01. RAW EDITING
- All our editing has the following purpose: images should look good, natural, cropped and/or rotated to bring key elements into viewers' attention. Main subjects (skin) must look their best, regardless of the light colours in each image. Details should be preserved when dynamic range allows for it. Images should be consistent, at least those shot in the same location and conditions. Our 22 years long experience as both photographers and speakers at various conferences, as well as being judges in a large number of photography contests, gave us a solid understanding of what is a good image.
- White balance: our 30" full Adobe RGB BENQ SW320 monitors are calibrated monthly using SpyderX PRO colourimeter. We use neutral areas to zone in the white balance, then fine adjustments until images look fine. Keep in mind that white balance and other parameters are both objectively and subjectively chosen. If you would like your images to be on the warm / cold side, specify this on your preferences page or on order notes.
- Exposure: we are controlling the adjustment using specific tools: exposure, brightness, levels. We will touch highlight and shadow recovery if needed, without ruining the photo and driving it to some 'cartoonish', HDR aspect.
- Contrast: this is an area where too much or too little hurts. We intend to use contrast to allow details in brightest or darkest areas to be perceived.
- Crop / rotation: we will perform cropping where needed. If elements are close to image margins and don't add to the image, we will crop. If image is slightly skewed, we will rotate. When cropping, we take into account rule of thirds if necessary.
- Saturation: if you need it, we will boost saturation to your desired levels. Other than that, we will slightly adjust it if existing colours are too intense or too faded.
- Sharpness: all images will be sharpened moderately, according to current practices. Also, the exported web-sized images will benefit from specific display sharpening, 2048px wide edge, 85% compression.
- Local adjustments: we will not perform local adjustments unless it's critical for a specific image. Either gradients to darken an area or lighten others. Or clone to remove a skin spot if close to the camera.
- Metadata: we will add metadata specific to your brand so that images in galleries and slideshows will have copyright headers included: brand, website.
Prepare your images
- _shmo allows you to send files in different formats: Lightroom catalog, Capture One catalog or directly the raw files.
- In order to be efficient, please send us only your final selection of photos. Depending on your current used software, you can import all images from a job in a Lightroom or Capture One catalog, generating smart previews. Make your selection (using prefered/rejected, stars or notes). Display only the selected photos and export your catalog with previews.
- Some Lightroom guides to select and export catalog with previews: How to export your LR smart Preview Catalog, The ultimate guide to using smart previews in Lightroom Classic.
- Capture One guides to select and export catalog with previews: PhaseOne.
- If you don't have Adobe Lightroom or Capture One available, you can select your final images in PhotoMechanic or other image viewer. It doesn't matter how you do it. In the end you want a folder with only those raws to be edited by _shmo.
Fill out order details
- Specify if we're allowed to crop, rotate and convert photos to black / white
- Choose the presets to be used for colour and black / white
- Add some notes to your order
- Upload your files (see bellow)
Upload your catalog or raws
- We prefer you to send us the Lightroom or Capture One catalog. It's much smaller than raw files and your upload will be faster. But it's your choice, after all.
- Write down your notes for this order, anything you would like us to know about it.
- UPLOAD YOUR PHOTOS to your preferred file transfer service and give us the download link.
Download editing results
- When your order is paid and processed, you will get an email with the download link for the edited photos.
- An archive containing the Lightroom catalog, Capture One catalog or full res jpegs (if you send us the raw files) will be downloaded.
02. ALBUM DESIGN
Ordering your album design follows the same path as editing orders.
- Prepare your files to be uploaded: select your jpegs to be used in the album. Pay attention to the colour space of the files (minilabs use sRGB, inkjet may use a broader space). Checkout this article about colour space and printing.
- Place the files in a folder, ready to be uploaded.
Fill-in order details
- Specify spread width and height
- Enter the maximum spread number (1 spread = 2 facing pages)
- Name your order so that you can recognize it further
- Write your notes / observations if needed
Upload the photos
Upload the folder you prepared with all jpegs to be used in the album.
Download results
When we finish the album design, you will automatically receive an email. You will find the Download button in your order details.
You can make 5 additional changes to your album - send changes by email at lets@shmo.photos. Describe each change so that we can understand what you need. After changes are made, you will receive another mail and you can download the results.
Album design results are jpeg files at 0% compression. In our experience, there is no noticeable difference between using jpeg or tiff files, other than huge file sizes of tiff. Trust us, on paper nobody will see the difference. Tiffs are better when you edit them in Photoshop and modify dynamic contrasts.
03. PRICES
All prices are tailored so that you can externalize your editing and album design activities. Not one penny more. See for yourself!
Editing prices
If you work with us occasionally, we edit your images at 0.11 EUR / image. There is a minimum fee of 50EUR per job <=500 images. If you upload 501 images, then price will be 501 x 0.11 EUR.
As soon as you subscribe to _shmo, we understand that you are serious about photography and reserve manpower for you. Price per image will be 0.09 EUR, no matter the order size.
Album design prices
Each album design order is 24 EUR. Maximum 45 spreads.
Branding prices
It's difficult to quote prices on branding services as your needs may range from designing one logo to an entire website. Let's talk about this and we will definitely reach an agreement.
Subscription price
One month of subscription is just 35 EUR. This gives you a price drop from 0.11 EUR / image to 0.09 EUR. Usually, on your second editing order you already save money from the price diference.
