Observations from Photo Retouching

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 outdoor portraits, from two different families, shot by two different photographers.
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Why You Should Retouch Family Portraits

Here are eight reasons why you should consider retouching for your family photos:

1. Enhance Image Quality

Professional retouching can correct issues such as poor lighting, shadows, or dull colours, and bring out the true beauty of your photo. This will help the image look vibrant and sharp, especially when printed.

2. Eliminate Imperfections

Everyone has minor imperfections, whether it’s blemishes, stray hairs, or other distractions. Retouching can smooth skin, remove small imperfections, and refine details to ensure that everyone looks their best.
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Why Your Business Headshot Needs Retouching

Here are a few reasons why you should have your business headshot or other professional portrait retouched:

Correct lighting, colour and contrast:   Retouching can correct uneven lighting, minimize unwanted shadows, and adjust the colour balance, contrast and saturation. This will create a more visually appealing portrait that will draw more attention.

Enhance colour:   This is more than correcting the colour. Colour correction means whites are white, greys are neutral grey, and blacks are black. Colour balance, also called colour grading, is adjusting the hue of each colour. Should your skin be a warm tone or a cooler tone? A warm tone suggests friendliness but a cool tone implies authority and strength. What shade of blue works best for your blue shirt: navy blue, cobalt blue, a warm blue, a cold blue? Colour affects our emotion which then affects our perception.
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Photo Retouching in Toronto

There’s no need to read this post because it’s only meant to publish two links for search engine use. I want to see how long it takes for search engines to pick up the links.

I’m doing more photo retouching than I am doing photography. A big reason is that photo retouching doesn’t require any driving. Traffic in the city of Toronto has been terrible for at least 20 years and it keeps getting worse each year. I could do a long blog post about bad traffic and stupid drivers, but not today.

Photo retouching is always done calmly and quietly which is something I can’t say about all photography jobs. On the other hand, photography is more exciting and you meet new people all the time.

Over the years, I’ve worked out of three studios. Shooting in a studio was nice because there was no driving, (except driving to the studio), and no equipment had to be transported around town. But a studio is expensive and, because most of my photography was done on location, a studio was superfluous.

I now specialize in portrait retouching. Family portraits, business headshots and wedding photos are the kinds of images I work with. But remember that retouching isn’t limited to just improving people’s faces. Retouching is also used to correct and enhance real estate photos, pictures of offices and buildings, product photos and any other image that needs to look better.

My retouching customers have told me that they want their photos retouched locally rather than by a business in a faraway country. It’s a good thing to shop locally and there’s more accountability with a local business.

If you’re looking for photo retouching in Canada or, more specifically, photo retouching in Toronto, please take a look at my main website for more information and samples of my retouching.

 

Retouching Rejection

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.
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Retouching and Wedding Photos

If your wedding photos will be important to you, hiring a professional photographer is essential.

Recently I received an email from a woman who wanted to retouch her wedding photos from this past summer. She hoped to create a wedding album in time for Christmas. She wrote that the pictures “need work and maybe a lot of work.”

After reviewing her wedding photos, it was obvious she was right. Her photos needed a lot of work.

Instead of hiring a professional, the couple had asked friends with cellphones to take the wedding photos. While that might have seemed like a fun and budget-friendly decision at the time, reality has now set in.
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The Four Steps of a Business Photo

The four steps a business marketing photo has to accomplish in one or two seconds:

1. Get the viewer’s attention. You need good photography to accomplish this. If you fail to get the viewer’s attention then the rest doesn’t matter.

2. Once you’ve got the viewer’s attention, the image must lead the viewer through the photo so they can “read” the information you’re presenting. A good photographer knows how to compose an effective image.

3. The information you’re presenting must trigger an emotional response in the viewer. If there’s no response then the viewer’s attention and interest turn off. If you didn’t use a good photographer then you may have lost your connection with the viewer.

4. After reading the photo and having some sort of emotional response, what do you want the viewer to learn? What’s your message? What’s the takeaway? Hopefully you thought out the photo beforehand and used a good photographer.

Earn attention -> provide useful information -> create emotional response -> involved viewer = build trust and enhance your brand value.

Do you notice how important a good photographer is for your business marketing?

 

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