I have
spoken at length about doing limited post work on images to maintain the
quality of the photo. I have also spoken about making sure to share
only what you love and what most fit's the client's desire. While I
believe in doing limited "fixing", there is something to be said for
making sure the best quality of image is supplied. I rarely give
clients a truly unedited look into an session or shoot.
Normally
I will remove blurry, under-lit, or otherwise poor images and crop some
when there is something out of place. I believe in deleting without
mercy when it comes to making the call on what should stay after a shoot
with a model. Their portfolio is what will get them work, and anything
that is in the portfolio is a reflection of my thoughts and process.
This is a perfect before and after of images done with a lovely model just last month. She sat with me after the shoot and we selected out favorites while removing those that did not make the grade. Out of 73 images shot, we had just 23 that made the final selection to see what would be done in editing. From those 23, 17 made a final debut on the CD emailed to her for adding to the portfolio she worked to compile, and I believe five are currently on display.
I wanted to talk about this because of the recent release of images or the American Olympic Team. These were taken at an event with a limited amount of time to work with each subject, but I feel that much more could be achieved if simple technique and a little editing was applied. This is the article from Solstice Visuals that I first viewed when a fellow photographer posted it on a forum for industry professionals and hobbyists.
This "outrage" from the photography industry came from the awkward posing, off putting cropping, poor backdrop choice, and just blogging choices made in posing and details. When viewing the first collection I believed perhaps this was taken by a student or amateur photographer and displayed without time for editing. At this time, I believe that there was inexperience and a lack of post work. There are signs of a dirty lens, poor alignment, poor lighting, and very little care for the backdrop that could have been solved by just pulling down more of the paper roll after ripping became evident.
For comparison I wanted to include this second link, with images from
the same person (image #6) other photographers taken at the very same
event. While obviously not all fit the same aesthetic, a huge
difference is visible in the lighting quality and time taken to create a
finished product. Even the final image, one that is in a very unfinished format, shows some real promise as a "behind the scenes" moment.
From this second group I see images that have been polished and finished without an overload of retouching to remove the quality of the image. I try to keep a similar quality, but understand the desire to prove that post work is not always needed. What needs to be focused on is keeping images pleasing and avoiding sloppy work.
