Photoessential photo correction, photo repair and restoration service

• Photo Correcting

"When we talk about 'correcting photos' we don't mean they are wrong, it's just sometimes our photos may not come out how we expect. There are all sorts of tips and tricks to improve your photos before the shoot but circumstances don't always mean we have time to consider camera settings and lighting conditions. Fortunately techniques can be applied, post shoot, to help sort many issues. Common issues like photo blur can often be improved or fixed using sharpening tools and techniques. Editing processes can remove unwanted items or people from the scene or even adjust the depth of field. So don't despair, your images can be sharpened and colours enhanced and brightened. Digital photo corrections can really be applied to many aspects of your image."

• Enhancing Photographs?

"Intensify, increase or further improve the quality of pictures! Your photographs may have faded over time or the camera settings weren't quite right for the moment. We are able to target particular colours or all of them and really brighten them up using colour enhancement techniques. Reds faded or come out brown, for example? Not a problem, we can restore all colours. Tones too dark or tones too bright? Tonal issues can be a global, (overall), problem or a local (specific), problem. Tones can be adjusted globally or areas isolated and adjusted using layer masking techniques. Our methods are completely none destructive, so your photos wont diminish in quality, and that's guaranteed!"

• Retouching Portraits?

"Remove unwanted wrinkles or blemishes from your otherwise perfect portraits. If your portraits are not quite what you expected, or you weren't looking your best on the day, you may appreciate a little photo retouching and correction. Portraits can benefit from a spot of airbrushing. Skin textures can be softened, eye colour enhanced or even changed. You could even receive a little make over. Poor lighting conditions given you a double chin? Like us to reduce it, or remove it?

We'll retouch all glamour photos too. We offer a discreet service to all our clients however personal the images. So long as they are legal, of course!"

• Fixing Tone and Colour?

"Correct overexposed photos, correct underexposed photos and adjust colours.
Balancing tones and colours on all your pictures that have suffered incorrect camera settings or awkward lighting conditions. Even photos shot in some of the most tricky lighting conditions can be improved. It could be that you have a great image but the photo is underexposed in the foreground and close to overexposed in the background. A typical example of this would be an overexposed sky due to a much darker foreground. To fix problems like this with your pictures we use special layer masks. By using layer masks we can isolate and target just the troublesome areas and apply tonal and colour corrections using none our destructive processes."

• Photo Restoration Service

Photo restoration is possible with many photos that have lost colour or faded over time. Old sepia photographs are particularly prone to fading. We are able to restore them and bring back detail. Quite often they look better as black and white photos, as in the example below. Colours can be restored if required. Sometimes we have to do a spot of guess work regarding original colours but that's part of the fun when restoring them.

• Photo Repair of Old or Damaged Pictures

"If you have an old or damaged photo or a faded photo, then be assured our photo restorations service can repair them. We can rebuild a photograph, whether torn or stained, using various techniques and tricks of the trade. We repair photos, even severely damaged ones and the results are quite often astonishing. A torn picture can receive a seamless repair by using cloning and sampling techniques. This is great news if you are looking at an image you thought was lost forever. This means your images can be mended, renovated to original condition, or even better!"

• Enhance Wedding Photos?

"Not happy with the results? Let us work our magic to correct those photo mistakes. We know these are precious photographs and a re-shoot is just out the question. Do they need brightening up or sharpening? These kinds of issues can all be resolved. We'll improve the quality of your pictures and brighten up your day. Our team are creative, multi-disciplined experts, offering a high standard of work.

Why not let us apply some special effects to enhance your wedding album. A popular effect, that always works well, is to desaturate the background, (remove the colour), leaving the bride and groom in colourful glory. It's a great effect and really pushes the focus onto the main subjects. You may want to make a montage of your day for friends and family. Simply provide us with the photos of your choice and we'll do the rest."

• Correct Baby Photos

"Just like your wedding day photographs, treasured pictures of your new born just can't be retaken. Quick snaps? Incorrect camera settings? Disappointing results? Many corrections can be made with amazing results. Most digital cameras have pretty good auto settings these days to help you capture the moment without the hassle of fumbling around with confusing settings. However, we aren't all pro photographers and even the camera gets it wrong sometimes too. Leave your camera on auto and it will do a good job, most of the time. But when you have interior lighting to deal with, high contrasts or no time to compose, the shot may capture the moment as you saw it. To enhance baby photos, post shoot, gives you the opportunity to preserve the moments as you remember them, not dull, or overexposed, but bright, with balanced colours and focused."

• Removing Backgrounds or Objects from Photos

"Accurate background extractions. Why would you want to remove a background? For many reasons; you may wish to change it, a new sky perhaps or a new location entirely. You may want to remove it for an effect or remove it for product display. Whatever the reason, we at Photoessential, can help. We can remove unwanted objects too. Someone walked by in the background and ruined your shot? Objects in the frame that you want removed? Our skilled technicians can accurately and invisibly remove objects, people, animals, in fact, just about anything. Sometimes we are given complicated background extractions, around hair, for example. These can be quite a challenge but not beyond our ability. So why not test our skills, we enjoy a challenge."

• Compositing or Photo Montages

"Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. A montage or photomontage is the process and result of making a composite photograph by cutting and sticking together a number of other pictures.

We don't cut and paste anymore, (with glue anyway), but do all our work digitally. Why not have a composite of family members or special event, or perhaps a company product viewed in different environments. You are only limited by your imagination."

• Accurate Selections?

"Removing objects accurately, making complex selections like hair, for example. We use a combination of skills and special editing techniques to make accurate selections in order to remove objects or edit isolated areas. When making any kind of improvement it is vital any alterations are made as realistic as possible. You do not want to see tell-tail signs of cut outs on a montage, for example. Making an accurate, invisible, selection takes a keen eye and patience."

• Isolated Adjustments and Corrections?

"Isolating areas using adjustment layers and masking techniques to apply, for example, a targeted tone and colour adjustment. Layer masks allow us to target areas of your digital image in a none destructive way."

• Desaturating Colours?

"So you need to change a colour photo to black and white. We'll do it properly by desaturating colours. Often people jump to the option to simply change the colour mode from RGB to Greyscale in their choice of application. This is not the best option, you end up reducing the channels to one and subsequently reducing the levels of grey in the image. Desaturating the image is the best option and preserves the 3 RGB channels and the range of greys. Of course, you don't have to desaturate the entire picture. We can isolate areas and remove colour in a controlled way. For example, the background could be desaturated of colour leaving the main subject in full colour."

• Colourisation or Colourise Images?

"Simply put, it's applying colour to an image. In layman's terms, making black and white pictures to colour. Old black and white photographs, or new ones, can take on a new life by adding colour. Of course colours can't be just painted onto a black and white image. The process of colourising is a little more technical than that. We use special blending modes in order to make the colours look realistic. Colour can be applied to isolated areas of your photograph, or all of it."