“ummm, can you get rid of my double chin?”

After watching  NYT op-ed video “Sex, Lies, and Photoshop”  by Jesse Epstein I thought it important to pass the link along and to share a couple thoughts

The quote for me from the piece is “I dare one magazine just to publish an entire issue without any retouching.”

In the world of photography there are the little white lies and the black lies. Every image that goes through my studio and finds their way into a clients hands has be adjusted in some form, but I wanted to share some of my philosophy behind what I do and what I don’t. My goal as a wedding and event photographer is very different from that of the advertising world or editorial. I believe the reason why people hire me is so that they can create a body for something intangible in hopes that it can live on and be a catalyst for the emotions and feelings they experienced when they look back 10, 20, 70 years from now.

So I have to play a balancing act between what happened and what people perceived as happened. Every bride is beautiful (Im serious) despite weight, complexion, wrinkles, blemish what ever, every bride should perceive themselves as beautiful on their wedding day. In my opinion true beauty comes from within and that is what I try to tap into whenever I work on images after they have been taken. If it is part of who you are and what makes you, you, it stays.

“Umm Mike what happened to my mole?” “Sorry Mr. Lincoln I’ll put it right back.”

If it is something that will keep you from viewing the picture and reliving your day, out it goes. Just ask my brother about the HUGE zit on his forehead when he got married (ha ha sorry Ben couldn’t resist). Like anything in life, we have to exercise moderation. For those that are saying secretly “I don’t care make me barbie”  I would ask you “who, at the core, is your photography for?” It is for that person and that person alone that you should try to satisfy.

For me it is your differences that make you, you and your photography should celebrate that.

In the spirit of DIY I have historically done all the web design, coding, flash the whole 9 yards. So recently I said enough is enough and just moved forward with a third party web designer. Now my focus can be full throttle on what’s important. so please enjoy the new sites and leave comments or feed back here about any changes you would like to see in the site, things you like or things that could better. The interface to make changes is easy so anything to make it easier to navigate can be done and I can keep recycling in new content to keep it fresh.  -Cheers, Mike

Thank god the blog is not like a plant I haven’t even been stopping in to water it.

The site has had some changes that have been taking up my time. You can now go to the links page and click on the clients link to view your online proofing and place orders. There is also an option to do this on the first mcnettimages.com page.

This system should work better rather than using a 3ed party host for the pictures. I can control more and provide better access with out worrying about who is viewing your information or if they are spamming you or selling your email address to nigerian scammers. This is hosted solely by me so the only down side is that when you apply for your password I have to do it by hand. I apologize in advance if it takes me a bit but in the end I think every one will be happy with the results. Like any technological improvements let me know if you notice anything buggy.

I well be posting more about some of the other exciting things that have been happening: New lighting techniques, a couple new ads have hit and Im going to start some contests/scavenger hunts so you guys can win some free stuff

MIke

“When retouching a photography how much is too much?” Some people live their whole lives with what the general populous might deem unsightly blemishes. Either the person doesn’t get it removed for financial or moral reasons or they just don’t care. Regardless at the studio we retouch every photograph with two thoughts in mind 1) make the people look their best. 2) Keep the people looking like who they really are. If you have a mole that you have lived with your whole life it is part of who you are so it stays.