Editorial Wonderzine before and after Photoshop
After opus magnum last week, it was logical to show the work of retouchers using a specific example. The editors of Wonderzine and the editor-in-chief of her friend Look At Me, who joined her, agreed to take part in an experimental survey, put the shots in the hands of professional retouchers and show them - in the "before and after" format.
Retouching always begins with image analysis, which often takes place in several rounds. We received unique introductory data: the lack of clear requirements and freedom of interpretation, so we decided to adjust the photos to the level we wrote about earlier. We were interested in the editorial opinion, because with free introductory and a wide range of interpretations, the result, of course, was to differ from personal preferences (as in the case of portrait photography, when the image may not correspond to the person’s internal portrait). In working with an ordinary client, we always meticulously find out the smallest details: what kind of scarlet does he have in mind, what he calls "ease of sight" and what it means by "smoothness of silhouette".
The style of this shooting does not have either an abundant advertising retouch or traditional beauty-photography. In our opinion, photographs could appear as an editorial in smart gloss, a men's magazine or a reputable publication like monocle. Therefore, although the possibilities of Photoshop allow much more, we made the processing minimalistic: the hairstyles were not brought to an ideal state, but only removed the loose hairs; the contours of the clothes made graphic and "planted" on the figure; allowed themselves color correction.
We anticipate comments on how much more could be edited: yes, we ourselves can draw a dozen edits and improve each picture to infinity. The meaning of the experiment was not to show all the possibilities of graphic editors, but to illustrate the work of the retoucher to a wide audience. There were no criteria for “it was better” or “better” in the photos - everywhere the same picture, which was prepared for publication of the corresponding format.
To illustrate the difference in approaches to processing, the photo of the editor-in-chief was taken and edited as a beauty photo: for example, as a cosmetics advertisement or a magazine shooting of makeup trends. In addition to perseverance and patience, such photos always require a different treatment: the focus is on the skin, pores, lines, and relief. For greater clarity, we added Hayreza photos Oli: before processing and after - they can be considered literally every pore.
Katya
You can click a selfie as much as you like, but when a professional photographer shoots you, the effect and, above all, the perception of yourself is completely different. And when the work of retouchers is attached to this, the result makes you nervous. Shoulders straighten themselves, arms grow thin, and face contour pulls up. In my head, as probably in any man in the street, when watching a photo, the thought pulsed: maybe it's time to lose some weight or buy cream for an older age group, or maybe better all together. My eyes turned out to be quite inanimate, but this is more likely due to the make-up — I never wore Smoky Aiz and, all the more so bright, as I painted on the set. I sincerely hoped that the retouchers would add volume to my hair - this is the part of my appearance that I always wanted to adjust.
Since in the process of digital development, the picture was made a little darker, the color spots appeared from the source, which needed to be removed. The outlines of all T-shirts made more graphic, removed the folds that interfere with the integrity of perception; The color of the fabric is straightened to pure white. Here, as in other photographs, skin tone leveled, moles and scars left, but redness and irritation were removed.
Lyuba
In my opinion, this is a rather glossy retouch (it is somewhat excessive, but it depends on the publication). I was sure that the bruises under the eyes would be removed - they paint few people. The hair looked disheveled, so that everything is clear with them, and I would have removed the shadow under my lip as a photo editor myself (although I didn’t quite understand why they made me dark-skinned). In general, the difference between “before” and “after” does not upset me - apparently, because I love pale-skinned people with bruises under their eyes.
Bags under the eyes and swelling caused by the features of the anatomical structure, and in general the area around the eyes usually rule on most photographs. However, sometimes for naturalness, three or more paws are left.
Masha
The time for the shooting was just barely enough, so the angle I have is not the most advantageous and on the source I look more like the character "The Neverhood" than myself. It is surprising that even with such small alterations in the lower jaw and neck, I began to look much less plump. The head was made rounder, the genetically conditioned “ring of Venus” was removed, but the added highlight on the nose fascinates me the most: my snub-nosed, with this kind of illumination looks much more geometric and elegant (here's an illustration of the highlighter's capabilities). By the way, I thought that I would slightly enlarge my eyes, but after whitening the mucous liquify, I apparently did not need it (whitish kaial FTW). And - mom, look! - I'm finally tanned.
