Here's the original photo. Pretty cute, huh?? It's nice, but I think it needs some work.
The first thing I will do is adjust the lighting, because the original was a little underexposed in my opinion.
Next, I will do some airbrushing on Mollie's face and chest. Now, I usually wouldn't edit out her adorable freckles, but I'm just using them as an example of the difference it can make on an uneven complexion (Instead of freckles, my face is usually covered in an uglier kind of spot!). I also took out some flyaway hairs around the top of her head that I just didn't want there :)
Next, I will adjust the contrast and coloring. The original was a little dull and yellowed, so I fixed that. Also, adjusting the contrast and coloring brought her eyes back to their original blue, which was lost because of the yellow tint that the original had.
The last thing I do is just some final finishing touches, like highlighting her zebra print bra under her sheer top. It's a little thing, but it adds some more dimension to the photo. I also adjusted the color once again, and added just a tad more contrast to her face to define her features. 
This process takes about 20-30 minutes (yes, I just timed it!). This is a very basic and straightforward photo, and is a good representation of several of the things I adjust in each and every photo. A lot of pictures don't need much work! Some of them need it more than others...it all depends on the look I am going for! These original images are like my raw sketches. I take them and work with them to make them into art...not just a snapshot.
My sessions take several weeks to complete because I first have to sort through hundreds of images from your shoot to select the best ones for editing. Then, I spend hours working on the selected images to perfect them!
You can't rush art...
:)
