All About an AJ Stegall Photography Retouch

Why retouch?

Something that sets me apart as a professional photographer is my attention to detail. So much goes into creating a beautiful image. Whether it’s removing blemishes, adjusting lighting and colors, or enhancing overall composition, it is my priority that I approach each project with intentionality and an understanding of my clients’ preferences.

It is important to me that you look like YOU and that you love how you look in these images. That is why I keep my editing natural: I want you to look like yourself and I want to highlight all of what makes you unique.

A lot of people ask me about what goes into my photo editing process, so I wanted to walk you through what that looks like from start to finish. Retouching portraits is a tedious process that requires talent and knowledge of photo editing programs. It is important to me that you receive an image that you feel stellar in, and one that is free of distractions.

So whats the process?

First: color grade the image and enhance your features. This part is done using the software Capture One. This includes fixing lighting, adjusting colors, brightening up your eyes, whitening teeth, and making sure your skin is its true tone.

Now we open Photoshop. First, I will smooth the hair and remove flyaways. Next I will remove blemishes and things from the skin that won’t be there in 2 weeks (pimples, bruises, scrapes, etc.). After that, I smooth your skin. This is subtle, but makes a difference. I keep things light, as I want to maintain texture and parts of your body that are unique to you, ie. moles, freckles, etc.
Lastly, I’ll remove distractions. Included in this is background extension, cleaning up the backdrops from shoe marks, removing anything that takes away from the true focus of the image: YOU.

While most edits can be done in house, certain requests require us to send off the image to be edited elsewhere. If this is the case and you still desire the edit, we charge an additional $25 an image to cover the cost of outsourced retouching.
Watch this video that walks you through the process of editing a headshot gallery from start to finish!