Good Things Come in Threes

The three stooges, the Trinity and the rule of thirds are all great things that come in threes. The saying quickly breaks down if I apply it to the number of kids I can effectively raise.

So today, I wanted to talk about the exciting world of post-processing. Film based photography relies on a series of third eye inducing chemicals whereas digital based photography provides a broader array of techniques performed from the safety of the computer. The same flexibility though can be intimidating or spell doom for users of Adobe Lightroom, Elements, Photoshop or any number of other photo editing programs. The key is to avoid spending hours in front of the computer, if for no other reason than you need your sleep and energy to keep up with the kids. So what to do? I recommend finding a few looks that you like and use them repeatedly. Here at Phat Baby Photography, 80% of our photographs fall into three themes, each named after the desired emotion it's intended to elicit:

Love. This is the default approach I use for baby photography. The intent is to emphasize the tender emotions felt between parent and child, whether it's inherent in the print itself or at the time that my clients see their children in a photograph. Technically speaking, the images are slightly over exposed (at the time of capture), warm and slightly soft. Because the editing is fairly light and the emotional response universal, it tends to have broad appeal.

Bliss. Soft, quietly romantic and subtly vibrant. Technically speaking, this is even softer than "Love" but far more saturated across the spectrum of colors. I find it particularly useful for weddings, outdoor photos and any situation where it's desirable to make the colors pop.

Ecstatic. Edgy, energetic with an exclamation mark - like a toddler drinking his Dad's cup of java (though I was assured by his parents this was not the case). Technically, this is were I go toddler wild on the sharpening and contrast. The colors are subdued to avoid blowing out the retinas or providing a sensory overload. I want edgy, but I still want the subject to be the focal point.

Each of these represent a systematically applied treatment of the RAW negative from my cameras. However, a variation of the above is tailored for each client and typically sent to them as a teaser to make sure it's consistent with what they'd expect.

One thing notably absent is B&W processing. I love black and white photos, but it doesn't lend itself to the type of spontaneous shots my clients expect. More on that some other time. Special thanks to my clients (mostly) from the past week for helping me to demonstrate the themes.

So tell me, which do you like?