What Can Be Retouched?
Nearly every client I work with has something about their physical appearance that they do not like, whether it’s something they picked up involuntarily in their journey through life like a scar or hair loss, whether it’s something they regret, like a tattoo or piercing, whether it’s a physical trait they just personally do not prefer, like the shape of their nose or a little extra weight they’ve gained.
Either way, we always include complimentary basic retouching for clients as part of their print orders with us. If we are printing it, putting it on the wall, into an album, or you have a package that includes retouched digital favorites, then those images are coming to us first to be touched up before they go out.
But inevitably the question becomes:
What level of retouching should I expect, which one should I ask for, and how much do I really even want?
Instead of trying to explain it, I pulled out some past examples to give you an idea of what’s possible in the world of retouching.
Photo by Taylor Smith
Real Retouching Requests by Past Clients:
NOW YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON’T
This image was for a local business organization that I photograph events for regularly. When I sent the images, they notified me that the gentleman in the plum blazer was a potential candidate for their open Executive role, and to avoid any appearance of favoritism while the process was ongoing, asked if the photo could be taken down. The only problem was, I did not have any really great “camera aware” shots of two of the other individuals, and hated for them not to be in the gallery, so I suggested we retouch the other person out. This was how it looked in the end.
LEVEL: ADVANCED….LIKE…WAY ADVANCED
NOTHIN’ BUT BLUE SKIES
This image was part of an album design for a past wedding. The bride and groom had said one thing to me about my work, and that was that they loved my colorful skies. Unfortunately on the day of the wedding, it was dark and stormy out, and the clouds could not be avoided. We did the photos we had planned, and during the album design process, retouched the photos with the dark clouds to give them a happier blue appearance. While I was at it, we also moved the groomsman who had been walking immediately behind the couple, and scooted him over a bit to be less of a distraction.
LEVEL: MODERATE
CAN YOU GET ME A SWEAT RAG?
Getting engaged anytime in Key West means dealing with warm temperatures, but for this couple in the middle of the summer, it was especially scorching. My client was unfortunately sweating through his shirt, so when it came time for them to order their prints, we spent some time “cooling him off” so to speak. Sweat is one of THE most difficult retouches to do, because you can’t just make a selection and fill it in or use a blend tool to match it to the area next to it. You’ve got the natural folds and creases of the clothing, the shape of the torso, the color of the shirt to get right, and sometimes a pattern that has to match up exactly. It takes time, but the end result was worth it.
LEVEL: ADVANCED
WHO NEEDS HARDWARE?
In a perfect world, every room you go into will have flawless walls and no distractions, and every time I lift my camera, I would ideally have a few minutes to angle my subjects and redirect an otherwise less-than-ideal setup. But sometimes a moment happens, and your choice is simple…shoot, or miss. For this moment, as the groom quickly shared a sweet note written by his 6 year old niece, the choice was simple…shoot it. The couple loved it, but when it came time to put it in the album, we clearly were not going to leave the distracting door handle, hydraulic hinges, and thermostat in the background.
LEVEL: BASIC
Portrait/Facial Retouching Examples and Levels of Complexity
Now that you have a sense of what’s possible, I wanted to give a really clear side by side comparison. So, I asked my amazing retoucher Galyna to help me with some samples. These are three images that we are sharing in both a Basic, Medium, and Advanced Retouch. To make the process as unbiased and formulaic as possible, and to be fair to clients who may be a little self conscious about having their flaws displayed for the world to see, I requested images from other photographers and used the same photo for all three levels, because I think it gives a clearer delineation of what to expect in your own photos once you get ready to order. So without further ado, here goes…
What is considered “Basic Retouching”?
Basic retouching is intended only as a slight enhancement. It covers things like small blemishes, minor flyaway hairs, minimal skin touch up, and basically anything that we can do quickly and with very basic tools and techniques. While we don’t necessarily “clock it”, on average if something is taking more than about 5 to 7 minutes to retouch, it has started to wander outside of the “Basic Retouching” category.
Photo by Aleksander Popovski
What is considered “Moderate Retouching”?
Moderate retouching takes the Basic up to the next level. This is where you start to get into things like hair enhancement, more work on wrinkles and skin, slight body slimming, and just generally giving the images a little more of a cosmetic/aesthetic enhancement of things that you want changed.
Difference between Basic to Moderate
What is considered “Advanced Retouching”?
Moderate retouching takes the Basic up to the next level. This is where you start to get into things like hair enhancement, more work on wrinkles and skin, slight body slimming, and just generally giving the images a little more of a cosmetic/aesthetic enhancement of things that you want changed.
Difference between Moderate and Advanced
Side by Side Comparisons from Original to Advanced Retouching
From Original to Basic
From Basic to Moderate
From Moderate to Advanced
Image by Hasan Khan
From Original to Basic
From Basic to Moderate
From Moderate to Advanced
Image by Mateus Campos
Other Retouching Examples
Background Swap and Skin Touch Up
LEVEL: MODERATE
Swap to Different Smile
LEVEL: ADVANCED
Enhance Sky and Remove People in Distance
LEVEL: BASIC
Touch Up Hair and Background
LEVEL: MODERATE
Remove Seaweed in Background
LEVEL: ADVANCED
Miscellaneous Beach Cleanup
LEVEL: MODERATE
Enhance Skin and Hair, Change Background
LEVEL: ADVANCED
Remove Sunburn Line, Slim Arm and Fix Dress
LEVEL: MODERATE
I hope you found that helpful! If you have any questions about retouching or are curious about what’s possible with your own images, drop me a comment or shoot me an email!