RETOUCHING
It’s a part of the job
I’ve loved photography since I was a little girl; and now that it’s a business of mine I’ve been obsessed with retouching so that I can ensure my final images are “exactly” how I want them to be. Most people have asked why I don’t just invest in a retoucher; a question to which the answer is, “Because all of my favorite retouchers are super expensive” AND “I believe retouching is a necessary skill if you’re a photographer.”
Over the course of the last few months, I’ve been studying some of my favorite photographers, retouchers and invested heavily in retouching courses on online learning sites. From Udemy to YouTube University to purchasing random courses developed by professional retouchers like Pratik Naik I’ve definitely gone down the rabbit hole of this retouching thing. While the space of retouching is not a place I hope to dwell in forever, I am super proud of the knowledge I’ve amassed, and it’s super satisfying that other have noticed it as well.
An ode to thank goodness for growth, this is where my retouching (and photography) skills were in January of 2019.
Model: Micah Alcantara | MUA: Cedasha Randolph
This is an image that I retouched in March 2020. It took a total of 1 hour and 29 minutes, but I love the end result.
Model: Alexis Hart | MUA: Heather Trachsel
The point of it all…
Is that I owe some people an apology. Just kidding, the real point of it all is that growth comes from persistence and dedication. Early last year, I loved highly saturated images, had no idea about white balance and to top it all off I had just gotten into studio lighting.
Stick with it. From what I’ve learned, no matter how much you learn you (still) know nothing. I’m looking forward to 365 days from now when I can look at the retouching I did on the picture of Alexis and feel how about it how I feel about the retouching job on the picture of Micah. (To avoid confusion I hate the retouch job done on the picture of Micah)
In the weeks to come…
I will be hosting small online classes to share what I’ve learned, so more details to that are forthcoming. I hope you’ll join me.