HIGH-END RETOUCHING
The camera picks up too much detail, even with the most gorgeous clients. **Psst, that's why even supermodels get high-end retouching!
BEHIND THE SCENES
Step-by-step 6-image GIF peek at how photos are retouched over here at INK Photo Haus. The fall colors needed a little boost (and we just couldn't catch a break from the bicyclists!) but we turned this into an epic art piece anyway!
ENVIRONMENTAL EDITS
My image retouching process doesn't just apply to humans. Environmental distractions (people/objects in the background), fall leaves that aren't fall-ish enough, sunsets that go out with a whimper rather than an awe-inspiring glow... all of these adjustments can be made in the final editing process.
WHAT CAN BE RETOUCHED?
You name it, I've retouched it. I work with a national non-profit, NILMDTS, solely on extensive, very challenging retouch work. Through that experience and within my own business, I've been professionally trained to adjust weight, hair, complexion, teeth, eyes... anything that is stopping you from liking how you look in photos.
We were choking on chalk and still couldn't get the mega-poof that we wanted. Hellooooo, Photoshop, my little friend!
A more extensive body contour after giving birth and wanting some baby weight gone!
"I needed new realtor headshots, but I have a medical condition that causes one of my eyes to bulge. I'd been self-conscious to get them done. I was referred to Katie and she worked MAGIC on what must have been a very complicated retouch. I almost cried when I saw my final images. Stunning. She is a true artist. Thank you!"
~Janna W.
ISN'T THAT BODY SHAMING?
I want you to be proud of your photos. And my custom hand-painting is what gives my work it's signature glow... if you selected me as your photographer based on my portfolio, then, congrats... you already like my retouching work! If you like the images in ANY national magazine, then congrats again... you also like more retouching work! I look at retouching as NO different from mascara, waxing, Spanx, curling irons, high heels, botox, hair dye, sucking it in for a photo, tattoos, earrings, or teeth whitening strips that enhance your natural appearance... just faster and cheaper! :)
I've met so many people who avoid having their photo taken until they lose 10 pounds, grow out their hair, get their braces off, lose the acne, start working out... and they miss YEARS worth of documenting their lives. Or worse, they have their photo taken, and because of some minor cosmetic issue, they feel horrible about themselves and their session and never use the photos that they paid for. I actually heard a man describe a past headshot as having given him PTSD... he was mortified by it and it was shared publicly by his company. So, if that's the alternative... to keep yourself out of photos because they make you unhappy, then dang it, that's not okay. Let me get in there and soften the appearance of a pimple or a tummy roll or a receding hairline, so you can get back to feeling confident and wonderful. Because honestly, when people meet you, they DON'T notice those little details anyway (we are our own worst critics, right?), so no one will ever know that your images were retouched. They may just assume you lost 20 pounds, 5 years, and just got back from a relaxing vacation in the Bahamas.
So, in my view, body shaming: no... doing whatever you want with your own photos: hell yes (and yes, I edit the CRAP out of my own photos).