Changing the shape of the face during post-processing, sometimes we finish what could be achieved when shooting: angle, face rotation, angle. Not all surveys are organized and carried out in such a way as to pick up exactly what a particular person and body needs, and in a graphical editor this can be achieved in a couple of minutes. For unnecessary parts in the frame this is also true: for example, packaging from under the cigarettes can be taken out during the shooting, or during processing.
Daniel
It’s a pity the retoucher couldn’t fix a dull face that betrays a late evening photo shoot and camera fear. But he did a lot of other good things that seem trivial at first glance. Firstly, I removed the bald patches on my head (every year the work will be added until the Hair MakeOver application comes to replace Adobe Photoshop), and secondly, I smoothed a T-shirt, which I never really stroked. Thirdly, I smudged the destructive spots with a virtual bronzer that give me a Muscovite. If I guessed about dead spots and bald spots, then I learned about the amazing retouching ability to smooth out clothes quite recently, when he was engaged in organizing the shooting for our sports number. Photo editor Look At Me Serezha Ivanyutin used to work in gloss, so he took up the "ironing" with such zeal that people in the original version turned out to be wax mannequins. With a white T-shirt in the photo above, everything is in moderation. In general, I was even somehow offended that they had treated me godly. Next time I will ask you to photograph yourself in full growth with a bare torso, so that the retoucher would have to draw fake cubes and muscles for a month and “clean” ugly elbows and knees.
There is an opinion that it is easier to work with male portraits - this is not true. In men, there are pores in the crater of a volcano, gray skin due to bristles and the urgent need for a course of SK-II masks. Daniel, however, has none of this, but for greater clarity, here is an impressive collection of examples of processing.
Olga
We consider it important to talk as much as possible about the diversity of beauty and to support the idea of maximum tolerance, but when it comes to you personally, for some reason, “honestly” and “beautifully” begin to contradict each other. The key is that objectively “beautifully” does not exist in principle - those who do not love us will find hundreds of deformities in us, and those who love will remember not only our inner shine, favorite books, films and political views , but also a little hump on the nose, unevenly growing stubble or stupid big toes. That is all that the collective unconscious calls imperfections, and that in fact distinguishes us from each other. But even in the image of this no objective "honestly" does not exist either - the mirror is lying, the camera is lying, everybody lies. In such an experiment - especially. Even before retouching you go through several stages of transformation: first you are painted by a professional makeup artist (in fact, first you drink an extra glass the day before), then you are put in the studio and highlighted in a certain way, then the photographer chooses one angle from about a hundred, in which we are seen parties. And still it turns out what happened. However, some caps things become more obvious. For example, that there are no symmetrical faces (yes, especially with you): you intuitively wear parting and make selfie in certain 3/4, because on the left side you have a bitch face, and on the right side you look like an offended hamster. Or that the profession of the model is extremely underestimated: even if you are not the first time standing in front of the camera, and even if you are the friendliest photographer half a meter away, it is wild to make “simple”, it is difficult to just relax your chin, especially after the words “relax your chin” . Therefore, this suffering expression is the best, which we were able to achieve in two hours of a pleasant Sunday evening. Regarding the result, thanks to Lenam from Bespoke Pixel (they are generally cool) for leaving my nasolabial folds and crow's feet around me to my eyes - it's silly to get upset about facial wrinkles at 35, especially if you have so much fun dear editors. With the line of hair growth, the truth seems to have happened the worst thing. The mustache was worse, but the phrase “refresh your eyes” does not frighten me - we finish it every working day anyway. In general, feelings about these.
If a particular person is treated, rather than a conditional model, it is important to preserve his distinctive features. Let us explain: the nose of an unknown model, which is involved in advertising a spa, can be changed with impunity (within the limits of the permissible), but this should not be done with the face of a recognizable person or celebrity. Famous people often take away characteristic moles (“so prettier”), which is pretty much idiotic. In the case of Oli's photo, liberties are also not welcome: the completeness and conciseness of the overall picture depends on many small details. Hair, lines of the face, uniformity of skin and color, make-up, proportions work together, so it is very important not to allow missteps (but you should not bring everything to sterility either).
