There is about two weeks between the photo session and the time my clients receive their image gallery. I thought it would be helpful to show what accounts for the wait time, which is when post-processing, or the editing of the photos, takes place. The editing process usually takes much more time than the actual photo session because such attention is paid to each included image during post-processing. First, all images are downloaded and backed up on my computer. Next, I cull through the photos and choose the images that best represent my standard of work and are most flattering and representative of the client. After that, it’s my favorite part of the process — photo editing. Here are a handful of images I took of my daughter last night. These are the SOOC — or “straight out of the camera” images that were shot as RAW (unprocessed) files. 
I usually shoot in custom white balance, meaning I manually set the color temperature in camera. However, last night I was testing the Auto White Balance feature on my Nikon D800 and the color turned out a little on the cool side. As for exposure, I also shoot in manual and try to nail it as close as possible to make post-processing as simple as possible. The photos, as you can see, are not too dark or too bright, and all detailed was retained in the images. I process RAW photos in Adobe Lightroom. Here’s a screen shot of my Lightroom workspace. 
Lightroom is awesome for color correcting, adjusting exposure, fixing any lens distortion, and recovering detail in highlights or shadows. It’s great because these types of fixes are easy to sync across photos, which is time saving if the lighting conditions and camera settings are the same. What I also use Lightroom for is getting my photos close to how I envision my creative edit. If you compare the SOOC image to the Lightroom edit, you can already see that the photo is getting close to a final, polished image. And, the Lightroom edit of this photo is, in fact, fine. But what I love about Photoshop is really getting a refined, finished photograph. 
After the Lightroom edit is done, I export the files to Photoshop, where my creative processing really takes flight. I appreciate all sorts of styles of editing, from cooler images with a lot of contrast, to rich, warm images with a matte feel. Though I try to maintain consistency in my overall style, each photo speaks to me in a different way. For these images, I preferred a warmer edit. Photoshop is also great for editing details, like the stray stem from this image, to my daughter’s skin redness. 
(I could’ve done a more precise job cloning out the stem, but you get the idea.) Photoshop is really great for detailed, spot editing. Here are the final images of the remaining photos. 
And just for fun…I really like this one in black and white. 
I hope this helps understand the process a bit more! It was probably more technical and detailed than necessary. 😀
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