Technical Excellence

The second element in The Photographic Exhibitions Committee (PEC) of PPA's 12 elements of being an amazing photographer is Technical excellence. This usually means the print quality of the photo. Some think this is the physical quality of the print (such as those who deal in film and develop their own photographs). I deal strictly in digital so we do post production editing such as touch ups, getting all the imperfections out of the image, and creating sharpness. Some even go as far as photo manipulation by using programs such as photoshop that allow them to artificially create amazing and crazy scenes. 

At R.E.A.L. Photography we try to keep our images as realistic as possible and try to stay away from photo manipulation. That being said, we do touch up our photos and get the images as sharp as possible. I use lightroom first and then transition to photoshop if there is any big projects to fix. 

Two of my favorite ways of getting a sharper picture without using sharpness is to bump up the clarity and vibrance. Clarity can sometimes make the image darker without meaning too but it also clears up the image, and vibrancy enhances the color without over saturating the color.

Sometimes you need to bump up the sharpness because there is no other way to get fine details. Sharpness is great in small doses but be careful. It can cause a lot of grain in the background that you wouldn't noticed until after you print or blog up the picture. 

Try to fiddle with the luminance instead. This feature is a god send in my opinion. It reduces background noise that causes the graininess and blurs just enough while also sharpening the features of the subject. 

Fixing up the images isn't the only steps to make the images technically perfect. You have to print them properly. Some people think that going to Sears or Walmart is the cheapest way to go but sometimes this can cause your print quality to start lacking. As a photographer I do not recommend going to places like this. However, if you are starting up and need a place that is cheap but also has a good quality I would recommend Shutterfly. They have many more options than other places and allow for full customizations. 

Hope these tips helped up your photography game and maybe your Photography Technical Excellence will reach a 10 out of 10!

Check back next Saturday for Element 3: Creativity!