This is another view-from-my-office photo.
Is it common for a company to require its employees to supply their own business headshots? Most of these self-supplied headshots are, of course, cellphone selfies.
Over the past few months, several businesses requested retouching of their employee selfies. These businesses often expect magic to happen. One “selfie” was a five-person group wedding photo. The customer wanted the person, second from the left, extracted from the group and turned into a “standard business headshot.”
Another company requested that I make their selfies “look like industry standard, professional headshots.” Of course, if you want industry standard, professional headshots then you need to start with a professional photographer.
Selfie retouching has included: straightening pictures, replacing backgrounds, fixing colour, contrast and sharpness, brightening eyes and adding catchlights, cleaning up messy hair, straightening ties and collars, replacing shirts, removing sports logos from shirts, adding facial contouring, and removing glare from eyeglasses.
Does the final retouched image look like an industry standard, professional headshot? No. But the saving grace is that these selfie headshots are used small on a web page. The cost for retouching these selfies has been $50 to $100 each.
I like retouching photos and I’m happy to get the work. But isn’t it better to use professional photography to get a professional portrait rather than hoping retouching can save an amateur selfie?
