The dark side of photoshop

[rascal64]

Now that photoshop is pretty common....there seems to be a rash of unusual requests from clients for

photoshopping. As I patiently listened to someone's request to change the shape of her mom's eyes and head...I

wondered how other photographers were dealing with this. While PS has opened so many doors...it seems very odd

that someone wants their picture to look like someone that they are not. Have you had any odd requests? How does

that effect your pricing? Thoughts? Stories?

[ellis_vener_photography]

"I wondered how other photographers were dealing with this. "

 

If that is what you want to do; learn the skills and charge special retouching fees on top of your shoot fees.

[Brad_]

>>> it seems very odd that someone wants their picture to look like someone that they are not. . <P>

 

<a href= " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U&eurl=http://pixsylated.com/2008/06/evolution-of-beauty/">Check this out.</a>

[tmcleland]

<i>"...it seems very odd that someone wants their picture to look like someone that they are not."</i><br><br>

Remember, many people gladly pay thousands of dollars for plastic surgery, so it should come as no surprise that one would want

the same thing done to a photo.

<br><br>

Myself, working largely with advertising, I really can't blame people who use their photos in marketing materials (notably realtors) for

asking me to slim this or smooth that. At the risk of throwing this post off into an ethical tangent, there are whole industries geared at

making people feel bad about their appearance in order to move products and services. It's superficial and very stupid, I admit, but

with all the media designed to bombard us with this perfect, unattainable benchmark for appearance (usually by models who are

likely heavily Photoshopped themselves), the only surprise is that I don't get the requests <b>more</b> often.

<br><br>

I've been asked several times to "dewrinkle," add hair, even eyes, add teeth, and even fix _______s and ________s (use your

imagination). LIke Ellis said, get the skills down, and charge for it. For whatever reason, in a time where design and creative services

are often nickel-and-dimed to death, people are still willing to pay a fair amount for **ahem** enhancing a photo. Use the

superficiality to your advantage!

<br><br>

Don't even get me <b>started</b> on the nude calendar layout.

[zane1664879013]

Just work on your skills or you may be featured here!

 

http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

[rascal64]

Thanks Zane...that's hilarious. TM....thank you too. I was just curious about other's experience. In a weird and superficial world...I really enjoy the dialogue...always good to connect. I do understand that everyone wants to look their best for photos but it seems odd that someone would want to be TOTALLY different....for just basic portraiture. We're not talking commercial print jobs here. And the assumption that PS is super quick and easy(well at least for me it is not). Brad...yes...LOVE that video. The spoofs on youtube are pretty cool too. And thank you Ellis....always. I try to price accordingly but it just seems to keep getting weirder 8 > )

[scot]

I'd be tempted to see how far I could go with it...you know, find the point at which the client says, "Well I don't want to look THAT good!"

 

Like in the movie in which the girl keeps adding makeup to the elderly lady until she looks in the mirror and is shocked. At which point the girl says, "Oh, this is the latest European look. It's called 'Circus of the Face' !"

 

Best, Scot

[hjoseph7]

People have allways wanted to look better than they really do in photos, statues, even on TV and in the movies. The Make-up industry is booming with no end in sight. Even men are getting into it now. I love this, If that's what makes people happy and they are willing to pay for it, I see no harm in it !

[jayanti]

I am not a PS expert at all. But still, why 'dark side'? Unless there is some real life problem like criminal issues involved, it can be sheer fun for the Photoshop expert. It can generate most creative images. And people may have different reasons to request changes in their actual representation. Earlier, painters did it - just look at the grand oil paintings of lords, kings and zamindars of 15th - 16th- 17th century. They cannot be exact representation of the man portrayed. At photoshop we are just using different technology, for our pleasure (creativity or money, which way you look at it) and their pleasure.

[rascal64]

I agree with you Jayanti about being creative. I have lots of fun with my art pieces. What concerns me is when a korean woman wants me to caucasify (hey guys...I just made a new word!) her mother's eyes and reduce the size of her head (this was not a camera distortion problem). Or another..after the shoot is done "Hey...could you put me on a beach at sunset in this picture?".....uh....well the lighting is all wrong...but sure...no problem! The type of work that I do is not glamour/air brush stuff anyway. It's like...when it was film...a little dodge and burn...good to go. Wrinkles? Yah well...we're all getting old....it beats the alternative. Yes Yes PS= fun fun FUN! no argument there. Harry...if my memory serves me...the number one highschool grad gift for girls is (or was recently) a boob job! eeeeeek! Scot...very cool social experiment and it sounds like one heckuva cool and weird flick. What's the title?

[nickjeftic]

Photoshop is the affordable alternative to cosmetic surgery.

