Headshot Retouching Before and After Images

Actors and models use headshots – a portrait literally taken from the shoulders up with a focus on the face – as their calling cards. Last week I had the pleasure of photographing an aspiring actress.  As with all of my photo packages, her package included basic retouching. This means color correction and minor blemish removal for each photo.  This actress, however, wanted to employ my full retouching services on a select number of photos.  So I thought in today’s blog post I would take you with me on my photo editing journey and show you the power of photo editing software.
Here are my headshot retouching before and after images.

Actors get hired just on the basis of their photos, so a headshot has to be perfect. During a headshot session, portraits are taken over a given amount of time (up to two hours, with modeling portfolios lasting up to five hours).  While all of the photos taken during that time are edited for basic color correction and contrast, full retouching services are much more extensive.

Full Retouching – Women

Full retouching includes removal of blemishes (and anything else distracting to the eye: lint, stains, etc.), brightening of under eye circles, smoothing skin for a less wrinkled appearance, whitening teeth, and brightening eyes. It’s a time consuming process, and generally can take from thirty minutes to an hour per photo.  Because of the extensive amount of time involved in the full retouching editing process, the additional cost is $100 per hour.

Kathy selected three photos that he wanted to have retouched, and I made the necessary changes. Take a look at the photos to see the before and after transformation.

Here is another client example; this is Tammie:

Finally, this is Lanie.  Note the hair improvements.  Fixing hair in photo editing software is the most challenging of any edits.

Full Retouching – Men

Note, however, that the goal of retouching is not to transform the client into a completely different person. The face you walk in with should be the same photo in your headshot. Particularly with men, who need to retain a certain ruggedness, you can’t turn the client into a porcelain doll with perfectly smoothed over skin. Rather, it should be a refreshed and rested face looking back at you. And that’s where the magic of photo editing software comes in.

These photos of another client of mine, Craig.  As you can see from these photos, I concentrated my editing efforts on his teeth and skin.

Here is another example from my client, Peter:

Interested in a few more of my headshot tip articles?  Check out this post on how to find the ‘good’ side of your face.  Also, check out this post with a compendium of my favorite headshot tips called ‘How to Look Good in Photos.’

Interested in scheduling your own headshot session?  Drop me a line and let’s talk about setting up a shoot.

If you would like to see more images from my model and actress headshot portfolio, then please visit my website — KellyWilliamsCorporate.com.