Hagop's Photography

Why Photographers Retouch Headshots and Portraits

Photographers offer retouching because most clients expect blemishes on their face and forehead removed, wrinkles softened and enhanced eye bags. Many times, these are some concerns that clients have.

Recently, we had a person come in for a headshot. Basically, they were not satisfied with the portrait provided by their employer during a quick session for the employees. To clarify, one of the main things that bothered them was the retouching. They felt the retouching was bad. Specifically, the retoucher (not the photographer) had over retouched some areas and not even touched upon concerns they had. For that reason, they came to us to have input on the retouching of their headshot.

Why We Are Different

Many photographers do not have the talent or knowledge of retouching. Therefore, they must farm out their retouching. Generally, clients never really know what was done or if things that bother them could have been subtly retouched. Therefore, this is one of the reasons why many of my clients when needing a new headshot come back to us. Also when asked where they had their headshot done they refer us.

My Retouching Experience

Early in my career, I learned retouching of photographs. A friend of my family, a professional photographer, gave me a few bw negatives to retouch with a lead pencil. The next morning he was disappointed with my work and said: “this is not retouching, it is scribbling on someone’s face.” I spent the rest of the day until midnight working on the negatives. When I showed the photographer the work the next day, he was pleased.

A few years later, I expanded my retouching skills to color negative and print retouching. Then came digital and Photoshop. I invested in a computer and learned digital retouching. Now my clients are amazed how fast I retouch their headshots and portraits.

Some Comments

Here are some comments we hear often from clients as they watch me retouch their headshots.

“You are an artist, you made me look younger”.

“It is fun to watch you retouch my headshot, you are so good at it.”

“I guess this is how Hollywood stars photos are enhanced.”

At the end of each headshot session, I show my clients their headshot before (no retouching) and after retouching. I do this to be sure all their concerns were addressed.

Read on Palo Alto Headshots a subsidiary of Hagop’s Photography Best Headshot Photographer which was a comment by a client.

Eyeglass Reflections Retouched.

Eyeglasses reflections retouched.