How far do you go with retouching adults?

[reader0428]

Client picked up her 16x24 float wrap today. I thought it was beautiful. The first thing she said was, " Oh, you didn't touch it up!" Actually, I did - I did some skin smoothing and removal of dark circles under the eyes. I asked her specifically what she didn't like, and she pointed to the wrinkles at the corner of her eyes and the wrinkles under her husband's eyes. I tried to explain that if I removed it all, they would look very unnatural, like a wax statue. (I also showed her the before and after so she could see what I had done.) I do guarantee my work, so I told her that I would replace it if she was not happy. She admitted that she was probably noticing it more due to the size of the image, and when it was viewed from a normal viewing distance (i.e. not 6 inches from the print), she was OK with it. She left feeling that it would be fine, but I'm so sad that she didn't seem to love it right away.

My learnings:
1. Get very specific comments from the client on exactly what they want retouched. (I try to do this anyway but apparently I didn't get the right message here.)
2. Have client sign off on a final image before it's ordered, if any additional retouching is requested (I guess that should be a no-brainer, but this is the first time I've run in to this issue).

Here's the photo. How would you have handled the eye area here? (Email me if you want to see the full size, info@amandafaucettphotography.com)

[LadyShutterBug]

i probably would have touched up dad's under-eye area, and possibly his between-the-eyes wrinkle/line... but mostly based on the smoothness of everyone else's faces. when i'm going ot print something large, i really do try and do the facial edits because regardless of where it will hang, how far away viewers will be, people will still be critical of themselves.

i think it's beautiful, though. this would be an "unless dad protests" issue for me.

[brad]

Did you show them the out of camera proofs or the one you had already retouched some?

[bryanlindsey]

Originally Posted by reader0428

How far do you go with retouching adults?

Depends on how they responded to being touched in the first place.

Yuk yuk yuk

[deputy50]

The picture looks fine and natural. My neighbor practically made me turn her into someone else because she wanted to look like "Hollywood". We often hear that younger people are more self conscious, but it appears that as people get older they want to ward off the aging process. i guess if they can't have plastic surgery, they'll settle for "portrait" surgery. Again it looks good, don't pressure yourself for not creating a different person.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by bryanlindsey

Depends on how they responded to being touched in the first place.

Yuk yuk yuk

Awww... A wise guy, eh?

[JohnT]

Women: I remove some age. Men: Very little if any unless there's a zit or something. Children: Somewhere in between. I do global skin smoothing on all family portraits.

This one looks very nice though.

The more I look at it, I probably would have retouched under the dad's eyes some, but that's it for him.

[texkam]

It's perfect! Everyone is real and has a certain amount of character in this shot. You're on target with the amount you did.

She admitted that she was probably noticing it more due to the size of the image, and when it was viewed from a normal viewing distance (i.e. not 6 inches from the print), she was OK with it.

Exactly.

3. Let the client know up front that your work shows natural features.

... Knowing that if you choose to tone something down a bit they're not going to notice and if they want the "Hollywood" look, that can be done too. Perhaps even charge an additional fee.

[LadyShutterBug]

p.s. if something is going to be large, i usually send the client a proof (or have them come in to view depending on the situation) so they can see the level of skin smoothing and be sure they're comfy with it.

[BenE]

Originally Posted by reader0428

Here's the photo. How would you have handled the eye area here?

Since you have asked and indicated it is OK for others to edit your images, here is what I would have done as far as retouching.

Soften under father, and both boys' eyes.
Brighten man's eyes.
soften creases between eyes
remove shine on man's head
smooth area over his left eye (dark area)
All of these procedures would create a balanced look in keeping with the wife's appearance, in my opinion.


Lighten both boy's faces a little, in order to match mother and father, but since I do not know what the family looks like, that is just a guess on my part.

The image is rather small to work on, but perhaps this will give an idea of my thoughts.

It is only your customer's opinion that matters, but these are mine.

[texkam]

but since I do not know what the family looks like, that is just a guess on my part.

this will give an idea of my thoughts.

Cameras record data, each photographer interprets that data and creates images to their artistic standards. This is why having a portrait made is more expensive than just getting your picture taken. Some clients get this, some never will. Of course the later are the ones to avoid.

[reader0428]

sorry to have neglected my thread, we've been on vacation the past week. Thank you for all the comments, and thanks Ben for the edit. This one was a bit of a challenge to keep the skin tones accurate; Mom was lighter-skinned by a fair margin, the boys were both darker (due to being in the sun during the summer, I'm sure), and so I wanted to stay true to their coloring as I remembered it. And I realized that in my haste to get this ordered so it would be delivered before we left, I did not send the client a final proof, as I always do when I've made changes the client has requested at our proofing session.

We'll see if she takes me up on my offer to reprint it if she's not thrilled with it. I'd be just fine using this as a studio sample and I want her to be completely happy.

Oh and Brad - I showed her both the pre-retouching proof (had some color correction but no skin/eye work) and the post-retouching file.

[mrsrice22]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Some may prefer more editing, while other's may want you to leave that wrinkle or scar alone. The husband may see the more edited image and wonder why he now looks 10 years younger and become offended, you never know. I think you got it right with just going into details on what your retouching service consists of and if they want more than that to make that clear before the order is placed.

I don't completely get rid of wrinkles, but I do lighten them up a bit.