I've blogged about retouching before, but I feel I need to revisit the issue because its becoming one of the biggest topics in Wedding Photography. As a professional - one of my main objectives in marketing my services is to show and explain how I'm different from "Debbie Digital" and "Uncle Joe." For those not familiar with either, "Debbie Digital" is a name applied to soccer moms who've bought an expensive digital camera to take pictures of there kids and some how decided to market themselves as professionals with no real education or experience. The same can be said for "Uncle Joe," except he usually is at weddings with a better camera than me and no idea how to use it!
Ok lets discuss some images.
Before
Our bride is sitting outside during an overcast day. Now this is one of my most basic ways of retouching- Boost color and smooth skin. I pride myself in producing the best photo possible. Cameras can only do so much, but computers can do almost anything. The best thing about cameras is they pick up everything and the worst thing about cameras that they pick up everything. This is where computers come in and why smoothing of the skin is so necessary. I mean I have nothing against pores (lol), but the goal at all times is to make the photograph look as best as possible and for me, this is better than the original image. I'm not changing her color in any way: this is how she looks. I'm just bringing out what's already there.
Orginal image straght out of camera.
This one is slightly more complicated. This was a November wedding and the bride wanted shots that looked more like a September wedding (meaning she wanted a Fall look). The only way this was possible was to alter the color of the foliage. I made the color more darker and stronger while at the same time trying not to alter the color of the bride and groom in a negative way. I'm very please at the result of this. The foliage in the background is strong and my clients were very pleased.
Oginal photo of my wife and oldest daughter.
This was taken in my in home studio. I felt the orginal was okayyyyy-lol But I wanted a little more sleek and hot! So I whitened out the background, strengthened the color tones and increased the color and contrast of the rest of the photograph. As you can see my wife's hair is more rich and her brown dress is a little more spicier!!
This is my wife and daughter taken in my in my home studio. The photo below is flat. I felt the richness of their skin tones should be brought out, their skin should be smoothed and the faces should be highlighted making them the main focal point of the photograph. Mission accomplished!!
This photo was straight out of the camera.
Above we have a photo of a bride taken with her dress held behind her by her bride's maids with a window providing the only light. The photo above is straight out of the camera with no retouching done.
First rule of retouching is that you don't do it, "just to do it." Just like taking the actual photograph; there needs to be a vision, a reason and a purpose. My goal was to make this photo look more elegant, angelic and antiqueish. I smoothed out her skin, added a little glow to her, and took some of the detail away form the wrinkles of the dress because it was too distracting. Next I decided to bring the overall tone of a photograph to medium between sepia and color. This was my vision, and I was satisfied with the result.
In closing I did fail to mention that most important thing was you have to start of with a great image. A lot of photographers spend a lot of time trying to rescue images-lol. This is not the way to go. You have to "get it right in the camera." If you start with a great image than the retouching is obvious and easy. Its all about making a great image and outstanding image!!
This is what separates the rookies from the veterans in this field.
