Casual - do you use portrait pro - friends family etc.

Placing it here since it just snapshots of friends and family and not really portraiture. Do you guys do any skin retouching with this? Or is it juts a light edit in Lightroom and whip it out or to the lab for a print?

 

 

Cheers.

I have extreme distaste for software like that. A decent RAW converter is all one really needs. Each to his own, I suppose.

I always remove transient blemishes, and do a LIGHT skin treatment if it is necessary. If the subject wants more, I'll happily do it.

I have no problem making a blemish or flaw a little less apparent.

A RAW converter won't likely accomplish what the OP is asking about.

 

I use Photoshop for post processing and haven't bothered with other software specifically for portraits. I use color channels, levels adjustments, dodge and burn tools, and lighting effects which can often positively affect skin texture and I'll use the clone or healing tool with a soft brush, often at 50%, for blemishes I want to modify. I rarely get rid of them completely.

 

What may seem like flaws, when removed too severely which a lot of photographers do, unfortunately, can lead to disastrous results that look unnatural and sci-fi-ish. Blemishes are not merely flaws. They are also part of the physical and individual character of a face. So, achieving a good, realistic balance is key. Remove too much, and you might as well have shot a barbie doll. Leave too much, and your subject isn't going to like the picture.

 

A lot of portraits, many of mine included, aren't meant for the subject or the subject's family, but rather is the photographer using a face for his own creation/expression. In that case, flattery is often not an issue and one is as likely to create a monstrous effect as a pleasing one. So context will often dictate the choices the photographer will make.

Portrait Pro is a useful tool, but can use a heavy hand by changing the shape of facial features. It's okay to practice on friends and relatives, but I only use it on photos for publicity. The effect imitates the way people see themselves in a mirror, rather than how others see them. It's okay to flatter customers.

 

You can choose the gender for rendition, and Portrait Pro can identify and adjust all the faces in a group in one pass. You can also tune the rendition according to your needs and preferences.

A RAW converter won't likely accomplish what the OP is asking about.

For blemishes, they absolutely do. I only used this feature once: an actor had a mosquito bite that wasn't that prominent in real life - but of course, photos magnify everything. So I lightened it a bit to match your actual perception had you been there in person.

I personally find the "before" pictures in the ads for "retouching software" nicer than the plastic faces of "after".

 

However a little touch of the airbrush to a big pimple is not the same thing at all.

 

I confess having edited out a few former associates.