Photoshop Etiquette

Photoshop

Lightroom is about 40% of my workflow, while Photoshop is betwee 10-30%.

I have been photographing people since 2015, and inevitably one realizes that image manipulation is part of this work.

Even without concern to vanity, there are imperfects to images taken. An image may be slightly out of focus. Maybe there’s an object that got in the best shot at the wedding. There are all kinds of reasons why Photoshop is needed.

Of course there are questions of removing acne, or imperfects.

Then there are questions about enhancing beauty or some aspect of physical appearance.

Personal History

For several years I didn’t bother with Photoshop. The standard tools in Lightroom were enough.

Over time, I exhausted those tools and eventually, naturally, switched to Photoshop.

The first two or three years of Photoshop was mostly learning. The results were very mixed, because I didn’t understand how the software works, or how the file formats work, or how to create a process between Lightroom and Photoshop that took advantage of the two. I eventually always gave clients the light edit and retouched image, realizing that they may prefer the one without Photoshop effect.

But gradually, by the end of 2021, I had developed a variety of techniques and shortcuts. My editing skills are certainly not very good. I couldn’t be hired to do magazine retouching, and my understsanding of the software is limited.

But I can do many things, I am better than I was, and I do have some thoughts.

Philosophy

The goal of Photoshop (for portraits, headshots) is entirely to deceive the viewer.

The viewer should never realized the image was modified.

If the modifications are egregiously obvious, then all attempted gains are lost. This gives rise to a new set of suspicions and beliefs.

That is not desirable.

So the goal is to make dozens of little adjustments, each of which is not noticeable. The summation should the effect of an general improvement, without specifically declaring it.

Nobody should look at an image I’ve retouched and say, "Oh, that face is so Photoshopped." Yet the person who receives the image, and knows the previous veresion, should immediately think, "oh gosh, that's amazing."

Techniques

Dimensional adjustment

Blemishes

Dodge and burn

Color layers

Warp tool

Photo-look additions and adjustments

Sharpening