DIGITAL PHOTO RETOUCHING

Ok, I’m going to skip over the technical stuff and briefly explain what retouching is and isn’t , in terms that hopefully everyone will understand.

1. No image is perfect at its creation, regardless of how good the lighting was or how famous the photographer that took it!
2. Photo retouching is not the same as photo manipulation, which can be confused with highly criticised shots of celebrities and fashion models that appear on magazine covers with perfectly silky skin and toned bodies.
3. Photo retouching in wedding photography does not mean making arms look skinnier, tightening of the waist, tummy tucks, wrinkle elimination, making someone look 20 years younger, chin removal and so on…. you get the point.

When it comes to retouching wedding photographs, I recommend taking a very conservative approach and not going overboard with it. Although photography is a form of art and most people will argue that “Anything Goes” I am strongly against that whole fake look.
Generally speaking we concentrate on correcting the exposure, color balance, adjusting the contrast and dynamic range, removing certain scars, pimples blemishes, blending tan lines and skin discoloration, very slightly softening the wrinkles and smoothing the skin.

To better understand what you can expect from photo retouching just mouse over at some of those images to see the before and after samples.

White balance and a touch of creative color adjustment along with slight contrast and skin treatment.

Exposure adjustment with some dynamic range correction, color enhancement and very slight skin softening.

An extreme example of skin treatment, removal of pimples & moles, balancing of harsh highlights and lines.

Footprint and debris removal, smoothing of the sand, extreme Color enhancement, contrast adjustment and dynamic range balance