How I Edit // Over-editing

First thing I do before editing, is set my camera to shoot in Raw file format. What this is does is takes uncompressed images. It will plainly record what you set the camera up as. Leaving every tone and setting in its original form. Whereas a .jpg file format will compress the image and limit the brightness and tones available. A raw picture will have over 30 times the tones that a .jpeg has. The main reason for shooting in Raw, is to edit in Raw. You can find camera raw filter in photoshop under filters. But when your camera is in this setting and you go to pull one of your images up, they should be in .dng, .tiff, or in my case .NEF (nikon electronic format) because this is Nikon's version of raw file format.

Most people edit in raw to fix their under/overexposed images or to adjust their white balance. I edit in raw to slightly fix my exposure but mostly to add light in different places. Sometimes this is necessary if your using backlighting with your model.  Or simply if they just need more light on a body part. Once I get a photo into camera raw filter, I fix my exposure, and if I still need more light but in a certain area, I use a tool where basically you draw a line and it will fade out light from wherever you place it. If there is an instance where I only need light in a very specific place, I'll use the paintbrush and specifically put light in that place. This is not the easiest thing to explain. But after I'm finished with camera raw filter, I'll open the photo up in photoshop and fix blemishes, brighten eyes and hair, and make any other modifications I want or my client wants. Then I'm done! 

Now we've reached the dreaded act of over-editing. From photographers to the average person, we all over edit images. When you're looking a picture and you just want it to be perfect, it's not hard to go a little overboard. But it's a terrible mistake and I see it too often. People have imperfections, moles, freckles and more that make them who they are! There is no reason to take them out. A big thing that I see is completely blurring out the skin in an attempt to smooth out the skin. Here is a very good example.