Retouching

A Critical Ingredient

If your wardrobe fits perfectly, if you have no skin problems, if your grooming is spot on, your expression is attractive, friendly, and makes you look competent, you might not need retouching. But for the rest of us, retouching is critical to making the right first impression.

Our approach to retouching is to fix or remove details that distract from the image or reduce the quality of the impression it creates. We make many small changes to those details and make them even smaller if requested once the client sees the proof. But even with the small changes, the overall effect can be very dramatic.

The goal is an enhanced but accurate view of our subject.

We improve body shape, skin, hair, makeup, clothing, backgrounds, etc. We can smooth skin, add a tan, remove or lessen blemishes and wrinkles. Improve fit or change color of clothing, e.g. lumpy shoulder pads in jackets and lapels that no longer close properly.

Sometimes we need to open squinting eyes. Some people squint a lot in all of their pictures. Now this can be fixed.

Sometimes people contort their lips in unflattering ways, e.g. showing too much of the teeth in the top or bottom or creasing it in distracting ways.

Sometimes the jawline needs to be contoured to look good and blemishes in the skin need to be repaired.

Men’s shirt collars frequently don’t fit properly. Sometimes ties don’t reach the top of the shirt. We fix these problems and create the well turned-out look that is integral to creating a great impression.

We can make the look totally realistic or go for an enhanced look. You get the look you need, the look that is most appropriate for your business and application. When it’s got to look really good, we’re here to help.

Photo Compositing

We can change the background of your image, add to or remove things from the image, We can add people or take them out. We can blend things for a seamless, realistic look or create fantasy looks.

One of our clients had us add a person to a group shot, take two people out of that shot, add a window to the conference room where we did the shot, and add a view of the Chicago skyline out the window.

Special Effects

Black-and-White conversions, cool colors, antique looks, unusual or futuristic looks, etc. Atmospheric effects like rain, snow, rainbows, lightning, sun glare, day into night, etc.

When done well, with taste, discretion, and craftsmanship, digital retouching is a major element of a successful business headshot.