retouching

Photo Retouching To Fix Bad Photography

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I just finished retouching another batch of business headshots. The customer appears to have hired a professional photographer. I say this only because the Exif data embedded in the photos showed that a pro camera and pro lens were used. But the headshots looked like they were shot by an amateur:

• The photos were shot with an off-camera hotshoe flash in a white umbrella. I know this because the catchlights in everyone’s eyes clearly showed the reflection of a small, rectangular flash, the ribs of an umbrell, and a light stand.

• It was painfully obvious that no posing advice was given to anyone. Nothing but slouchy, sloppy, awkward poses along with some poor facial expressions. None of this could be fixed with retouching.

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Photo Retouching – Higher Rates Can Be Better

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During a long day of photographing the same thing over and over again, such as shooting five or six tennis matches in a day, it’s good to find something different to photograph. Often I will shoot the players’ shoes as they serve, their hands as they hold a cluster of tennis balls, or their towel-covered face as they wipe off the sweat.

This is another view-from-my-office photo.

Someone recently asked for a price to retouch two business headshots. I said my rate is $140 per hour but I would first need to see the photos. After reviewing the two pictures, I quoted them 20-minutes per photo or $93 total plus tax. They accepted the quote, I did the retouching, and they were happy with the results. Another normal day of photo retouching.
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Photo Retouching of Clothing

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Photo retouching of business portraits isn’t just about the person’s face. Retouching can also fix clothing mishaps such as a crooked tie, a loose collar, wrinkled clothing, a missing button, an open zipper, a twisted pocket flap, etc.

Clothing mishaps aren’t a big deal in personal photos but they shouldn’t be ignored in a business headshot. If it looks like the person doesn’t care about their appearance, then how much do they care about their job?
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Retouching Business Portraits

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If something doesn’t work as it’s supposed to, you might be able to fix it. But if it’s beyond repair then you’ll have to replace it. (US Library of Congress)

If your business photos don’t function properly, retouching might be able to fix them. Otherwise you’ll have to replace them with better quality images.

Business headshot photography has been part of my business for about 30 years. Over the years, I’ve learned that some companies understand the function of business headshots and some don’t.
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Cheap Is Not A Bargain

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If you wear eyeglasses, this is how your business portrait should look. No reflections on the lenses, no greenish tint on the lenses from the anti-glare coating, no lens refraction on the sides of the face, minimal shadows caused by the frames, both eyes fully visible, the whites of the eyes are white, good colour in both irises, and nice catchlights in both eyes.

Many professional photographers know how to achieve results like this and it isn’t difficult. If your business headshot with eyeglasses doesn’t look like this then your photographer failed.

A company this week asked to have its business headshots retouched. The photos were shot by a cheap photographer.
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A Close Shave

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Removing a small amount of facial hair is usually easy to do. But realistically removing a beard, moustache or a lot of stubble can be impossible.

One of the more difficult, if not impossible, retouching tasks is removing facial hair. Removing a beard or moustache can be impossible to do because the facial hair has to be replaced by realistic-looking skin that matches the person’s face. Also, the photo retoucher has no idea what the person’s jaw and mouth look like under the facial hair. The retoucher can only guess and the results will not be accurate.
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Retouching Business Headshots and Other Portraits

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Of course I’m going to retouch my own headshot and make myself look as good as possible.

Almost all business headshots and other portraits need to be retouched. This is often done to fix mistakes the photographer made or to repair something that was overlooked such as a crooked tie. Being neatly groomed will make you appear more competent.
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