Bride wants to touch up body figure

[Chantal]

I have to be honest I rarely use Photoshop except to put two horizontal pictures together and do a little blur. Photoshop is such a complicated tool but I'm really trying to learn. I do some post processing using Lightroom and that's it. Today I received an email from the bride that she would like to touch up her figure such as her arms to make them smaller. I have never modify a body part before. My question is should I tell her I'm happy to do it but for xx per image? How much should I charge? I have 3 Photoshop books collecting dust under my bed. Perhaps I should open it up and practice? Also any recommendation of photoshop tutorial how to slim down body parts?

[T. Adam Martin]

Outsource it. There are plenty of vendors that will do the retouching for you. You've made a boundary decision so far that doesn't include Photoshop. Don't waste your time right now on retouching. Outsource it.

[Chantal]

Outsource to where and who? Where can I find the info and price?

[mmuhlenkamp]

I would outsource as well if you don't already know how to do that kind of touching up. It takes a lot of practice to make it look good and I don't know if you want to risk sending something back to a client sub par.

The Human Form section does a lot of touching up like that, if you want to learn you might want to look for some info there and just try out some tutorials online. The liquify tool is hard to master. If you want to learn I say go for it, but outsource for this instance until you know how to do it yourself.

[Sonny]

Here are a handful of Photoshop Liquify Tutorials

[mmuhlenkamp]

You can outsource to me depending on the image I don't think it will take more than an hour of my time and shouldn't be too pricey. PM me if you're interested.

[Chantal]

Sonny - wow, thanks for the video! I'm going to give it a try. If I get it right I'll show some pic(s)
Melissa - How much do you charge. I don't even know how much to charge her...hahaha

[mmuhlenkamp]

PM'd you.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Chantal

Sonny - wow, thanks for the video! I'm going to give it a try. If I get it right I'll show some pic(s)
Melissa - How much do you charge. I don't even know how much to charge her...hahaha

No problem Chantal. I agree with the rest of the posts in this thread. Initially I would outsource this job to someone more experienced. If all goes well, it could possibly round up some more business. All the while, you could practice honing your skills by following the tutorials. Good Luck!

[DoublyDan]

That second video is pretty funny. He said "Ass, for lack of a better term" lol

I would say to use the freeze tool inside liquify if you get around some areas that need to stay clean and un-stretched (say like clothes, textures etc). I have done plenty of this work for others that never even knew that I did it. If you want examples please PM me (i wont post them here cause its a small world). If you need some help do the same...

[DoublyDan]

Originally Posted by Chantal

I don't even know how much to charge her...hahaha

By the pound.

[PhotoByLeal]

Originally Posted by DoublyDan

By the pound.

How much per pounds?

Sweet videos Sonny as always!

[Chantal]

I watched all the videos and just played with the Liquify tool. It's pretty cool! I really like it! Well, I quoted the bride a pretty high price per image. I bet she won't take my offer :-)

Thank you everyone for all the inputs. Sonny thanks so much for the videos!

[PhotoByLeal]

Originally Posted by Chantal

I watched all the videos and just played with the Liquify tool. It's pretty cool! I really like it! Well, I quoted the bride a pretty high price per image. I bet she won't take my offer :-)

Thank you everyone for all the inputs. Sonny thanks so much for the videos!

Beauty hurts two ways, pain and money!
Don't be too sock when she says YES! cause it does happen!

I thought these two clients were not going to book me, because of my prices are high, guess what $$$ cha-ching!

[Redneck]

I do that all the time with my brides - without them even asking me and without charging extra for it. My understanding of photographing women is that they want to look as good as possible and that's why they hired a professional photographer. I think it simply is part of the job.