DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

The ten-second reminder for successfully retouching photos of people

Apr 19, 2019 by Dunja Djudjic 5 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Recently, while I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, I stumbled upon this sentence about people’s appearance: “If they can’t fix it in 10 seconds, don’t point it out.” It’s a very clever thought, and I immediately connected it with the retouching process and the rules for retouching people.

Based on this quote, I came up with a reminder of what you should change in Photoshop, and what should remain as-is when retouching photos of people. To keep things clear, I refer mostly to portraits and headshots, as well as wedding or event photos. There are other rules for retouching beauty and fashion images (although I still think you shouldn’t overdo it, but that’s just my two cents). So, let’s get started.

Why do we retouch people?

My train of thought took me to an old TEDx talk by Scott Kelby and the article I wrote about it during my first days here at DIYP. As Scott puts it, when we retouch people, it’s our job to make them look as beautiful in the photo as they were while we were looking at them. This means removing small distractions and the things that would disappear anyway, such as pimples or other small imperfections. Simply, it’s our job to depict the person as-is, without giving them a whole new identity.

What should we retouch?

Let me go back to the sentence I read as a screenshot of a tweet on Facebook:

https://twitter.com/avoguemagazine/status/1013181905372700672

I think that this can be applied to retouching. Put simply, if they can fix it in ten seconds, you should remove it in Photoshop. It might be a few stray hairs, a piece of spinach between someone’s teeth, droplets of sweat on their forehead… I don’t know, you name it.  Generally, I try to remove those sorts of distractions in real-time, and you probably do too, but we all know it’s sometimes easy to overlook them. Okay, maybe not the spinach between someone’s teeth, but you get the point. : )

However, the “ten-second rule” can be extended. Some things can’t be fixed in ten seconds, but they can disappear in an hour, a day or a week. For example, your subject can have a few pimples during the shoot. Or perhaps you can tell from their eye bags that they had a rough night. In these situations it’s okay to remove the pimples; they would be gone in a few days anyway. You can tone down the eye bags if the person doesn’t usually have them. You know, those kinds of things.

What shouldn’t we retouch

The tweet above notes that we shouldn’t retouch things that can’t be fixed in ten seconds such as “acne, weight, hair color.” I myself have a few acne scars on my cheeks, and I don’t retouch them in photos. I do remove some acne and pimples though, because this would usually disappear anyway (with or without leaving a scar).

While we’re at scars, I believe we should leave those in images, too. “Scars are tattoos with better stories,” so let them be. Which reminds me: don’t remove people’s tattoos in Photoshop either.

Generally speaking, leave everything that’s a general part of a person’s appearance: birthmarks, wrinkles, scars, tattoos, hair and eye color, weight. It happens sometimes that photographers edit out birthmarks, and I know a few stories myself. But I recently read this one on Reddit, which reminded me that sometimes you can’t tell a birthmark from a scratch. In these cases, just ask the client what to do.

I have gray hairs, eye bags (even when I have enough sleep, they’re always there), a few small birthmarks, and a piercing scar under my lip. I never retouch those, or my weight, when I take self-portraits

Conclusion

To conclude: if your portrait sitter can fix it in ten seconds, retouch away. If it changes their general appearance and identity, don’t touch it. Don’t turn people into something they are not, and if you are not sure about something: don’t be afraid to ask.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

This Ten-Year Timelapse of the 9/11 Memorial Gives Us a Powerful Reminder Dear introverted photographers, here are five tips for successfully working with people These photos of nuclear explosions were taken one ten-millionth of a second after detonation Ten pro photography tips I wish I knew ten years ago

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: photo retouching, retouching, skin retouching, Why do we retouch people

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« How to change the color of anything in Photoshop without making selections
Bob Dylan stops his concert to call out fans for taking photos »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy