The perception of photo retouching and its quality, like the photo itself, is highly subjective. It is obvious that every request is individual, but in general the task is to remove everything that distracts and interferes. So, the idea is just to add volume at hair roots, lengthen the neck, remove some horizontal wrinkles, clean the folds and armpits, finish nails and add some shine, improve the makeup of eyes, line of eyelashes, and apply a uniform color. Definitely, it is important to work with imperfections of skin and spots on the model’s face, but not too much. Contrasting transformations of excess weight in model parameters and, for example, a younger look should be more like a one-time exception, not usual approach.
It should be mentioned that most photographers, when saying ‘basic processing’, mean ‘color correction’. It improves the color, tone and contrast of the image. Color correction of photos is a correction of color scale, white balance, saturation, sharpness and contrast of the image, as well as equalization of the illumination of too dark or light areas of the photo. It is such a powerful tool, that the difference between what was in the source and after the initial processing, is just ‘hitting the eye’. Still, many amateurs consider it easy enough and refuse professional approach, visibly reducing chances to create a magnificent photo.
Usually the basic photo editing software at home permits:
- framing;
- color correction – white balance, saturation, contrast;
- sharpening the whole picture.
But only professionals can offer detailed portrait photo retouching services, which include:
- skin retouch – elimination of most visible defects like scars, wrinkles, scratches, bruises, narrowing pores, etc.;
- treatment of eyes (adding expressiveness), teeth whitening, applying/removing makeup, hair editing, if necessary;
- replacing color of hair and eyes, as well as general correction of nose shape, eyes cut, mouth, and some imperfections of body.
A fashion team for beauty photo-shooting is a team of professionals even before the camera clicks, which helps to get closer to the perfect picture in the process of shooting. That is why such photos do not usually require hard retouching work, due to a good-looking model and nice appearance with correctly applied makeup, favorable light and good optics. Everything you need to do is to adjust the image to a certain level, bring it closer to the idea of the author. A wonderful photo of a retoucher can improve the level from good to very good, medium to good, bad to acceptable. So the work of professional photo retouching experts is not aimed at correcting the image, but improving it.
Despite the fact that most of technical tasks for the retoucher of glossy shots contain various aims like ‘make it skinny’, ‘remove the folds’ (of body or clothing) and ‘make it look younger’, you can note the tendency to preserve naturalness, individuality and non-destructive retouching. A ‘homemade’ retoucher does not always see the difference between excessive and light retouch process. Because after the invention of Adobe Photoshop in the early 90s, we have got a tool, which could achieve amazing results in photography processing. But, nowadays only specialists know that instead of ‘over processing’ it is better sometimes only to blow off some dust from the chin instead of covering it with layers.
That is why, the so called deep retouching or professional photo editing services is a delicate and invisible process. The task is to show the person’s beauty, and not to show all the professional techniques that the photographer knows. It should be added that even the most ‘gentle’ retouching requires expert skills and time.
Basic processing does not include any interference with the content of the photo. As a result, we get just a good photo without any peculiarity. It may differ only with lights and contrasts, which sometimes can be absolutely not appropriate.
Retouching the image, with the help of experts (artistic processing, full/deep processing, etc.) is a final stage of a cycle, which can create the perfect result. This work usually include such invisible improvements as hair and makeup retouch. Sometimes even the background of a photo is completely replaced, which shows the magnificent work of professionals. Professional retouch is based on the artistic vision of the photographer. The goal is to transform from a simply beautiful into a magically beautiful.
Of course, Photoshop is a program with tremendous capabilities which you can try to use at home and practice from time to time. But if you are looking for a perfect picture, with invisible photo retouching, it is better to use a more convenient and qualitative solution. Retouchme.com is an awesome source of endless professional retouch tools you may even not know about. The experienced team is always improving their knowledge and staying up to date with new technologies and trends. This contributes to the ideal photo as a result of the tough work of photo experts.