Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of photo retouching, working with images shot by other photographers. Some of these photographers clearly know their craft because the images sent to me are extremely well done. The retouching required is usually adding or removing specific objects as requested by the final client.
On the other hand, some photographers are, uh, not as skilled. A significant portion of my retouching work involves fixing their mistakes and trying to compensate for their lack of expertise. But even after retouching, the final image may still be subpar due to issues like weak portrait poses, poor lighting, bad composition, or other problems that retouching can’t fix.
Retouching Family Portraits
Recently I worked on two sets of family portraits, both shot outdoors, by different photographers.
The first set had images that were overexposed by about two stops, resulting in overly bright faces and washed-out hair. Additionally, all the photos were crooked. I guess the photographer had one leg shorter than the other :-) The images were also cropped too tightly, making it impossible to print or frame them without cutting off body parts of family members.
This photographer is a wedding-portrait photographer with ten years experience according to his website. A look at the EXIF data revealed he used Lightroom: his editing and masking were poorly executed, leaving behind clearly visible halos and artifacts.
The second set of family photos had some images that were too dark, others too bright, and one photo had its contrast lowered so much that it was a mostly grey image with no clear blacks or whites. The EXIF data showed that Lightroom was used and the photographer’s masking techniques left obvious outlines around the subjects when they did a terrible job of blurring the backgrounds.
These two sets of photos were, at best, the work of an advanced amateur, not a professional. If the photographers had delivered higher-quality images, there would have been little to no need for my retouching services, and the families would have saved money.
Photographers – learn to use your camera’s manual settings for portrait sessions. Use a tripod. Learn to edit. Get your photos critiqued at portfolio reviews.
Customers – always hire the best photographer you can afford. Don’t go cheap if the photos are important.
No Retouching Allowed!
I recently encountered an unusual situation when a customer requested retouching on some of her wedding photos. But her photographer had included a “no alterations” clause in the photo contract, prohibiting any edits or retouching by anyone other than the photographer. If the customer wanted any retouching done, they had to buy the service from the photographer.
A quick web search showed that a few other wedding photographers also have a no-alterations clause. I did not find any other type of photographer who had a similar contract clause, only wedding photographers. However I did find one wedding photographer whose contract specifically stated that the customer is free to use/edit/print their photos in any way they want, except for commercial use, and to enjoy and share their photos as much as possible. (This is a good marketing move.)
While I understand that photographers have moral rights over their work and that poorly executed retouching can reflect badly on the photographer, this type of restriction seems overly restrictive.
It’s quite possible this clause violates Canada’s Competition Act, Section 77, which addresses “exclusive dealing.” This law prevents a supplier or manufacturer from forcing customers to work only with them. Canada’s copyright law also allows customers to make alterations to photos for private use, meaning they are free to edit their images as they see fit.
The photos that the customer sent me for retouching had clear technical issues—exposure, colour, contrast, and saturation problems—that the photographer should have fixed before delivering the final images. Additionally, many of the photos needed retouching, such as smoothing the bride’s skin tone, removing stray hairs, adjusting a crooked tie, and cleaning up distracting backgrounds. I did all the retouching requested and the customer was happy with the results.
