Skin Smoothing

[Trever1t]

I have a sincere question for those of you in this section specializing in Wedding and Portrait photography.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

I prefer to have a nice natural look to my images, some smoothing but pores still defined. I keep hearing from laymen and other non-photographers that they prefer to see a smoother, less imperfect skin. This is expecially true from the Make Up Artists and the Models.

On this image I smoothed more than I would like at my wife's nagging...


_POR8257 by WSG Photography, on Flickr

Please give me your straight opinion...where do you draw the line?

 

[Derrel]

I dunno...the skin looks GREAT to me, but the overpainted lower lip just ruins it for me...the MUA needs to be very mindful that overpainting lip contours shows UP BADLY on today's high-resolution cameras when the shots are close-ups like this...I wish her eyes were brighter and the blue in the eyes was less intense. BEAUTIFUL model though...just stunning.

 

[Trever1t]

Thank you Derrel, I agree, the eyes are a tad dark and her contacts are too, eh...just too. She's a stunning little lady for sure.

 

[Derrel]

i looked at the image on Flickr at 1600x and 2048 pixels...the skin smoothing looks superb! I admire your lenswork.

 

[Trever1t]

I am flattered, thank you very much for the kindness. I have learned a lot on this forum and from the members here.

 

[kathyt]

I think for a shot like this that is just the bride then really make her shine. This image looks great. 99% of the weddings I do the bride has airbrushed make-up so it is super easy to do the skin part. If the bride is more of a natural person, not alot of make-up etc, that would be a different story.

 

[Heitz]

Oh man, you're *right* on that border though. any more and it would be too much. it might be slightly too much right now (differing opinion, i guess).

 

[Big Mike]

I don't think there is an easy answer here. It's often easy to tell when someone has gone too far, or maybe when the model could benefit from some smoothing...but when it's done well, and if/when the subject already has great skin...it's a fine line an there is no right or wrong.

Some people make it their style to 'over do' it and they eventually attract the type of clients who are OK with that. Others might lean toward little or no skin processing and stand by that as their stylistic choice. It depends on your own personal style and the expectations of your clients.

My usual train of thought is to do just enough so that the average viewer doesn't notice that anything has been done. If you do too much, it's easy for Joe Public to say 'air brushed', and if you do none or too little, the client may focus on their flaws.

Of course, you're never going to fool everyone...so you just have to find what you're comfortable with and then be confident that you have made a good decision. Is the same with many things in photography, like picking which shots to save and which to trash. No two people will agree on all the same images, so you just have to go with your instincts and be confident in yourself.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

I really liked this image when you posted on FB and I like it here. The model has a nice quaint charm about her.

Derrel has pointed out a couple issues I hadn't noticed: Her lower lip and the contacts she's wearing. Neither of these things photograph super well and she'd be a lot prettier, in my estimation, with her natural eye color and a regular lipstick job.

 

[camz]

I don't do much skin smoothening. If I were to touch the skin my process is to do some luminace noise reduction. The farthest I've gone is probably the heal tool. For weddings it's a tough because If I were to smoothen an image, I'd have to touch up on the rest...

I just tell inquiries who prefer this type of style to go hire some one else. I think how much is too much depends on who your market is. The the best approach for relative questions is to frame it back to your target business and style. Personally this image has a bit much smoothening.

 

[mwild]

Looks like you've already got it all figured out! Looks awesome! (And I agree, I'm not a fan of over-processed skin) I get so annoyed by the baby shot especially, that are made to look smudgy and doll-like.