A recent customer didn’t like the retouching I did on his business headshot. But he also admitted that the retouching was exactly what he had asked for. When compared to the original picture, shot by another photographer, he thought the retouched proof photo made him look too good!
He paid $100 for the original photo and believed, for that price, it couldn’t be improved that much.
When I asked him to look only at the retouched proof, he admitted it looked realistic and natural. I asked if the retouched proof made him look his best. He laughed and said it made him look his best but only on a good day. Despite this, he chose to cancel the retouching.
Okay that was a first for me. A customer who liked the results but didn’t like the results.
To provide some context, the original headshot had just one sidelight that cast deep shadows across his face, making it look dramatic but unsuitable for a business headshot. The customer had requested the shadows be fixed because he felt the lines on his face made him look tired. (The photo also had a crooked shirt collar, an overexposed and wrinkled shirt, some nose hairs sticking out, one dark eye and a posterized background, all of which I also fixed.)
Everything I retouched , except the nose hairs, could have been, and should have been, prevented by the photographer before they took the photo. Had the photographer used better lighting, the shadows would have been lighter and softer. Wrinkles and lines would’ve been much less visible. Catchlights in the eyes would’ve been better. The overall photo would’ve had less contrast and the skin tone would’ve been more even.
But then
Four days later, the customer changed his mind and purchased the retouched photo. He had shown the retouched proof to his wife, who “loved” the photo, and to some business colleagues, all of whom approved the retouched image.
It wasn’t the retouching that made him dislike the new photo, it was his human nature. When you look at original and retouched portraits side-by-side, the differences between them become very noticeable. We are, by design, especially adept at noticing changes in faces. When it’s our own face, these changes may seem huge to the point that we can’t not see them.
People fear that others will also notice these seemingly huge changes. But in reality, others will only see the final retouched photo and they will use this image to form a better opinion of you.
Side-by-side comparisons
When making a choice, it’s better that you examine your options one at a time rather than side-by-side. When you consider each option separately, you can focus on your main goal or primary purpose for making that choice. But when you compare options side-by-side, you tend to get distracted by secondary goals or less important details.
When you compare before-and-after portraits side-by-side, you can get distracted by all the little differences such as: the eyes are brighter, the teeth are lighter, the hair looks different, the skin looks different, etc. But if you look only at the final retouched photo, you can concentrate on your main goal: do I look good in this photo?
And then
By chance in the same week, a second customer also said they didn’t like the results of my retouching.
A woman sent three wedding photos and a detailed list of what she wanted retouched. I did what she requested and sent her proofs.
She emailed to thank me for doing what she wanted but wrote that “the retouching is too much and they don’t look realistic when compared to the original pictures.”
A week later, she emailed to say she was now happy with the work and wanted to buy the retouched photos. What happened?
She showed the retouched proofs to some of her friends and to her mother, all of whom liked the photos.
