As you know, I believe that as a photographer, you should, as much as possible, make your photos in the camera, not in post-production (like Photoshop or Lightroom).

But there is always some work to be done in post. This is one reason that photographers cost money – time is money.

Yesterday, I shot celebrity wedding planner Jane Dayus-Hinch of “Wedding SOS”, at the National Bridal Show in Toronto:

But at an event, circumstances are never ideal and as the photographer, I try to be quick. That means there is work.

Take this shot, of Jane in front of her booth:

Fine, but this was at a busy show. So we had to clear space and shoot with what we had (a Canon 1Dx and an off-camera flash in an umbrella). That gave me this:

So what kind of “Post” work did that need?

• Cropping, probably the most important step.
• Rotating, to make horizons horizontal.
• Perspective correction – parallel lines should be parallel, not converging.
• Lens corrections to remove barrel or pincushion distortion, common with zoom lenses.
• White balance and exposure fine tuning
• Removal of “stuff”, like exit signs and columns in the background.

Only after these steps is it a professional photo. And those steps take time. And there’s 100 photos to be looked at this way.

So when you hire a pro, or when you are the pro, count on a lot of extra work to finish the product. Fortunately, Lightroom (and Aperture of you are so inclined) are lifesavers – they have cut 80% off my previous “post-time”.