Portrait edits, how much is too much?

[Chris Summers]

I mostly shoot portraits of family members, typically my grandkids and sometimes the children of friends. If the pictures are just everyday types with casual poses I don't do much more than crop and adjust some sliders for exposure, highlights, shadows and color. But if they are of a more formal nature I tend to do more and will clean up faces that might have acne or other blemishes. I use a program called Portrait Pro Studio; it does a good job of smoothing skin, lessening wrinkles. It ads brightness to the eyes, whitens teeth, etc. I always end up making adjustments to what it suggests. I don't go overboard but I look at this as if I am a painter painting a portrait and take some artistic license in how I want the person to look. I just try not to go overboard. The program allows you to sculpt face shapes and change expressions, the shape of the nose and eyes, etc. You can even change eye and hair color but I never do that.

 

[RazzleH]

When I look back at my few hundred family photos I'm usually pleased that the photos haven't been 'adjusted' to look more professional or 'better'. Candid is king in my, long time, library. That mole, freckly, wild hair, blurry shot of deceased relative are real for those looking back and wanting to know more of their histories.

 

[Dean Wilson]

I like to keep my portrait photo editing simple and natural looking like my landscape photos.

 

[Peano]

Asking how much is too much about a portrait is like asking that question about a musical composition. It isn't a word problem, so it can't be answered in words. You have to hear the music and see the portrait. Then you can show (not tell) what you'd do differently.

 

[Chris Summers]

Just an example. I tried not to go overboard and change her face too much. I did remove a few typical teenage blemishes and enhanced the eyes a bit.

1. Raw file unretouched
2 Retouched
3 BW conversion using a LR preset

 

[Grahamk]

I try and keep adjustments to the minimum but like Chris I will clean up faces for blemishes that will be transient. I'll also remove background "clutter" by cropping or oher means if it distracts too much from the main subject.

 

[Peano]

Just an example. I tried not to go overboard and change her face too much. I did remove a few typical teenage blemishes and enhanced the eyes a bit.

1. Raw file unretouched
2 Retouched
3 BW conversion using a LR preset

Nice work. I think you made very nice improvements over the unedited raw file. Just for the sake of discussion and food for thought, here are a few additional tweaks I would be inclined to make (with her approval, of course). Starting with your retouched version on the left (tweaks made in PS 2025).

For the face, I would put a little more light in the eyes, slightly enhance the catchlights, soften the lines under her eyes, remove the little blemish on her left cheek and selectively sharpen facial features only. Overall image: I would considerably tone down the background and slightly brighten the subject. (All purely subjective, of course. I subscribe to Ansel Adams' maxim: "There are no rules for good photographs. There are only good photographs.")

 

[RazzleH]

When I look back at my few hundred family photos I'm usually pleased that the photos haven't been 'adjusted' to look more professional or 'better'. Candid is king in my, long time, library. That mole, freckly, wild hair, blurry shot of deceased relative are real for those looking back and wanting to know more of their histories. All 'enhancements' of another's face are simply adjusting what the owner of that face may be quite happy with. What then is making that shot 'better'?

 

[Peano]

All 'enhancements' of another's face are simply adjusting what the owner of that face may be quite happy with.

Or may not be happy with. Teenagers buy Clearasil for a reason. That's why I think it's important, when possible, to get the approval of the person whose photo you're editing. I've had clients and family members thank me sincerely for removing blemishes, softening wrinkles, reducing fat bulges, etc. My rule of thumb is: ASK, and then respect the client's wishes.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

Subject isolation is critical for portraits so I'm always all about minimizing background interference. Using just camera raw and Photoshop blur tools I did this in less than 5 minutes. I split the image from upper left to lower right so you can see the difference. You can do more than this, but I'm thinking it needs at least this.

 

[David Stallard]

Chris, think the retouched version is a very pleasing result - I would be more than happy with that.

 

[RazzleH]

Or may not be happy with. Teenagers buy Clearasil for a reason. That's why I think it's important, when possible, to get the approval of the person whose photo you're editing. I've had clients and family members thank me sincerely for removing blemishes, softening wrinkles, reducing fat bulges, etc. My rule of thumb is: ASK, and then respect the client's wishes.

Yep, good manners are always welcomed. Interestingly, for me is that this has highlighted a difference between studio and candid. Either way after shooting edits are the norm.

 

[ctitanic]

I use a program called Portrait Pro Studio; it does a good job of smoothing skin, lessening wrinkles. It ads brightness to the eyes, whitens teeth, etc. I always end up making adjustments to what it suggests.

Can you use it as Lightroom classic plugin?

 

[ctitanic]

Can you use it as Lightroom classic plugin?

Answering to myself:

To set up PortraitPro as an external editor for Lightroom, please follow these steps:

• Open Lightroom and in the menu go to Edit->Preferences...
• In the "Additional External Editor" section, press the "Choose" button on the right for choosing the application. A new dialog will pop up asking for the location of the program to run.
  PortraitPro Studio is usually located at C:\Program Files\PortraitPro Studio \PortraitProStudio.exe.
  PortraitPro Studio Trial is usually located at C:\Program Files\PortraitPro Studio Trial\PortraitProStudioTrial.exe.
  PortraitPro Studio Max is usually located at C:\Program Files\PortraitPro Studio Max \PortraitProStudioMax.exe
  Try pasting in these paths if you are not sure. Then press "Choose" to dismiss the dialog.
• For the "File Format" please select TIFF. The other settings can be chosen as you wish (for example: "Color Space": sRGB, "Bit Depth":8 bits/component, "Resolution":240, "Compression": LZW ).
• Press the "OK" button to dismiss the Preferences dialog.
• Open PortraitPro Studio, choose File and Settings, and make sure "Auto-Plugin Mode" is selected.
• PortraitPro Studio is now set up as an external editor for your images. You can now select a picture in your library, right click and choose "Edit In" and then "Edit in PortraitProStudio".