightroom.  I have downloaded VSCO filters for all of my camera systems — Canon, Pentax, Leica — and I work primarily with the “modern films” pack.  Right now, I’m using the Fuji 160C and Portra 160 filters the most, especially for our photographs that are taken outside in bright daylight.

When editing photos I always look at an image with each filter and decide which I like best.  The images in this post are a mix of both of those filters.  I like to lighten the shadows (by sliding the bar to the right) and bring up the vibrance.  I often add a bit more magenta and yellow under the white balance tab.  I remove the “noise” from the filter by taking the grain all the way off.  For images without people, I like to use the lens correction feature in Lightroom.  This is under the “transform” tab — click “auto”!  It might be a bit easier to follow along on the video at the bottom of this post.  Last, I straighten my image and use the 4:3 crop ratio.

Forgive me if I am speaking quickly in this video, just nerves!  I’m also planning to cover shooting and editing with the iPhone, what kind of light I look for, and photoshop fixes.  Anything else you’d love to know?

P.S.  This dress is from Hampden Clothing in Charleston.   I tell you only because I have received so many direct messages about it after posting on Insta-stories.  It is the most comfortable, feminine dress for summer — so nice to just throw on, easy peasy!  Do not worry if you don’t live in town, you can shop Hampden’s entire collection online (how cool is that?).   And this is entirely unsponsored, I’m just so impressed with them!!! xo Lucy

 

Thank you so much to the amazing, talented Pat Black for making this video with us!