Fast Food Photography

I was reading the photography blog by Roger "Mzungo" Moore this past weekend.  The guy bills himself as a photographer, explorer, adventurer, and mentor.  If you like adventure photography you might his blog.  You can check it out at http://mzungusafaris.wordpress.com/

Roger was talking about the image that comes out of the camera vs. the final image after editing and processing.  He put it this way, "the Before image is the fast food provided by the camera and the After image is cake complete with icing, after editing and processing, and ready to print."

I thought that was a great analogy.  Here's an example.

This is the "Fast Food" shot right out of the camera.  These are 4th graders and their adult chaperones marching up Sand Mountain in the Nevada desert.  Not a bad picture right out of the camera.  I like the composition.

Here is the "Cake" shot.  I added some blue to the sky in Lightroom 2 and removed the yellow utility markers and some of the foreground stones to create a cleaner image.  It's better then the "Fast Food" shot don't you think?

If you want to set yourself apart as a photographer one of the things you should do is learn all you can about the power of post processing in programs like Photoshop and Lightroom.  You will be amazed at the results you can come up with... and so will your friends and/or clients.

I hope you enjoyed todays blog.  Remember... life's short, so take lot's of pictures!

Keep shooting!

Ryan