When I am shooting, I shoot RAW images. What that means is that each image holds on to as much information as possible about that particular picture – so it is a huge file that has lots of potential, but it can’t be opened by most computers without special software, such as Lightroom or Photoshop. I sort through all the images from each shoot in Lightroom, and delete the images that aren’t the best – perhaps where someone is blinking, has hair in their face, etc. I will then do BASIC EDITS on each image – exposure, contrast, and color tweaking. This is a very basic and minimal edit that creates the DIGITAL NEGATIVE.

Then, I will open the absolute best images in Photoshop and give each image a full retouch, which includes skin smoothing, color popping, full contrasting, brightening, and/or artsy, vintage, or black and white treatments. Each image is treated individually to ensure absolutely the most beautiful image possible. Below is a perfect example of the difference between an image that has only received basic edits (the digital negative), and a fully retouched image.

I hope this has helped you to understand the difference in how Goldapple Photography edits images, and how you might receive your images. If you purchase a mini session, you will receive a disk of images that have only received basic edits, but if you purchase a full session and then purchase a custom-designed disk of high-resolution images, you will receive all fully retouched images.

And, its holiday portrait session time! Schedule your holiday portrait session now!

You might remember this adorable little girl from her newborn shoot 6 months ago… She sure is growing up fast.