Adobe Tutorial

“I use Photoshop as I would to hand-print an image; e.g., burning, dodging, etc. I don’t use ‘special effects’ very often; I’m still a big fan of more traditional techniques—applied digitally, of course.”—Marcus Bell

In the days leading up to the advent of digital imaging, the skeptics/realists often predicted that until a digital image could rival the amount of information found in a 35mm film frame, professional photographers would continue to ignore digital imaging. These thoughtful folks proclaimed that there are 10,000,000 discrete units of information (bits) in an exposed 24x36mm film frame. Equalling that requires a 10MB image—a file size that is now commonplace. In fact, at this writing there are a handful of professional 35mm digital SLRs that offer 16–18MB original files. Unlike film photographs,

Photoshop and the digital revolution have helped propel wedding photographers to the level of fine artists. Photograph by Jeff Hawkins Photography.

Hawkins, the other half of Jeff Hawkins Photography, a very successful wedding studio in Longwood, FL, the greatest benefit is “the creative control of our work.” The pair has a renewed excitement for covering weddings and an appreciation for being able to view the images right away—a “powerful advantage for both photographers and clients.” Photographers are no longer just recording images and sending them off to the lab for color correction, retouching, and printing. Says Kathleen, “We can now perfect our art to the fullest extent of our vision!” In the high-style world of wedding photography, the impact of Photoshop has permanently changed the style and scope of the genre. The photographer, in the comfort of his home or studio, can now routinely accomplish special effects that could only be achieved by an expert darkroom technician in years past. Photoshop, paired with the many available plug-in filters, has made wedding photography the most creative and lucrative specialty in all of photography.

And brides love it. Digital albums, assembled using Photoshop-compatible design templates, have become the preferred album type. The style and uniqueness they bring to the wedding experience make every bride and groom a celebrity. The photographers featured in this book are digital artists. While they are not above using time-saving shortcuts in the image-processing side of things, they