I've always really been a fan of retouching. Always, ever since I was younger, I thought it was so cool that you could take an image, and make it something completely other. Not in the creepy women-are-prettier-when-they-smile (looking at you Apple) way, but more in the idea that you can take a picture of a kid playing in a back yard, and turn him into a battling wizard, like PSDBox.com did here.
Also, I always wanted to be cool enough to do things like that, but alas, I'm no great photoshop specialist, wizard, or otherwise. However, like any other kid of the 21st century, I was determined to at least know enough about photoshop to color correct selfies, blend out any unflattering blemishes, and liquify my gut away a little. But, as I moved more into a career as a makeup artist, I saw the potential and the widespread subsequent use of Photoshop become more and more prevalent.
Yet, I digress.
A few weeks ago, I did a test shoot with a photography student with Agency Models. This was great, and exciting especially to be on an Agency Test list, and in theory, if I performed well, then all the better. More calls, more work, more improvement! So, I went to the gig and did my job. I excitedly waited for the images to come back. And after a few days, they did!
My heart sank.
I looked through the photos in desperation, hunted feverishly for photos that I liked, and I couldn't find them. Not that the photos were bad, but my makeup was not great. Not that the makeup was bad either, it just was lacking a little umpf. There was an errant brow fiber here, a little too much shine there, and overall, I wasn't crazy about the background color. Needless to say, I dumped all the files in photoshop and began clicking away. I adjusted levels, I used liquify, patch tool, blur, brushes, pencils, masks... the whole nine.
Before I knew it, the photos looked completely different from the ones I'd received. I flipped through them, and felt terrible. I'd gone and fixed all my mistakes, and the photos then matched more closely what I'd thought they'd look like, but they weren't real. It was like cheating, and it didn't feel right. I saved all of them as drafts (in case I ever need a fall back career as an amateur photo retoucher), and thought about it.
The makeup artist's job is to negate the need for retouching, and shouldn't rely on it, right? And just because you're on a set shooting film instead of digital, or digital with no monitor doesn't mean you should rest on your laurels. Also, don't always trust your photographer; I kept asking if he wanted me to fix things, and I should have just gone in and fixed them, in stead of doubting myself.
I'm going to wear these photos, as well as their less than ideal makeup job as a badge of honor, and a mark of a lesson to be learned. Posted below are two images- the original and the photoshopped. Be gentle.