FAQ: Inspiration + Editing

Right now, I’m sitting at my kitchen table feeling overwhelmed, flooding my brain with Meredith Andrews and “Breathe, Hannah. Breathe.”s. Just keeping it real. Anyway…

Today’s FAQ will be on where I get my inspiration from and editing the photos. I’ve been asked these two questions multiple times, but I don’t want to keep it all about me and my answers. I want to here where you, as photographers, get your inspiration from and what you use for editing and your editing process too! Tell me how you express your brand through your photos!

I get my inspiration from multiple places. As far as poses go, I look at other photographers’ work on blogs and in magazines. There are some seriously creative people out there- you! For color, pattern, and texture inspiration, I look on fashion blogs, clothing sites, boutiques, Etsy, and the Martha Stewart magazines. There are also little things I run across in day-t0-day life that I think would be neat to incorporate somehow like Jones’ Pure Cane Soda bottles, the dark chocolate color that is our nativity brought back from Africa, and cute pieces of clothing and accessories.

I try to make how I edit part of who I am as a photographer. I like my photos to have lots of natural lighting, nice white balance, perfectly exposed (even though I still can’t nail it perfectly) and sometimes a little over exposed, a nice color pop, accurate display of the emotion, and to have the subject’s personality very accurately displayed. It’s very lifestyle. That’s just part of my style. For that reason, I just adore Adobe Lightroom.

I know photographers have completely different style than that. My friend Natalie takes gorgeous photos. I love her work. However, you can just tell by looking at her photos that her style is a bit different than mine. That’s okay. It’s what helps set us apart as photographers. (<3 you, Natalie!)

What sets you apart as a photographer? How do you display that throughout your business? What inspires you and what do you use for editing?

P.S. Adobe has no clue who I am, nor did they sponsor this post in any way. If I fell of the face of the earth tomorrow, Adobe would have no clue. (But the blogosphere would, because then I wouldn’t be tweeting. Heh.)

Photography Basics: Editing Photos

Always have a great shot SOOC (strait out of the camera). It will save you lots of time in the editing process. If you have a really great SOOC shot, you should be able to get by with your basic photo editing. If you have a bad SOOC shot, you will spend tons of time editing only one photo. In the long run, it is better to know your stuff and shoot right the first time. It will save you tons of time and you will get great shots!

Do you have a question about editing photos or a photography related question in general? I’d love to answer any question(s) you may have to try and help you out! Just hit the “Email Hannah” button at the top.

Basic Photo Editing

I’m not a big fan of spending enormous amounts of time editing my images. I would much rather have a really great shot SOOC. (Strait Out Of the Camera) No one has time to spend hours on that stuff. The following are 3 basic edits I do to my photos.

1) Lighten it a bit.

2) Bump up the contrast.

3) Sharpen

Depending on the photo and the look I want it to have, I will sometimes add a few other effects. That list above is my basic 3. I love life and love capturing the little moments with my camera. I don’t like to make my photos seem unrealistic or fake. In the editing process I stay true to that.