The business of photography and retouching
In most cases, you want to avoid reflections in eyeglasses when taking photos. The only time reflections are acceptable, or even desirable, is when they contribute to the story or mood you’re trying to convey.
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Fixing messy hair is one of the most common photo retouching requests. When only a few stray hairs need cleaning up, the process is quick and easy.
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Photo retouching isn’t just for portraits and business headshots. Any photo can benefit from retouching.
Retouching can fix technical flaws in an image. It can also enhance colours, emphasize details, and polish a photo to give it more impact.
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Retouching real estate photos plays a crucial role in enhancing the visual appeal and marketability of a space. Photo retouching is both a technical and an artistic process. It can refine an image to highlight the property’s best features and eliminate distractions.
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When selling a property, it’s more appealing to show furnished rooms rather than empty ones. Virtual staging services can transform empty spaces into decorated, furnished rooms. Virtual staging can even replace existing decor with something better.
But if you need to showcase the existing decor, virtual staging won’t work, and photo retouching becomes essential.
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Customers sometimes request that all facial wrinkles and lines be removed from their portraits. I smile when I get these retouching requests because I know the outcome: when the customer sees the retouched image, they’ll say it appears unnatural, with their face looking like plastic.
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If a man takes off his sunglasses, I can hear him better.
– Hugh Prather, US writer
Two customers recently asked me to retouch some of their vacation photos. The pictures included a mix of cell-phone selfies and professional shots. (When travelling to a popular holiday destination, tourists can often hire a local photographer to capture their holiday memories.)
In the selfies, everyone was wearing sunglasses and the lenses were filled with distracting reflections. Most importantly, no eyes were visible.
One customer had some family photos taken by a local photographer and everyone in these images was wearing sunglasses. No eyes were visible. Despite the people’s smiles, the absence of visible eyes reduced the emotional impact of the photos.
Both of these customers asked if I could make the hidden eyes more visible. Unfortunately that wasn’t possible.
Eyes are the primary way we express emotions and connect with others. Our eyes communicate our feelings, intentions, and personality, and they help establish a connection with others. When sunglasses cover your eyes, you lose that emotional impact, making the photo feel less personal and less engaging.
The next time you take a selfie or pose for a photo, whether on vacation or at home, remove your sunglasses. Unless you’re specifically photographing the sunglasses themselves, it’s best to take them off. Visible eyes make a significant difference in the emotional impact of a photo.
