Once the final images where all sent to press from the fashion weeks I set about organising some new beauty photoshoots. My main focus prior to this was to set about learning some new techniques in Photoshop. They say the average user only uses 33% or Photoshop's full potential and there is a whole plethora of tools in order to make images look great and the models look really pretty. The use of Photoshop in digital cosmetic enhancement has always been a subject of much controversy. A friend of mine recently sent me an image that showed a before and after image of Madonna, it revealed that post processing can easily take years of the subject and still retain the realism. Retouching in Photoshop can be compared to cosmetic surgery in the way that it can enhance the features, enlarge breasts, nip, tuck, smooth the skin even change eye colour and straighten teeth. You name it, you can probably do it in Photoshop. Here is the first shot from some of the new techniques I learnt, it's sometimes hard to retain a realistic skin texture when so many blemishes and wrinkles are taken out.
I try to maintain skin pores but sometimes fashion magazines and websites may go for a retouch where the model looks something like a waxwork or a porcelain doll, sometimes the models can look like a CGI character from a computer game.
It's all a matter of personal preference and what the client wants the final images to look like.
Model - Megan Clarke
Makeup - Keighley Mila Valdivielso
Photographer - Simon Ackerman
© Simon Ackerman 2012 - All Rights Reserved
