Retouching the Male Portrait
A Dallas photographer’s guide to showing you at your best!
If a man’s appearance is being documented by a camera, it is usually as a model/actor, father or a businessperson. The reason for and the purpose behind the photo will inform the professional headshot/portrait photographer how the expression, pose, lighting, cropping… and the retouching of the photo needs to be done for best results.
In a men’s corporate headshot, the photo retouching needs to remove shininess, any “ashy” look, and also importantly an overly thick (fat?) neck! The result is usually a few years and a few pounds removed, and a more alert look to the eyes. Skin tones will need to be adjusted (too red? too light? too dark? too pale?). And any wonky hairs removed. And of course the overall lightness of the photo adjusted if it was under-exposed or over-exposed.
Retouching is NOT to fix a bad photo. If the photo itself is bad, yes, what is needed is a good photo of the person. In a studio portrait, that is the photographers job — to fix and take another photo to show the client in the best light for them. In an event photo, that moment is gone and you may not have the ability to take another and better photo of them. So yes, photo retouching CAN do many things to improve a photo — there are now coming onto the market some AI-driven (visual algorithms) to help a blurry (from wrong focus to motion blur) photo look significantly sharper, but but that is not the role of a studio portrait or headshot.
The subject, for instance, may need a better angle on their face photographed. It is the job of the photographer to pose them better, not attempt retouching as a workaround to back photography skills. So this article is assuming the photo itself is properly photographed, and the reality of how the person looks can use some subtle enhancement — to look a bit younger or more refreshed or not sunburned, etc..
An editorial portrait, might want all the rugged “roughness” of the person left intact as that visual lends to an element in the story written about them .Some men, for example, don’t like to show teeth in their smile from a defect in their teeth. Retouching will help that. Some resist smiling to broadly because it makes the wrinkles around their eyes show up more. Retouching will help that. So when it comes to booking your headshot or portrait photoshoot, as a male, choose a professional and experienced photographer who also is discerning and expert at your retouching as well!
Look great in photos, for a strong, positive response at www.DallasBusinessHeadshots.com located in Dallas’ downtown business sector. Call 877–858–0071 for pricing and availability.
