In my early photography days, I had an experience that would be every photographer's worst nightmare!  I lost all files for an entire wedding!  Or so I thought!  I didn't actually lose my RAW files, but I thought I had lost an entire edited gallery that I had spent many long hours completing!  I remember the terror and anxiety I experienced during those two weeks before I discovered what had really happened.  It was a simple fix, but because I was new to Lightroom, there were a few details I just wasn't aware of.  But...that's not the point!  During those anxious days, a family member looked at my RAW files and said, "These are great!  Why don't you just give them these??"  He just didn't get it!  "I can't give them these!" I replied.  I motioned for him to come over to my computer.  And as I began to show him image after image, of "before & after", his countenance began to fall.  I then realized, that now...he got it.  "Oh no!  What are you going to do??"  

I can look back and remember that day and laugh about it now.  The change of countenance...the understood hopelessness of the situation.  But you know what I also realize?  Many times, people just don't know what they are missing!  It's kind of like someone who insists that they only like plain vanilla ice cream!  It's someone who has never tried anything other than that one thing, yet insists they hate hot fudge!  How can you know that if you have not experienced it?!

Many times we look at our photos that come straight out of camera...or even straight out of our iphone, and say, "These are awesome pics!"  And the truth is, most of the time they are!  But still...for everything you see in that photo, there could be just as much that you are not seeing.  So, I thought I would share a few of these images with you, in order to paint a picture of the power of professional editing!  This is where so much "behind the scenes" work takes place that most people don't think about.  They don't understand why photographer's pricing is so "exhorbitant".  Not only is it many long hours spent after the actual wedding or session...it really is an art.  There are many different styles of editing.  In a lot of ways, post-processing is like digitally painting and enhancing an image to a whole other level!  

I hope you enjoy these "before & after" images!