Portfolio websites are a facade of perfection showing only the successes of one’s career. They show the work after all the work sweat and sometimes tears are done. After any mistakes are polished out the work is hung in a digital “glass” box and preserved as if in a fountain of youth for artwork. But what happens when things don’t quite work out? I don’t mean some amateurish mistake. I the inevitable shoot when you did everything you could but the cards were stacked against you.
To that point, I bring out exhibit “A”, a shoot we did with The Curated Group in an apartment in the exclusive Marquis Downtown Miami. We had anticipated good weather or if more clouds than anticipated showed up I’d retouch back in some blue sky. Yet while on location the skies took a turn for the worst, they hazed up and a wonderous blue turned a milkish white. I troppered having conquered far worse in my day and set off to photoshop. Yet when I sat down to do the photoshop I realized the depth of the hole I was in. I spent easily twice as much time retouching the images as I did on the shoot! In the end, I was only accepting of the final product through a series of mind-twisting rationalizations. After delivery and discussion with the client, we both decided that a reshoot of the view shots would be best. This shoot proves that retouching and after the fact manipulation will only get you so far.
A RAW capture from the initial shoot. You can see we were up against some pretty hazy skies!
I went in to do some pretty intensive skydrop in and image curve manipulation. The sky looks ok but it does not jive with the ground view outside which is way to flat.
Finally, after a discussion with the client, we both thought it would be best to wait until we had a perfectly clear day and reshoot. The contrast matches, the horizon line with the buildings is crisp.
