Before and After: the evolution of a photo

To some, professional photographers are a bit of a mystery. People often approach me and make a comment about the size of my camera and its mysterious buttons. Sure, a good camera can go a long way when having to capture great images, but post-production is often just as important when delivering the final product. And often post-production is the process that seems the most obscure and foreign to people. In the past 2 years I've had a love affair with Adobe Lightroom. Let me tell you, as a former student and now teacher of this software, I have spent countless hours with it. It's really like an appendage to my shutter finger. A while back I showed a comparison of an image before edits and after, just to give you an idea of the importance of post-production. I've gathered a few more examples for today. If you're a nerdy photographer like me, chances are you love the \ key when in the develop module of Lightroom. ( \ is the before and after key) It's the most fun I get after hours of editing!

So here's a taste of the \ key...

BEFORE                                                                                                                  AFTER