D21: My Saving Grace

I'm sure we've all been on a shoot where we looked at a picture and thought "I'll just fix it in post". As many of us have been trained to NEVER EVER EVER say that. Life can be so much easier if we just get it right in-camera.

But what about those times we don't?

What about those times that we're in a rush, and it looks good in that tiny monitor on the back of our camera? Have you ever returned to your office, only to find that your eyes lied to you, and you didn't get the shot you wanted? This use to happen to me a lot in the early years. It is more of a rarity now, but it still happens occasionally. Yesterday is a great example.

Due to his hectic work schedule that day, my brother called to ask if I could let his dog outside for a bit. With a busy schedule of my own, I agreed, although I would have to make this a fast trip.

As I let Duke run around in the backyard, I decided to try and get a few shots of him for today's post. I tried a few different techniques, and it appeared that I achieved what I wanted. Upon my return home I quickly discovered my eyes had betrayed me. The lighting was off, the colors weren't great, and I felt like I had wasted my time. I decided that I would see what I could salvage in Lightroom.

Lightroom turned out to be my savior. Within a few minutes I had an image I felt I could use. How many times has this happened to you? Were you as lucky as me in salvaging something from your shots?

Manual: Page 41 - Image Quality and Size
I still have trouble understanding how it literally took me YEARS to start shooting in RAW. In my defense I started shooting RAW once I got serious about pursuing this as a career. There is no excuse for this and I wish I could go back and re-shoot those early years in RAW. Nevertheless, life goes on.

There is only one example in which I purposely shot in "basic" mode. It was a large project for a national sporting goods chain, and I was on a tight deadline. They were building a merchandising catalog for their managers to access on the company's intranet. Basically, they needed a tight shot of each specific section on every aisle & wall. It didn't need to reflect intricate product detail, only the general layout of the merchandise. Hours of different setups each day, and hundreds of final images later, the project was complete.

Images: Travis Gugelman - Travis shoots many senior portraits, and he does a fantastic job. He has carved out a niche in his local market, and he has inspired me to follow his lead.