editing

Suzyana Ong In Misc, Running a Business, Tips + Ideas

Retouching: What kind of editing do we do?

If you’ve ever wondered why photographers can’t send your photos instantly right after the shoot, this is because the photos need to go through a few processes before reaching their final result! When we shoot, we shoot in a format called RAW, which is not suitable for general use. So first, after the photo shoot is completed, our photographer will transfer the photos to the computer and select the best ones. Next, it gets transferred to an editing software, where our editor would do a basic colour correction on every photo and then export it in JPEG format. We often have clients ask, What do we mean by basic colour correction? Does it include removing pimples, wrinkles, eyebags, etc… Unfortunately, these requests fall under extra editing requests, as they require a longer time and effort to edit. If we do this for every photo, you may not receive your photos within the promised timeline!

Basic Colour Correction

Colours in RAW format are usually lifeless-looking, but it is still the best format to further process in post production. So it’s absolutely a must that we bring some life to the photos! A basic colour correction is essentially adding and balancing out the brightness, colours (saturation), colour temperature, highlights, and shadows of the photos as well as cropping out excessive backgrounds to make the images look more centred. A few toggles here and there will instantly make your photos look more vibrant and captivating!

Have a look at the before (left) and after (right) samples here!

Extra Editing

We do offer extra editing services for those who wish to have a “picture-perfect” photograph. This service usually comes FOC when you order framed prints and albums with us. Alternatively, you can add on this service for your favourite selection of images at a minimal additional fee.

Extra editing includes:

Skin smoothening
Removing skin blemishes
Minimizing eyebags/dark circles
Minimizing wrinkles
Removing flyaway hair
Removing any background distractions
Removing any scars/wounds
Face/Body slimming
Minimizing double chins
Whitening teeth
Make-up retouch (add blush, lipstick, etc)
Minimizing creases on clothes

We hope this helps to clarify our editing services. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any more questions!

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Musings, Relationships

Fun Facts… About Chi Yin!

The amazing lady behind all our videos is now unveiled! She is quite a quiet person by nature, but she can really surprise you! When I first met Chi Yin a few years ago, she was already working in the video production industry, but was new to content creation. What amazed me was her drive to shoot and edit her own travel videos on her own accord. When I made the decision to hire Chi Yin, it wasn’t her skills that attracted me (she was still learning!) but it was this passion and initiative that made me feel she has what it takes to succeed.

Now, she is one awesome videographer and kick-ass editor! I am in love with all the stuff she comes up with. Watch this video and get to know the lady behind the lens.

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Life, Musings

To Diet with Photoshop or Not, that is the question…

This issue has come up every now and then in our conversations with clients. It usually goes like this…

“My arms are huge. I want to hide it… or maybe you can Photoshop it smaller after our shoot…”
“Can you make my face look less round with Photoshop?”
“I don’t like my tummy. It’s very easy to Photoshop, right?”

(Random info: By the way, Photoshop shouldn’t be used as a verb, meaning, all those ways of describing Photoshop at the top is not the correct usage of the word. Read more here)

So, back to our conversation. While I understand that not everyone loves EVERY part of themselves equally (hey, I have a tummy too, after two kids!) and hope their photographer is a magician, I think editing an image too much in Photoshop is a distortion of reality. We would much rather use the right choice of angles & lenses, lighting and cropping to make you appear slimmer, rather than relying on Photoshop to solve all these ‘problems’. Naturally, in an event like a wedding where everything moves so quickly, it’s not possible to make sure every angle is a ‘perfect’ one for you. (By the way, we did have a request once by a bride to only shoot her from the right side during the entire wedding. Uhm… not possible!?)

We usually edit our images to enhance the colour and contrast, and when we create an album, we work on making skin a bit more flawless (but not plastic fake). So if a request such as the above comes to us, we will work on it for the album or print, but it will be done minimally and realistically. We really do not believe in creating a false representation of someone through editing.

After all, what kind of satisfaction would it get if you looked at your photos and saw ‘perfection’ but when you look in the mirror, you feel sad and upset?

BOUDOIR Interestingly, I wrote this post some time ago but hesitated to share it, until I read another photographer’s post that came out recently about a similar topic. Victoria Caroline who photographs boudoirs wrote in her Facebook post:

“Hi Victoria,
I am (blank)’s husband, ********. I am writing to you because I recently received an album containing images you took of my wife. I don’t want you to think that I am in any way upset with you….but I have some food for thought that I would like to pass on to you. I have been with my wife since we were 18 years old, and we have two beautiful children together. We have had many ups and downs over the years, and I think…well, actually I KNOW that my wife did these pictures for me to “spice things up”. She sometimes complains that I must not find her attractive, that she wouldn’t blame me if I ever found someone younger. When I opened the album that she gave to me, my heart sank. These pictures…while they are beautiful and you are clearly a very talented photographer….they are not my wife. You made every one of her “flaws” disappear…and while I’m sure this is exactly what she asked you to do, it took away everything that makes up our life. When you took away her stretch marks, you took away the documentation of my children. When you took away her wrinkles, you took away over two decades of our laughter, and our worries. When you took away her cellulite, you took away her love of baking and all the goodies we have eaten over the years. I am not telling you all of this to make you feel horrible, you’re just doing your job and I get that. I am actually writing you to thank you. Seeing these images made me realize that I honestly do not tell my wife enough how much I LOVE her and adore her just as she is. She hears it so seldom, that she actually thought these photoshopped images are what I wanted and needed her to look like. I have to do better, and for the rest of my days I am going to celebrate her in all her imperfectness. Thanks for the reminder.

Regards”

It was a real reminder to her about altering the reality of life through her images.

I believe everyone is beautiful, and confidence comes from how you carry yourself in front of the camera. Practice looking at yourself in the mirror daily, and reminding yourself of the traits that make you a beautiful person on the inside. Even if you started with hesitation, I guarantee, over time, your face will naturally glow from this confidence.

And then, trust your photographer to create the best possible portrait of you, that is true to yourself.

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Musings, News, Running a Business

We’re Hiring!

We’re looking to expand our Stories family yet again! This time, we’re looking for a contract / full time videographer & editor to join our team. You do not need to have years and years of experience, but we do require someone who is familiar shooting with a Canon DSLR, has video editing skills on a mac platform, and a willing heart to learn. If you are able to create basic 2D animation using software like After Effects, that’s a plus point for us! You must obviously love the wedding industry and have a personable attitude.

Do send your resume and portfolio to me at grace.tan[at]stories.my stating why you’d be a great contribution to the team. We look forward to hearing from you!

Just because every post looks better with an image, I’ll put this one up – of our 2 fun-loving photographers, Johan and Weiming! Yup, we’re multi-talented people! (and no, you don’t need to know how to do a handstand before you can join us!)

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Musings, Testimonials, Tips + Ideas, Wedding Films & Videos, Weddings

Behind the Scenes: Alvin & Melissa

I always have good intentions to do more behind the scenes videos of our shoots, but as with all good intentions, it sometimes remain as intentions when not followed through with action. On a day to day basis, we have so much work to do in terms of photo touch ups and album design that editing videos like these take a back seat. In fact, I have a number of videos that we’ve shot but not had time to edit. :(

So I am glad that we managed to complete this edit, thanks to the ever hardworking Weiming. He shot and edited this video entirely on his own. Amazing work! Thanks Weiming for making me look good in video (though I cringe when I hear my own laughter).

To view the photos from Alvin & Melissa’s shoot at Carcosa, click on this link!

Do let me know what you think of our little video!

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