The Reality of Retouching

We get it.

You know you’re supposed to be drinking eight glasses of water a day (if only coffee counted). The same goes for those eight hours of sleep (we all just have to power through on less than we deserve sometimes). If you’re really on the ball, you know you should moisturize, but sometimes you’ve got to get out the door and there just isn’t time. All this can add up to your skin looking more dull or uneven than it should, your hair not looking quite as lustrous as it could, and perhaps you looking more than a little grumpy from time to time.

The above may be a bit dramatic, but we do get it. Getting all those things done, all at once, along with everything else in your day-to-day life…

Well, it can be a lot. 

This is where retouching can help. Yes, retouching is used in big fashion magazines and advertising campaigns, but in truth, retouching covers anything done after a photo shoot to help you look your very best, whether it be for a headshot, branding photos, family photos, or staff photos for a company.

Maybe a blemish or two showed up a few days before the shoot. Or your skin and hair could use a little help for the reasons above. Or wow, that sweater is looser than you remember and it’s making you look bigger than you’d like.

The above things don’t have to ruin a perfectly lovely photograph or photo shoot. Different retouching tools exist for all of the above, along with just about anything you can think of that one might want addressed in a photo.

Ultimately, whether you choose to have your photos retouched is up to you. Just as candid, just-as-the-camera-took-it photography has its place, so does photography that has had a little extra sparkle, snap, or oomph brought out of it with different retouching tools and techniques.