What is the reason to retouch?

While many of my clients are happy with the digital proofs I deliver and expect nothing more from their photo shoot. What is important to appreciate as an art buyer, is that there are many ways an image can be improved even though it may be good to begin with.

I love the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. The title says it all. Why settle for good when you can have great? The same can be said for ‘finishing’ photos. In this example, the capture was spot on- focus great, expression great. Processed through Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, my image processing software- the proof is ‘pretty good’

Image captured as a Nikon NEF raw file and processed in Adobe Lightroom

Once I went through the take and identified the clients and my favorites from the shoot, by adding star ratings and creating a collection in Lightroom. From that point, I opened the photo into Photoshop and did some basic retouching under the eyes, some skin softening, and blemish removal. A simple filter from Nik Color effects was applied and lightly applied using a layer mask and brushes applied with a pen and Wacom tablet.

Master file with basic retouching and some tweaks applied using Photoshop and layer masks + filters from Nik Software.

Here is another example- the image on the left is otherwise good- the capture is correct, framing and composition as I wanted. The details on the right show the differences that are important if you were to print out the shot larger than say a 5×7. The investment in getting the image ‘finished’ translate to all uses. Even on the web, arguably the least demanding medium, there is a definite difference in how the image ‘reads’

Left- Post-Processed in Lightroom, Right- Finished in Photoshop

The steps I took were to clean up the background rust in the fountain and remove the towel the bride is sitting on. Then I refined the contrast using a curves adjustment layer. Followed by Glamour Glow, a Nik Filter. Then Vignette Bur, another Nik Filter- all of these are tweaked and painted in with different opacity for best results. Finally, I apply a sharpening brush mostly for the eyes and then to lesser amounts to the remainder of the face and details I would like to highlight. This is described as ‘creative sharpening’ which calls attention to the subject without over sharpening the background.

I have to say that I prefer natural retouching- that enhances the photo and the people in particular. it is something that is dependent on taste- but creating master images that reach their potential is important. Especially if the time and effort is made to produce a shoot and capture in the best light, using the best equipment. As a photographer, I find it very satisfying to complete the photographic process through to the finished master file knowing that my clients are getting the best results possible.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 11:43 pm and is filed under Hiring a Photographer and tagged with Nik color effects 3.0, Photoshop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.