Retouchers are commonly found behind the metaphorical curtain of the photography process. They operate as the hidden muscle behind a large quantity of the high-end imagery we see these days. They can play an integral role in refining a successful image and taking it to the next level.
The skin is the star in these make-up free beauty portraits by Pratik Naik
The name Pratik Naik is probably already familiar with you. He’s become a bit of a household name for image retouching and if you haven’t heard of his Infinite tools and Photoshop plug-ins yet I am going to assume that you either shoot film with a vintage camera and develop it yourself, or live under a rock somewhere off-grid. What you probably don’t know Pratik for, however, is his photography.
But he is in fact (kind of annoyingly) a very accomplished photographer with an artist’s eye. He let DIYP take a look at one of his latest personal projects that combine his love of black and white portraiture with retouching in his project titled ‘Fresh Faced Beauty’.
This comprehensive tutorial guides you through all the secrets of advanced hair retouching
Retouching hair in Photoshop requires a lot of patience and skill. Thankfully, there are amazing tutorials out there to help you master it, and this one comes from Pratik Naik. In his latest video, he’ll guide you through his hair retouching process and show you all the tips, tricks and secrets to help you nail it.
Professional retoucher “spills the beans” on how swimsuit campaigns are really edited
We know that those models that we are seeing on cover shoots have been shooed to death. We shared a few of those before/after over the years (see here, here and here for just a few). So we know that extreme retouching exists, and we also know that it’s an issue that bogs both models and photographers.
What is not so common, is having someone from within the retouching circle to out the secrets of the trade. Not becasue those secrets are unknown to most, we know that photos are shopped, but becasue it shines a light towards something that most brands and advertised prefer to keep in the shadows.
Refinery29 sat down with a high end retoucher, who says she’s done lots of work for Victoria Secret. She is still working with in the industry and understandably, she would like to remain anonymous. But this does not take away from her message or the tricks she is revealing:
Photographers vs Retouchers
This is something I’ve been pondering for a while now and man has it got me excited! What happens when you get a photographer who retouches his own images vs a retoucher who does it for high end clients as a living? Let’s find out the results!
Creating cinemagraphs for the beauty genre
I wanted to do a beauty/cinemagraph project for a long while. About two years ago, I saw the site cinemagraphs.com. Their fashion cinemagraphs were extremely tastefully done. I really enjoyed viewing the images. These images really consumed my mind for a while. I’ve been looking for a photographer to collaborate with and create images in the same genre. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find one. Until recently when Wendy Hope agreed to do such project with me, but for beauty genre instead of fashion.
Testing, retouching and photography etiquette
The word “testing” can have a variety of different meanings in the industry.
But it always refers to creatives sharing their time to create something as a team.
In commercial photography the test is done to see if the model is suitable for a commercial shoot, since models cost a lot of money and “bad chemistry” can cost the client too much.
Snickers Pokes fun at Retouchers With a Sports Illustrated Ad
Every once in a while we will see an epic photoshop fail making its way into the front page. Heck, even Victoria’s Secret had a Photoshop bloop a while back. Now, Snickers is building on those fails in a new ad featured in Sport Illustrated.
Sports Illustrated back cover does not target the general public, they do not even target photographers (is there a difference) they are targeting retouchers, with a brilliant ad.
According to Snickers , Photoshop fails happen when retouchers are tired (due to not eating sneakers, I suppose). I have to say it smiled pretty broadly when I saw that.
The Relations Between Curves, Color And Magic
In order to understand curves we need to understand color in the way that Photoshop does. This is called Additive color theory
EVERYTHING in an image is made of 3 colors – RED – GREEN – BLUE
The Power Of Color and Color Harmonies In Composition
About two weeks ago, we hosted a workshop with the amazing Natalia Taffarel. Now, I am back at the studio and I am having some mixed feelings. Mixed because I’m highly motivated to do a change in my retouching workflow in a crazy way, and because I am overfilled with new input. On the other hand I do not want to see my previous portfolio ever again.
All things considered, I think that this is a positive outcome.Whatever I lacked on my previous work, I am going to add now… After I finished digesting this huge information load.
The first day of the workshop was an eye-opening experience and this is what I would like to focus on today. Mostly, because it fits well with what I repeatedly say: “Retouch only what bothers you most, dont Zoom in to 400% and start to retouch like crazy. Retouch the five things that bother you most. Then retouch the next five.”
At the end of the workshop, I am going to change my workflow. I think it would be right to say that it will be a “Colors and Look” workflow. And I am going to make this change full throttle. This is going to be a key factor behind the photos I retouch. Why? I’ll explain in more detail in the next few weeks – it is a long and interesting process.
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