This is the final part of a 3 part series on what to expect from your photo session. You can read Part 1: Planning Your Session and Part 2: During Your Session by following those links! I get asked a lot of questions about my process for photos after a session. So today I’m sharing a little behind the scenes on what I do with your photos after our session together!

Culling Your Photos

As soon as I get home, I put the SD card in my computer and let them begin loading previews. Then using my Adobe software, I sort through the images and rate them based on how ‘good’ they are. This is called culling. I use a rating system to mark the photos I want to keep. I then rename them with your initials and something like “sort1”. After I’ve culled them and renamed them, I pull them all into a folder on my computer with your name on it.

Initial Edit in Lightroom

After culling your images, I pull all of the ones I’m keeping into my Adobe software called Lightroom. I love using Lightroom to edit because I have a wonderful set of editing actions I can easily apply to the photos and cuts down on editing time. After I’ve added the preset to your images, I go through and do some individual adjustments to color, exposure, contrast, and more. I’ll also go through and crop images and get them ready to export. Then I’ll export the images and rename them something like “edit1”.

Culling Round 2

After the first cull and the initial edit in lightroom, I’ll go through and remove any images that I found to be duplicates, blurry, etc. Anything that is not the best or doesn’t capture a meaningful moment.  I change the rating of these photos to be less than the ones I’m keeping (5 star system).

In-depth Editing

Some photos require more editing than the initial edit in Lightroom. For any photos where I need to hand re-touch them, I rate them again to keep them separate from the ones that are finished. I will pull them into Photoshop and make any other necessary adjustments to lighting, color, sharpening, removing blemishes and more.  After the in-depth editing is finished, I select all the images that are rated the highest and rename them to match your session (your name, year).

Image Delivery

Once photos have been culled, edited, and renamed, I upload the images into an online gallery. The photographs are uploaded at their highest resolution so that you can download them and print images right away. The online gallery is password protected and allows unlimited downloads. It remains up for one year after your session. Your photographs include a print release that allows you to print canvases, prints, albums, and more from your images at your own convenience and through whichever print company you choose.

That’s a wrap!

Unless you choose to print products through me, that’s a wrap! You’re images are delivered, downloaded, and ready for you to print and enjoy for years to come.