Senior sessions are always special, but sometimes, the lighting doesn’t cooperate the way we’d like. During this high school senior’s session, we started with a beautiful golden hour glow, but the sun quickly faded behind thick clouds, leaving the original image darker, cooler, and with more shadows than I preferred.

In the before image, you can see how the lighting is flatter, and the colors feel a bit muted. While it’s still a great portrait, I wanted to bring back the warmth and vibrancy of golden hour that we had hoped for. With a few editing tweaks, I transformed the image to better reflect the vision for this session.

What I Adjusted:

• Brightened the Overall Image: The original was a bit dark, so I lifted the exposure to bring more life to the portrait.

• Warmed Up the Tones: The cloudy conditions made the image cooler, so I adjusted the white balance to add warmth and richness.

• Softened Shadows: The original had some harsh shadows on the subject’s face. By reducing those, I was able to create a softer, more even look.

• Added a Sun Flare: Since we lost the golden hour light, I enhanced the background by adding a subtle sun flare to recreate the warmth and dreamy glow of sunset.

Why These Edits Matter:

Lighting can change in an instant, but with careful editing, I can bring back the feeling and mood we intended for the session. This not only enhances the final portraits but also ensures the senior and their family get the timeless, glowing images they envisioned.

What do you think of this transformation? Have you ever had a photo that needed a little extra magic to bring it to life?