what's a digital negative?

when clients get a high-resolution cd of their images, these are known as 'digital negatives.'

why is this important?

the time to edit and make an image 'ready for print' is a tedious task. a high-resolution cd contains 40-60 or so images from a typical session.  let's say on average a 'ready for print' edit takes 20-30 minutes per image.  frankly the client couldn't afford to pay for all of the time spent editing!  nor would we ever get anything else done! 

so the images that are on the high-resolution cd are edited to an extent - just not picked over with a fine-tooth comb. and thus referred to as digital negatives.  they would look fine as small prints but when printing large it is best to allow us to do your printing and get super-d-duper picky with the editing!

since we're all visual around here, let's have a look-see ::

this first image is sooc (straight out of the camera).  *feeling a bit vulnerable*

this image is the digital negative.  it has been cropped.  color-corrected.  and sharpened.

this is the final 'ready for print' image.  it has been lightened.  skin softened.  eyes sharpened. and other special touches added.

let's do another ::

this image is sooc (straight out of the camera).  *again, feeling a bit vulnerable*

this image is the digital negative.

this is the final 'ready for print' image.

so there you have it.  hope this was enlightening!  you are now an expert on the subject of 'digital negatives.'  or something like that...