When Good Editing Goes Bad

Just for fun, I thought I'd give you a behind-the-scenes look at some of the wonders of photo editing. I was inspired by the recent blog post of one of my favorite photographers who had the confidence to post one of her pictures "in the nude" so to speak.

Don't worry, she's fully clothed. Just the image is nude.

As a photographer, I find it very encouraging when I see other people's work in its natural state. For the longest time, I wondered why I could never get the results I wanted---then I started to realize how much magic happens post-production. So I love it when I get the chance to see a good "before" and "after" shot. You can see the blog here.

I've decided to do my own version, a sort of illustration of the power of editing used wisely---and not so wisely.

This is my original, untouched shot.

As you can see, it is not very flattering. Renaissance dresses as a whole were a terribly unflattering business. They seemed to have been designed solely to be a fancy, frilly frame for the bosoms.  I guess that was all that mattered back in those days.

Here I have brightened and warmed up the original.

But I still look like I'm wearing a brocade nightgown. Time to do a little weight-loss surgery!

Ok, so I look a little distorted. And yes, my head and hands look unnaturally big. But the rest of me is so skinny!

While I'm at it, why not add Rapunzel hair down to the ground?

It's been a long winter. Better try on some spray tan.

Yes, photo editing can be lots of fun. But use extreme caution. One minute you're making simple color adjustments and talking about maintaining photographic integrity and the next....