A picture should tell a story

Not several stories. After I take a digital photo, or scan a conventional photo, I look at it with fresh eyes, not thinking of its intended purpose.

What story does the picture actually tell? Is it a picture of a sleeping child, or of a beautiful quilt? Do the colors feel somber or vibrant?

Then I use a variety of graphics editors to make the picture speak the client's thousand words. Here are some examples:

Any photo can be improved

The sleeping-child photo was easy to use. I cropped it (clipped out the section of interest) and added a drop shadow, a caption, and a frame.

Cropping is always necessary. If you don't include a little more than you really need in the original photograph, you risk cutting off some detail that you do need. Also, the best ratio of height to width for the finished image is generally different from the ratio built into your camera.

Most often, a photo needs more sophisticated retouching. The colors may be wrong, especially indoors. (Incandescent lights are red. Fluorescents are green.) The exposure and contrast may be less than you wanted. A busy background may call attention away from the subject of the photo.

Unwanted reflections

Camera-mounted flash units always cause problems in portraits, but there may be no other way to take the picture while the subjects are available. If anyone wears glasses, there will be reflections, as in the original photo on the right. There may also be shadows in the background that need to be removed, though not in this case.

Web-ready	Original

Distracting Background

Action shots often leave little choice of where the photographer can stand. A zoom lens permits a little more freedom. (It also helps in avoiding the distortion that results from getting too close in an effort to fill the frame). Still, there is usually a floodlight or a piece of furniture to be removed.

Web-ready	Original

Even a posed shot can have background problems, especially when the subject's surroundings are part of the story. There just isn't a lot of plain wallpaper in this nursery room. Even after I "papered over" the duck's foot, the pattern on the wall was too strong, so I added a frame to pull out the brown tones and let yellow tones recede.

Web-ready	Original

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