EDITING VS. RETOUCHING
One thing that can be difficult to explain to clients is the difference between editing vs. retouching and why retouching costs so much and is an extra fee. Below, I explain the differences between the two and also include photo examples to compare and contrast a RAW (unedited, straight out of the camera image) to an edited image to a retouched image. I feel like the visual comparison is probably the best way to demonstrate the difference in techniques/results.
Basic editing (which is what is included in my packages) includes cropping and perspective correction (to ensure best composition), color correction (getting rid of any color casts to make the image's overall colors as accurate and as natural as possible, i.e. what the human eye would see), exposure and curves adjustment (balancing out the shadows and highlights to ensure a full tonal range so photos don't look "flat" and have ample contrast), and color grading/toning (adjusting the colors and tones to add a distinctive style and mood to the image) and sharpening (enhancing the detail and clarity of an image). Basic editing DOES NOT refer to something as simple as "throwing on a filter." It's a manual, highly technical, time-consuming process that is taken to insure and preserve the image's overall quality, integrity, and tone.
Retouching is a much more time-involving, tedious, laborious, and highly technical process (hence why it costs so much). Sure, there are some software programs that you can purchase and "slap on a filter," but the results look amateur (at best), extremely fake, and just flat out obvious. The true art of retouching is to not go so overboard that you completely transform/alter someone's appearance, but rather, to present them in the most "realistically enhanced" version of themself that still looks natural. People will often ask "well can't you just 'photoshop' this or that out?" Of course, I can, but it's not as simple and easy as the click of a button. It's a process much like painting. It's adding and subtracting, subtracting and adding, rinse and repeat. Retouching a headshot can take anywhere from 10-60 mins to put into perspective, again, why retouching costs so much. Time=money.
L image: Image pulled straight from camera. No adjustments
M image: Color correction + exposure correction + sharpening + color/tonal grading + vignette
R image: Evened out skin tone, smoothed fine lines and wrinkles, removed dark shadows, eye bags, sun spots, whitened eyes, smoothed and lightened hair. A total of 60 mins to retouch this one headshot.
R A W
E D I T E D
R E T O U C H E D
T image: Straight from camera, no adjustments
M image: Color correction + sharpening + exposure correction + color/tonal grading + vignette
B image: Evened out and smoothed skin tones, removed skin imperfections and flyaway hairs. Total of 20 mins retouching.
R A W
E D I T E D
R E T O U C H E D
T image: Straight from camera, no adjustments
M image: Color correction + exposure correction + sharpening + vignette
B image: removal of background elements (i.e. beachgoers), slight skin smoothing (total of 7 mins retouching)
R A W
E D I T E D
R E T O U C H E D
T image: Straight from camera, no adjustments
M image: Color correction + exposure correction + straightening of horizon line
B image: sky overlay + selective focus effect + perspective correction + color grading + vignette + sharpening + skin smoothing (total of 60 mins retouching)