Over the years I have learned that the most successful photographers working will often look to see what else is there and really work the scene to see if there is another picture behind the picture. In other words, find another picture, possibly two more pictures, while you are in the same scenario with the same subject. Don’t stop just because you think you have it.
This is not an editing how-to post. But it is a little bit of a wake up call to remind us all that with a very slight bit of what I call "polishing", we can make improvements that we simply were never able to do in my film days. There were the usual filters we could stack in front of our lenses but we had no control over the amount of any filtration effect.
By definition 18% gray is the “mid-point between black and white on a logarithmic or exponential curve.” Think of it this way; it is simply halfway between black and white. It is the average in terms of scene brightness and has for many years been the one constant thing that photographers use on which to base their exposures on.
...you can always change the contrast of any given source slightly by simply changing the light from raw and sharp to soft and diffused. Light contrast is another control that we can keep in mind in our mental tool box as we approach a session. A friend of mine is a big fan of small incandescent lights added to a bride outdoors late in the day. Another way to control that is to diffuse it slightly. You’ll see a slight loss of light in terms of image quantity. But the benefit for the bride’s face in terms of image quality will really enhance your efforts and make you a hero
