Fix Underexposed Photos: Retouche

Without getting into too much detail, I want to share a company with you that has allowed me to fix underexposed photos on more than one important occasion: Retouche.  Last week, we ended up with all the raw files from our wedding pictures. I was searching through them and found a VERY important picture that never made it in the final cut (and caused me a LOT of grief).  A picture of my mom and me.

Note to Brides: You wouldn’t think to tell your photographer to get a picture of you and your mom. Apparently you do.

These photos were grossly underexposed – all three of them.  I wasn’t sure how much I could do to save them.  I don’t know photoshop well enough to correct photos this poorly exposed. Lightroom wasn’t working for me either.  (I know just enough to be dangerous… not useful.)

How Retouche Works:

Enter Paul, my friend at Retouche.  (More than a few years ago, I had a brief stint as a wedding photographer. He saved my butt on some overexposed pictures, so I hoped he could save these under exposed pictures. And, he did!)  His work speaks for itself, but here’s how it works.

1.  Create an account and upload pictures to his website.  (Raw files are best, but he does great work on jpegs, too!)

2.  Add notes on what you want corrected and submit photos for an estimate.

3.  Authorize your funds via Paypal and wait for Paul to work his magic.

4.  Preview photos – add notes for additional changes or approve final images.

5.  Download final images and thank God for people like Paul…

Seriously though.  Paul also saved a couple of underexposed photos from our first dance. He’s amazing.  Before you give up or delete those photos you think are past the point of no return, give Retouche a chance.  I definitely felt like these pictures were a lost cause, but I wanted to try because it was really important to my mommy. It was worth every penny.