To retouch, or not to retouch...

We live in a perfect world right? Wrong. We live in a retouched world.

Coming from a graphic design and advertising background, I've had to retouch many a photo. I'm actually quite good at it and at the advertising studio I worked at for over five years, I was the go-to designer for just such jobs. And now that I've become a photographer myself, I get more and more requests for fixing this or that.  Things like, "can you get rid of this pimple?" or "can you smooth out my wrinkles, whiten my teeth and make my eyes bluer?"

Simply put, yes I can... the real question is should I? Now, don't get me wrong there is a time and place for retouching and I gladly implement it where needed. However, living in the world we do I can't help but see how badly people don't want to be REAL. They want to be perfect. Or, at least as perfect as they can be. But I think as photographers and photo editors, we can go too far. And clients can ask too much.  I recently picked up a local photographer's menu of services and inside I found all the wonderful retouching services they can do for you. Including a way to "Photoshop you thin."  I shook my head and thought, it figures. Because I can't blame the photo studio for doing exactly what the client wants. But it can make me sad.

Photo retouching is really a touchy subject for me personally. A little over three years ago my husband and I were blessed with our first beautiful baby girl. When she was about four weeks old she developed a hemangioma birthmark right in the middle of her forehead. For those of you who aren't familiar with these birthmarks, they are usually harmless but are bright red, sometimes raised and can grow rapidly up to a few inches in diameter the first year of life. I might add though that they also almost always fade away completely by the time a child reaches about 7 years old. Well... I cried. After all my beautiful baby girl was scarred, for no reason at all. At least that's how I felt at the time. And when it came time for her first official photo shoot, I was a little sad I have to admit because knowing the world be lived in I also knew because of her birthmark she'd never win a baby modeling contract. (Don't all parents think their babies deserve that?) But what made me horrified was when a well meaning person mentioned to me that I was good at Photoshop and could just "fix it." I was horrified because while yes, her birthmark was a sensitive subject for me, it was still her. It was real and she was beautiful in spite of it, AND because of it.

Beauty is so much more than appearance. My daughter taught me that. I strive in my photography to capture the beauty that is there in all of us. Whether we want to see it or not, it's there. And it's not perfect.

If you would like information on sessions or rates, please visit my web site at dynaelevingstonphotography.com.