The business of photography and retouching
Continuing on from the previous post about retouching business portraits:
This is a basic business headshot and represents the minimum standard for a professional business portrait.
The main problem is the uneven exposure. One side of the face is significantly brighter than the other side, making the image feel unbalanced. The white shirt is also overexposed and the overall colour is too pink.
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Business headshot and portrait retouching generally falls into two categories.
The first is corrective retouching. This is fixing problems caused by the photography such as uneven lighting, distracting shadows, incorrect exposure, and colour casts.
The second is enhancement retouching. This helps make a good portrait look even better by removing distractions such as stray hairs and clothing wrinkles. It also includes refining details such as skin tone and texture.
Some portraits may need a combination of both types of retouching.
Professional photo retouching can make a significant difference. But it’s important to understand what retouching can realistically accomplish and what should have been handled during the photography session.
Here are some examples of business portrait retouching.
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As a follow-up on my previous post about removing makeup with photo retouching, here are three more examples.
The first example (above) was relatively straightforward because the makeup and coloured lighting didn’t completely obscure the underlying skin texture. I could remove the makeup and coloured lighting while preserving the natural characteristics of the model’s skin.
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A customer (not shown in any photo here) asked to have her makeup removed from a portrait of herself. She had a photograph of herself from an evening social event and wanted to repurpose it as a business headshot. She was wearing elegant clothing and her hair was fashionably styled. The problem was that her evening makeup was too overdone for a business portrait.
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Business group photos can be surprisingly difficult to pose. You want each person to look professional and approachable, and the group itself should feel natural and cohesive. What you don’t want is a photo that looks like a police lineup or a sports team portrait where everyone has the same pose.
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When you look at a portrait, your attention should naturally go to the person’s face. But an awkwardly positioned arm or hand can quickly steal the spotlight.
In most portraits, the arms rest naturally at the sides, cross comfortably in front of the body, or rest on a nearby surface. What you generally want to avoid is an arm that hangs away from the body or juts out at an unusual angle.
A good portrait pose has a sense of visual flow. The hands, arms, and rest of the body should work together rather than compete for attention.
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A strong business portrait communicates personality as much as appearance. The most effective retouching is usually subtle; people should look like themselves on their best day, not like a different person. Here are some techniques professional retouchers use to enhance business headshots.
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