Unit Five : Post Processing
Raw image exported as JPEG. Final edit.Chelsea London © 2017 | Fujifilm X-T10 | 56.0mm | 1/500s | ƒ/1.2 | ISO 100 Skin Retouching
Some portrait subjects may ask for skin retouching. Before you go wild with that heal tool, ask yourself what actually needs retouching. Our personal suggestion is to remove things which are temporary (acne, cuts, dark circles, etc) but not anything which is permanent (moles, scars, etc) - unless requested by the client. I think about my senior portraits where my prominent face moles were removed, but not the one giant zit on my chin. As a teenaged girl, all that did was make me even more self conscious about my moles. On the other hand, I have had clients with moles specifically ask for them to be removed.
Okay, with the morals out of the way, let’s talk about how to do this. Generally, processing software will have tools built in to easily remove any unwanted facial marks. Often you’ll find a heal tool and a clone tool. In Lightroom/Photoshop, for example, the heal tool is used to blend and repair imperfections in an image by analyzing nearby pixels for a more natural look. The clone tool duplicates an exact copy of a selected area, maintaining the source texture and color without blending, making it suitable for precise replication in retouching. For skin, the heal tool is preferable.
There are more advanced techniques for skin retouching. One which is well-regarded is frequency separation. Photoshop, or other advanced, layer-based editing programs are required for frequency separation. It is quite powerful. Its main benefit is that the original texture of skin remains intact, keeping the skin looking natural and not overprocessed. If you are interested in this technique, I can highly recommend this video from Phlern.
Raw image exported as JPEG. Final edit.Chelsea London © 2017 | Fujifilm X-T10 | 56.0mm | 1/2000s | ƒ/1.2 | ISO 200 Eye Enhancement
In a portrait, eyes are often the main attraction, and you want them looking lively and bright. The first step in bringing life into the eyes happens at the time of capturing. A catch light in the eye really makes the difference between a bright portrait and uncanny valley territory. We’re going to spend quite a bit of time talking about the best way to capture alive portraits, but to quickly touch on catch lights will set you up for success in processing portraits. Briefly, a catch light is a reflection of light in the eye. This can be easily introduced with a reflector, flash, or simply just positioning your subject in a way where the light bounces into their eyes.
So now you have an image with gorgeous catch lights, but you want to brighten those eyes even more. Selective edits will be your friend here. If you’re working in something like Lightroom where layers are not available, you’ll want to use masks to target the location. Simply choose a mask brush, brush it over the eyes. In your mask, adjusting the highlights, whites, sharpness, texture, and clarity will brighten and sharpen the eyes effectively. Just remember to be careful not to overdo it to the point where the subject now looks unreal - unless, of course, that’s the look you’re going for.
In the processing video you watched above, you’ll also see techniques in Photoshop to address under eye discoloration or bags. In something like Lightroom, the heal tool is often a good solution for this, but keep the opacity at a lower level to keep it looking natural.
Chelsea London © 2017 | Fujifilm X-T10 | 50.0mm | 1/42s | ƒ/4.5 | ISO 320 - Self portrait with heavy dodging and burning to enhance cheekbones and jawline.Dodging & Burning
We referenced frequency separation above, which utilizes dodging and burning very effectively. We’re going to look at other uses for it outside frequency separation. Dodging and burning are techniques used in photo editing to selectively lighten (dodge) or darken (burn) specific areas of an image. In portrait photography, dodging can enhance highlights and brighten facial features, while burning can add depth and definition by subtly darkening shadows, resulting in a more sculpted and visually engaging portrait with enhanced facial contours. If you’re familiar with makeup, you can equate it in your mind to contouring.
In Photoshop, dodging and burning can be accomplished using the Dodge and Burn tools. To dodge, select the Dodge tool, adjust the exposure settings, and brush over areas you want to lighten. For burning, use the Burn tool in a similar manner, adjusting exposure as needed to darken specific regions. These tools offer control over the intensity of the adjustments, allowing for a nuanced enhancement of highlights and shadows in portrait photos.
Raw image exported as JPEG. Final edit.Chelsea London © 2016 | Fujifilm X-T10 | 27.0mm | 1/10s | ƒ/2.8 | ISO 200 Recovering Skin Tone with Luminance
Everyone has undertones in their skin - some are pinks, reds, yellows, oranges, olives, etc. When processing an image, it’s easy to end up with a skin tone which no longer matches the subject in reality, or appears washed out or muddied. A simple fix for this is using the luminance slider in the HSL sliders in most processing software.
By adjusting the luminance, which controls the brightness of specific colors in the image, you can selectively target the skin tones without affecting other elements. If the skin appears overly bright or washed out, reducing the luminance can help restore natural warmth and tonal depth. Conversely, if the skin tones are too dark or lack vibrancy, increasing the luminance can bring out subtle highlights and create a more balanced and lifelike representation. This nuanced control over luminance allows you to rescue and enhance skin tones, achieving a more flattering and visually appealing result in portrait photos.
Chelsea London © 2017 | Fujifilm X-T10 | 56.0mm | 1/500s | ƒ/2.8 | ISO 200 Flyaways
The bane of all portrait photographers’ existence are the flyaways - those little hairs that stand on edge, or worse cover a subject’s face. Ideally, this would be minimized at the time of photographing by keeping your eyes open for them, and copious amounts of hairspray. But, in the real world, they are inevitable.
The good news is they can be removed. The bad news is that it’s a stupidly tedious process. In the video above, you’ll see me tackle a few flyaways in Photoshop using the spot healing tool.
Chelsea London © 2017 | Fujifilm X-T10 | 56.0mm | 1/60s | ƒ/2.8 | ISO 200 Moving Forward
There are many other techniques you can implement in processing portrait photography. While it may seem overwhelming, the good news is that there are endless resources to help you with your specific needs. A quick search of what you’re trying to do will open up tons of videos and written tutorials to get you going.