ConnieLynn wrote:
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Does everyone else assume the client wants there yellow teeth whiten, moles removed etc. Some clients are just not photogenic, I tried and think this one has bit me!
Every client is different!
I often do some "retouching".... But I almost always keep it very subtle and would never try to make an 80 year old look like she'd 18 again!
Do they think of that as a "mole" or as a "beauty mark"? I'd leave it... maybe tone it down slightly... and see the reaction. Then if they ask you to remove it... well that's another thing!
When I shot film, for feminine portraits I frequently used "black mesh" and "black splatter" filters that reduced fine detail slightly. I still occasionally use those filters with digital, but much the same can be accomplished in post processing. Masculine portraits are another matter... often can be a lot more "harsh reality".
IMO, retouching has to be kept to a minimum... It's very easy to overdo. Using Photoshop, I'll often do the work on a separate layer, then with the images sized to approx. it's planned use on my monitor, adjust layer transparency to visually decide how much of the retouching to apply to the image.
As to the wrinkled collar.... Clothing, background, even make-up are all things you need to be acutely aware of and can better deal with BEFORE pressing the shutter release. It's no different with a portrait than a scenic shot or architecture, or whatever. The other day someone posted a scenic shot and there was a bright red plastic Dixie cup lying in one corner of the image. All I could think while viewing the photo was "Wouldn't it have been easy to pick that up first, so that it wouldn't be in the image?" I've seen the same with real estate/architecture photos where tubes of toothpaste were lying on the bathroom counter or a dish with a half-eaten sandwich was left on the kitchen counter or kid's/pet's toys lying about on the floor of a room. It's usually pretty easy to retouch things out digitally (if there aren't too many of them), but why not just deal with the "issues" before taking the shot?
That collar might have been possible to deal with simply by rearranging her clothing slightly or by using a clothes pin around behind her, had you noticed it before taking the photo.
Posing people is challenging. There are a lot of little "tricks" that can be used to deal with individual "problems".... For example, slight repositioning of the camera and/or adjustment of the person's pose and how their head is positioned can avoid a double chin or wrinkling of their neck.
When I was shooting a lot more portraits, I had a three-ring binder with pages of line drawings of poses for individuals, couples and small groups, that I could use for my own reference and to show the model(s). Still have that book somewhere... I'll get it back out if and when I find myself doing more portrait work.
I also sometimes used a sample book of photos to discuss image style with customers... various types of lighting and levels of retouching. (And I had a "clip file" of other peoples' images, mostly taken from magazines, for my own reference.)
Monte Zucker was a master of portraiture by available light.... if you can find any of his books, grab them and read them for ideas. There are a number of other books on portraiture that might be worth a read, but Monte's are always among the first that come to my mind. His style looks very natural, relaxed and unposed. But I bet a lot of care and work went into each and every shot.