Before & After

At Becker's workshop in January, one of the things he talked about was how to help your clients understand what they're paying for. Sure, they've hired you to take some photos for them... but do they really understand just what that means? A professional photo is more than just the click of a shutter - to make it perfect, there's also post-processing involved.

A common misconception is that Photoshop is used to "fix" bad images and make them good... but really, professional photographers use Photoshop to make good images better.

Becker suggested that one of the best ways to demonstrate this, is to post before & after images on your website or blog.

I had originally been opposed to sharing SOOC (straight out of camera) photos because they don't depict what I consider to be my "best" work. But what Becker said made sense. How can people really get it unless they can see the SOOC, and then what a little post-processing can do.

So, here we go... My first Before (sooc) & After (photoshopped) post...

And there you have it. Just a teeny bit of insight into why you pay more when you hire a professional... the time spent with you at your portrait session is only just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the work/effort put into the making of your images.