We are super excited by what you can do with photographs now a days.  There are so may programs out there to help you make great photographs and create fun pictures using free or inexpensive software like Photoshop Elements, Picasa, iPhoto (for my Mac friends) and Picnik.  But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Wait – didn’t I just say I am excited about what you can do with a photograph?  With A photograph is the keyword.  Not every photograph and that is the twist.

I know the current trend of “over saturated” or “bright, poppy color” as my friends call it looks cool in a photo, but it should be done for a single picture as something fun and not every picture you take.  Just imagine, 10 years from now your child will need a picture of themselves for a school project and all you have is these over saturated photos.  You might get this question from your child “Mom (or dad), when did Gainesville come under a nuclear attack?”

Another popular trend in filters is the old photo look.  We do restoration at the studio and get people bringing in precious photographic memories from the 60′s & 70′s so we can restore the color.   Again, this is good to apply to one or two pictures, but it should never be done to every photograph taken.  And it should not destroy the integrity of a well-lit & exposed photograph.

So what am I trying to say – EVERYTHING in MODERATION.  Make sure when you are taking photos or having them taken for you by someone else that you make sure to get straight natural color photographs as well as the ones with some special effect done to them. Photographs give us the ability to hang on to a moment in time.  Let that moment in time be a true memory and not something with a lot of fancy filters.  You’ll thank me in 10 years.