[tmcleland]

Okay, I have to admit the "causcasification" is a new one, I can honestly say I've never gotten that. And just for personal use, I will

admit is a little strange, but hey. Whatever works, yah? I like Scots idea...just keep going and going until you're just shy of actually

<b>replacing</b> the woman with Angelina Jolie. The punch line would be if she was like "oh...I look fabulous!"

Yah....<small><small>'cept you don't actually <b>look</b> like that. </small></small>

<br><br>

Oh, finally. How exactly does one go about "Mom, can I have bigger boobs?" I remember it being kind of a big deal asking to borrow

the car!

<br><br>

[Spearhead]

If Photoshop had a dark side, it would come with actions for labret plugs, tattoos, and insertion tapers.

[rascal64]

TM....if I was that good at PS...I would have to try it. Yes...discussing anatomy with the parents was always a blush inducing subject for me when I was a teen.

Jeff....give it time...give it time.

[Ian Shalapata]

Approaching the dark side would be the Life magazine kerfluffle regarding Mary Ann Vecchio and her fence post. Although Life says that the post was inadvertantly (?!) air brushed (pre-PS) out of the photo in the early 70's, it makes you wonder where the line has been crossed intentionally over the years.

[tmcleland]

Tiffany, as far as "if I was that good," it sounds like you'll get there pretty quick with these kinds of requests. When you get time, just open PS and

have a blast...really go nuts, liquify people's faces and stuff! I know some (not fingering you BTW) get a little overwhelmed with PS, and my

solution is just to click each thing, try each filter etc. etc. and without worrying about the results, see what they do. It won't be too long before you

go "oh, I can just..." when you meet a real situation where something needs to happen. As complex as Photoshop is, it's also quite forgiving, there

are usually a few ways to approach varying tasks. It really doesn't take very long before the requests you get start to process, and you'll know

exactly what to do. The most important tip for PS (one you don't see in the books) is HAVE FUN!

<br><br>

Now, just for a laugh (it's slow here at work) I though I'd share "The Dark Photoshop." Thanks Jeff for inspiring this one! Hope you think it's as

funny as I do.

<img src="http://www.tmcleland.com/stuff/darkps.jpg"><br><br>

Cheers.

[rascal64]

THAT is hilarious.

[rascal64]

Ian...very suspicious. I have seen the photo but I did not know the story. Quite fascinating. Our constant need to control the moment.

[charlesheckel]

This discussion makes me think of a Frenchwoman I knew, who had a really conspicuously unattractive, eroded-looking nose, the sort of thing that would make most American women want to hide their heads in a bag. She was a Frenchwoman, she carried on, and being a Frenchwoman, she had pizazz. You really had no choice but to respond to the pizazz. Remarkable.<p>After this I started looking more closely at some other Frenchwomen I had met, and noticed cosmetic flaws I hadn't seen before--scars, sagging skin, bad teeth. They were all getting by on that good carriage that comes from walking everywhere, the trim figures that come from small portions of carefully prepared food, and a well-internalized expectation that one must be, and of course is, good art.

[jkilgo]

The PS disasters blog is indeed funny...I didn't even know you could do some of these things. Tiffany, I'm like you, PS, for the most part, is my digital darkroom. I can't count the number of hours I spent years ago trying to get the perfect print. With PS a few clicks of the mouse and your done. I love to play around with special effects but I'm not sure about the caucasifying...just weird stuff.

[rascal64]

Jeff...I really miss the smell of the chemicals and that weird been in the dark feeling too long after a grueling print session....emerging from the dark room like a pickled mole. Wait...no....no I don't miss that at all....hail hail photoshop! Yes Charles...I agree....French women do have that certain je n'est ce quoi that we yanks lack. However...there are many women who are not trim and look great...because they have that pizazz that translates into feeling good about the skin they're in.

[charlesheckel]

I think you mean "je ne sais quoi," Tiffany. As you say, it's certainly possible for anyone to have gusto or joie de vivre, regardless of weight or fitness. When I refer to pizazz, I'm talking about a more focused quality, a kind of disciplined attitude about self-image and social behavior that one has grown into and is used to working at 24/7.

[Tom Wiggins Photography]

Photoshop is a great tool, but I really have a problem with the attitude that every image needs to be altered. Not

talking about a cropping, fixing exposure, minor corrections, put the highly altered, no longer looks life-like images

we so often see. Oh, I guess for Fine Art, photoshopping is OK, but whatever to realism.? That's my two cents.

[rascal64]

Yes Charles...Je sais mutiler des langues...I agree. Tom...a fine 2 cents it is. I get really tired of the overly done landscapes etc (even though I keep giving them high ratings)...but gosh darn it if I am not turning out a bunch of overly PS'd images myself lately. I am having a lot of fun with it and I always enjoy something that flies in the face of the american beauty ideal.