Editing, Colouring & Finalising

In my briefing with my client we discussed the editing process of what she wanted after the shoot.  

The agreed pricing is at £30 per shoot with all photographs taken for both on a CD, to be delivered to her address.  We agreed at our meeting that I would edit the images that were here favourites, So after both shoots I had called my client back to sit and go through all images with me and decide what ones she would like to have edited and once I had a select few, told her that it would be a a couple of days for editing and finalising and I would send the CD to her address. 

The Editing

These top two images are the two favourite two images from the first shoot.  My client wanted them to be black and white and quite contrasty.  I managed to do this quite simply and these are the outcomes, two images with minimal light of her in the nude looks very elegant and a nice shine on the baby bump.  I do think that I would have liked to maybe used a coloured drape, that maybe I could have left in colour in editing, but is something I can consider for a next maternity shoot.   I am happy with my final two edits of these images and they are what the client has asked of me.  

The next two image's above and below are of similar positions and only slightly different.  This was the pose in which the Husband was in shot.  He stood behind and held the clients hands around the baby bump.  For editing of these two images, I smooth the skin of the bump out so there was a very smooth colouring to the belly, I also brightened the background and cropped the images down from the originals to a better position.  I changed the images into black and white just in case the client preferred them and included both colour and black and white on the CD.  I am happy with both of these images, the one of the husbands hand open on the baby bump was actually an accidental shot, but from the clients eye, she loved it and thought is was even more personal to them both, so I edited this image too. The small tigger toy looks great in that position and it is what really makes personal and cute.  

The image below this piece of text is the same image as above but is the version that my client wanted the most.  I have included both the black and white copy, and the colour copy on the CD, but this was the edit that she wanted to see. A black and white image but with the cuddly toy in colour.  I think it works perfectly for the shoot and is exactly what my client wanted so that make me very happy.  The tigger shows personality within this image, and looks great and professional. 

This next image below also shows more of the husband Martin that came along to the second shoot too.  My client wanted him to be in a few, holding a pair of the baby shoes in their hands, I had tried this shot with some of the other belongings but this one with these blue shoes seemed to work the best.  Again my client wanted to see black and white with the use of colour, so I have included the edit on the left of just black and white and the image on the right of the small coloured shoes. 

The two images below, are of a different pose and composition to the other images edited so far.  I like this one it shows her sitting down compared to the others laying down and standing up.  I think the thing I like about this images is the fact that I suggested she be topless for a more personal feel to it and I think it works well.  I do think her bottom arm and hand looks a bit to tight and tensioned, but the overall image makes up for it. I asked for both weddings rings to be shown in the image and I positioned their hands during the shoot. The beige coloured little boy's boots look lovely sitting on top on the baby bump and go really well in either black and white or colour.  The only thing I dislike it the two strands of hair that you see, if it is cropped, it crops it too low but they are quite difficult to edit out. But I really like this edit and its on the CD for my client Christine. 

The two images above and below I have also edited and added to the CD for my client Christine, they are two images that she liked and wanted as well as the others.  The tigger is he favourite toy and its brand new, fluffy and cute, so looks great sitting right next to the baby bump. I personally like the image a bit higher of the black and white image with tigger in colour, but I do like the whole image in colour because the bright orange stands out. As for below, Its always nice to use a baby scan images with a pregnancy shoot so I asked her to bring hers along.  The photo Christine is holding is a 3D scan which shows a clear view of the baby's face, so its lovely having the picture next to the bump as you know the little baby is inside. I like this image is black and white and colour, but both are edited for her. 

Christine messaged me after all the other images had been chosen, asking for this image to be edited too.  Christine was a lovely client so of course I said yes to one more image.  It is a funny image of christine's husband being funny on the floor behind the baby bump, I was positioning baby shoes on top of the bump and he bent down and I took this extra image.  I think Christine wants it edited because it is the only image that includes Martin's face. I just put it black and white and colour for her to have.  

This last image was taken on my phone as I uploaded it to Instagram. 

I really like how the bump is directly facing the camera with the writing on the baby bump. As I mentioned earlier, I drew on her belly with eyeliner and it just looked so effective and i love it.  It's probably one of my favourites. The way her arms and hands are holding the whole bump and the black top an bottoms she has on really make the belly pop out forward in the photo.  I think this was the best Idea that I had for the whole shoot, they look great, funny, and have great responses too.

Evaluation of My Commissioned Brief

I am over the moon with my commissioned live brief as it actually went a lot better than I thought it would.  My original idea's were wrong and then I started building up a business in something I had not had any images for, to only go and get a call from someone regarding maternity photography. I had always wanted to to do a Maternity shoot before but never really got round to it or had the facilities.  Now I have a home studio in which i have all lighting equipment and two backdrops.  From the moment that I received the call, I started planning out briefs and possible examples of maternity shoots so that I could prepare myself.  it was my first time shooting maternity but it is not too different to portrait photography, I was relaxed and found it very simple.  The phone calls and meeting were set up before shooting and in them we discussed, bringing props along, discussed pricing and exactly what she wants and it all went so well.  The shoots were lovely and fun, and Im sure she really likes the outcomes.  I think for my first shoot, they look very professional.  From this I can now start developing my business more as I would have more to use for flyers and promotion.  

A Great Future Ahead

My client has spoke to me recently and said that she would love for me to take the first photos of their Newborn baby Boy !!! This also made me very happy as I would love to work with newborns as this will also add and improve into my business into Personal Photography.  I now know that after I have finished all assignment work i can take some beautiful work of this newborn baby.