Photo retouching isn’t just for commercial images. It can dramatically improve family and personal portraits, too.
You might have a portrait you almost love, but not quite. Maybe the colour feels off, or the image is too bright or too dark. Your eyes might appear too dark, your skin uneven, or your hair slightly out of place. Retouching can usually fix these issues, and even elevate a good photo into something striking.
Retouching Outdoor Portraits
Outdoor locations and natural lighting don’t always cooperate for an ideal portrait.
In this example, the casual portrait feels overly bright, slightly off-colour, and there are major distractions in the background.
Our eyes naturally gravitate toward bright areas, and here, the bright ground and tree trunks pull focus away from the subject. Even more distracting, two tree trunks appear to “grow” out of the subject’s head.
Retouching darkens the image, removes the tree trunks, smooths the dress, and eliminates the wristwatch (which might have stayed if it complemented the look). With these distractions gone, the person becomes the clear focal point.
The final image feels calmer and more cohesive after all the loud distractions are removed.
Retouching Studio Portraits
A studio portrait should always have perfect lighting. But when it doesn’t, retouching can often help.
This second example has excessive contrast and saturation, both of which overwhelm the image. The skin appears shiny, facial shadows feel heavy, and the eyes are much too dark.
Just as we notice brightness first, we always notice the colour red first. A strong red background can compete with skin tones and dominate the image.
Retouching corrects the colour, contrast, and brightness. The messy hair was tidied up. The background shifts to a calmer, warm tone that complements rather than competes with the subject’s skin.
Although the final portrait looks noticeably different, it remains authentic. The retouching didn’t alter the person’s facial features. Only the lighting was changed. In fact, the photographer could have achieved this same result in-camera with better lighting choices.
More information on retouching family photos.
General information on my photo retouching services.
