[Ed n Georgia]

I hope this is in the right place. It concerns PP, so perhaps it is



I see lots of really good photos posted on various forums. A good variation of indoor and outdoor portraits.

The only thing that really bothers me is the amount of skin softening I see and, what I think, is the over processing of the eyes.

Now, I understand the skin softening. It is very appealing. but, some of the shots look like the model has 40# of makeup on and look very un-natural.

Do people really want portraits of themselves look that much "un-like" them? Or, is it just we as photographers who desire that look.

It's that inquiring mind thing.

[wlachan]

I have been wondering too. Most magazine covers here in North America, the amount of PP were so much the human faces just look waxy and fake. Many still look pretty, but quite a bit of them look crappy. Then that's for commercial purposes, so how far they look from the actual persons isn't that important. However, for any actual persons that I have photographed, I have always tried to make them look as good as my skill permits without overdoing anything. But I guess PP is like drugs, it can be addictive.

[Wheatfield]

Count me as an unabashed over processor of pictures.
This is just my opinion, and in no way do I claim it to be the only true way, but to me, if a person just wants a true likeness of themselves, they can look in a mirror for free.
For me, portraiture has always been about idealizing the person to make them look as perfect as is possible.
I do agree that carried to the extreme it can be very wrong, for example, one shouldn't remove every wrinkle for a person's face, especially if they are closer to 40 than 20, but I see nothing wrong with diminishing this sort of thing.
This doesn't touch on glamour photography, which is another game altogether, where de-aging the subject is desirable.

[Ash]

The more I learn about what I can do in PP to improve my portraits, the more PP I do to my portraits.
But I am cognisant of keeping portraits as natural-looking as possible whilst ensuring the client is satisfied with the results. Excessive retouching and strong colour and textural manipulations can make me irk at an otherwise beautiful portrait.

[VikingDave]

Could someone post examples of portraiture pp done well vs. overdone, or done poorly?

[wlachan]

Could someone post examples of portraiture pp done well vs. overdone, or done poorly?

This?

[Ash]

Nah, that's real.
Oprah really does have a beard and an upside down head.

[tokyoso]

I think some people prefer makeups...

[kxr4trids]

One thing you have to realize that 90%+ of the photos you see retouched on dpreview or retouchpro are done by people who have a copy of photoshop and an internet connection, but lack skills, talent and training (frankly the last is not as important). Then, of course, either out of similar deficiency or some social motivation, such posts are invariably attended by much praise.

I can't figure whether the Hollywood tabloids are on a budget or if it's just a west coast aesthetic, like plastic surgery.

IMO, if I can look at it and know 100% it was photoshopped, it's been overworked. I'm not saying I don't do this if a client wants to pay for it, just that I'm not proud of what I do

With respect to individual photography (as opposed to commercial), my personal opinion as that the emotional purpose is to capture a specific moment of a person's life. 40 years from now, instead looking at a photo and going "Oh look, there's Sarah with those braces. Remember what a fuss they were?", what are you going to say? "Oh look, what smooth plastic skin and bright teeth she had?" Bah. It's no different than what a mortician does to a body. Everyone says how wonderful the body looks even though it doesn't look anything like the person did.

[peter sellmer]

The problem with digital photography is that it captures detail too well. Every hair, pimple and vein in a face stands out like a sore thumb. The challenge then is to reduce the detail so that it still looks like the person but impossible to tell that its been processed.
There are many, many techniques out there for facial softening and I have slowly and painstakingly developed my own and still constantly refining it. Here is an example:

Picasa Web Albums - peter - 2010-04-02

The problem with digital photography is that it captures detail too well. Every hair, pimple and vein in a face stands out like a sore thumb. The challenge then is to reduce the detail so that it still looks like the person but impossible to tell that its been processed.
There are many, many techniques out there for facial softening and I have slowly and painstakingly developed my own and still constantly refining it. Here is an example:

Picasa Web Albums - peter - 2010-04-02

A good film does/did also. That's why there are make up artists.

[ramair455]

I shoot beauty, not really portraiture, and even though the girls are young 17-25 and general have great skin, I still have to do quite abit of PP. Al 14.5mp with a gridded BD can be brutal even on great skin. The resolution of these new digital cameras easily rivals that of my of my old 67.

I try to keep the look of PP to a minimum, trying to maintain skin texture, and avoiding the dreaded "plastic skin."

I would happy to post some examples.

[paugie]

I try to keep the look of PP to a minimum, trying to maintain skin texture, and avoiding the dreaded "plastic skin."

I would happy to post some examples.

I would be happy to see what one would consider plastic skin

I have seen many examples of plastic boulders and artificially colored mountains and trees, not to mention unnatural sunsets.

[Class A]

I would happy to post some examples.

Please do. I'd be very interested.

[Earl53]

I shot this in a studio in Lawrence, MA. The model wore light makeup so I tweaked her complexion and added lighting in PS7 to highlight her face.