The process I took for post production was starting within Adobe Lightroom CC as I find it to be easy to use and have control of viewing and selecting  my images through the rating system, from there I edited the images by altering and experimenting with the tones menu; exposure, highlights, shadows, contrast, the presence; clarity, vibrance and saturation, and lens correction and from there I then further refined the photographs in Adobe Photoshop CC, where I carried on adjusting the tones and colour of the prints and cloning on some images for dust, taking objects out such lens cap in one image, someone’s phone in the edge of the another shot etc and eliminating glare off glasses in a couple photographs so the eye’s can be more clearly. And in one photograph (of my mum sat watching Tv in the living room) I used the cloning tool and the clone source to slightly move the clock and side table to fit into the frame a little more instead of being on the edge of the frame.

Also in Photoshop, I thought I would experiment with converting the images into black and white and manipulating with the colour spectrum to create more contrast amongst the tones. I decided to see what my images would look like in monochrome because documentary usually connotes to black and white imagery so for that reason I wanted to see if my documentary work would look better monochrome like most documentary images are or to keep them in colour as my artist research, most of the photographers series (Billingham’s ‘Ray’s a Laugh’, Sultan’s ‘Pictures from Home’, Waplington’s ‘Living Room, Barney’s ‘Friends and Relations’ and Toledano’s ‘Days with my Father’) are done in colour which suits the projects as the colour helps to portray the subjects and their surroundings and their personalities.

I think the photographs look  more presentable and pleasing after the tone and colour has been adjusted, trying to balance the tones and colour in the images to match with one another which has produced harmonious and complimentary photographs. The touch ups with the cloning tool has neatened up some of the shots making them stronger and by cropping some of the prints has made the compositions a bit tighter and more effective.

So I find that the images being converted into black and white has “made it more documentary like” and I feel that the monochrome does suit some of the photographs such as on the first row; the first and fourth shot, second row; first and second shots, third row; first and fourth shots, fourth row; second and fourth shot and the first shot on the fifth row. However I still feel as though my work suits being in colour rather than in black and white because I feel that the colour adds to truth and the rawness of the images, it helps to illustrate the subjects.

From these edited images, the prints that I favor more are (from rows left to right);

Row 1; 1 and 4 – Row 2; 2 and 4 – Row 3; 1 and 4 – Row 4; 2, 3 and 4 – Row 5; 1 and 2.

I feel as though these are my strongest images.