Beauty Retouching, Real World Practices

The Art of Flawless Skin: Photography & Retouching

“On the subject of beauty photography and retouching, one of the first aspects that comes to mind is flawless skin. The core of most beauty work is the art of conveying perfection. While few complexions are naturally perfect, it is an illusion that becomes important to create this fantasy for the viewer.”

This is the intro of one of the articles I recently published on my Master Beauty Photography blog, written by my colleague Laura Bello, beauty photographer and retoucher based in Rochester, NY.

You may have seen Laura’s work on our RA Instagram feed in the past. The look of the skin in her beauty images and portraits is captivating. Few photographers and retouchers are able to produce such natural-looking, yet flawless skin, and we asked Laura to share her approach to creating it in her images through preparation, lighting and retouching.

If you are interested in beauty photography as well as beauty retouching, Part I of Laura’s article is for you: INDUSTRY INSIDER: THE ART OF FLAWLESS SKIN – PART I: PHOTOGRAPHY. Here, Laura shares her preparation and lighting tips and talks about the difference between types of skin finish in makeup.

Glossy Skin. Image by Laura Bello

If your interest in Beauty photography is limited by retouching, then part II of Laura’s article will allow you to take a peek into her post-production process from raw conversion to final color grading: INDUSTRY INSIDER: THE ART OF FLAWLESS SKIN – PART II: RETOUCHING.

Tonal adjustments comparison. Image by Laura Bello.

“While the end goal is effortless looking beauty, perfect skin can be a bit of a project. Loving the challenging process involved in creating this ever-so-eye-pleasing fantasy is, in the end, what makes a good beauty photographer and retoucher”.

Among other things Laura shares how she handles tones and colors in her images, what she prefers to adjust in a raw converter and what she leaves until after most of the adjustments are done in Photoshop.

Laura’s great experience as a beauty photographer and retoucher allows her to share a few tips that may help you improve your own retouching workflow in your pursuit of better retouching results.

RELATED: How to Reduce Unwanted Highlights on Skin In Beauty & Portrait Retouching

B&W Visual Aid for Dodging & Burning. Image by Laura Bello.

 

Find full articles here:

Industry Insider: The Art of Flawless Skin – Part I: Photography

Industry Insider: The Art of Flawless Skin – Part II: Retouching

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One thought on “The Art of Flawless Skin: Photography & Retouching

  1. best retouch tutorial i ever read. Clear and easy explanation, thank you so much!

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