Purchasing Your Digital Files

Many of my clients are confused as to what it means to purchase their digital files.   What exactly do you get? It varies a lot from photographer to photographer, so it is important to find out the details before you make your purchase.

If you purchase a digital package with your portrait session with me, or if your digital files are included in your wedding package, you will get high-resolution files that have gone through basic retouching and are ready to print.  What does that mean?

When I first take a picture, the image is actually pretty lifeless and boring.  The colors don’t necessarily pop and the subject may be too dark or too light.  Basic retouching fixes those things.  Basic retouching ensures the photo is exposed properly – brightening or darkening the photo as necessary.  I make sure that the color is balanced, so that whites are white and blacks are black.  And I crop the photo, if necessary, to make sure distracting elements in the background are minimized and the subject is properly emphasized.  I’ll also add a little bit of sharpening so that the picture prints well.  Any digital file you purchase from me will have gone through basic retouching and is ready to be printed.  You will receive the biggest size file that I have, so you can print to 20×30 or larger without any problem.

What you see on my blog and in my sample albums are images that have been edited beyond basic retouching.  Those photos have been fully retouched.  How is that different?   For me, it’s subtle enhancements.   I believe my style of photography is very vibrant and true-to-life.  I like my photos to look like a slightly-better version of the real world, but not at all unnatural or fake looking.  I go easy on some of the vintage processing and textures that are popular now, because I want your photos to be as timeless as possible.  (Or course, there’s not much I can do about your wardrobe and hairstyle ten or twenty years down the road!)   Fully retouched photos have zits and other blemishes removed, brightened eyes and whitened teeth, and they may have some artistic color treatments.

When you purchase a print or canvas through me, your photo will under go full retouching to look its absolute best.

Let’s look at some examples!  First up, from a wedding last fall.  The original image was overexposed.  Their faces are too bright and the detail in their white clothing is missing.  That’s been fixed with basic retouching.   Notice the fully retouched photo has more color in the beautiful fall trees and there is more light in their eyes.  A slightly golden tint was added for artistic effect.

Then there’s this smiley guy.  Not much difference between the three photos, but the straight-out-of-camera photo is a little dark and a little blue.  The basic retouched photo would make a great print.  But the fully-retouched photo adds a little sparkle to his eyes and a slight vignette so your eye focuses immediately on that adorable grin.   The small scratch on his forehead has also been removed.

Here again, the edits on this headshot are very subtle.   Straight-out-of-camera, the image was a bit washed out and needed some pop.  Through basic retouching I warmed up the image, darkened the background, and brightened her red jacket.  In the fully-retouched image, the colors are brighter yet,  her skin is a touch smoother, and the background is even darker so that she pops just a bit more.