Proof vs. Finished Image

One of my favorite things about photography (especially Digital Photography) is finishing an image for Print. When we shoot a wedding, we typically shoot around 1500 images and narrow that down to the best of the best. This usually brings us to between 400-500 images to deliver to our clients. What we deliver are "proofs". Proofs are color corrected and are totally ready for print, however if an image is purchased for print, we put a little 'icing on the cake'.

This is where the Editing and Finishing process comes in. Any image that is purchased for print or placed in an album goes onto the Editing and Finishing Process. The reason that we do not 'Finish' 400-500 pictures for proofing is that it would take hours and hours to accomplish. Plus, it may be a waste of time to finish images that nobody wants printed.

When we look at an image, we have a vision for what it should look like when we are done. The image below (I used my son Damon :-) ) could be edited a number of different ways...

Proof:


My Favorite Finished Image (there is a lot of contrast in this image, so I chose to go B&W with a hint of blue tone.)


Lower Saturation, bump Contrast & Crop


Grainy B&W & Crop


Cross-Processed @50% & Crop