Why Retouching matters

The secret of many of the world's most prolific commercial & fashion photographers & art directors is that they are meticulous about the retouching process because they understand how important it is to their style. Good creative retouching involves a complete understanding of the style of a photographer or art director, and that's why at Happy Finish relationships between clients & retouchers tend to build-up and last for many years.

What makes a Happy Finish Retoucher?

Here at Happy Finish, we have always seen the retoucher as an artist. Whilst the technical skills of retouching are clearly important, a retoucher who can go beyond the technical and add vision and feeling to an image is a valuable asset to the creative process. At Happy Finish each retoucher has a different style, so please browse the portfolios to see if we have the right artist for you and your project.

Retouch and create directly with the artist

The creative process is better when the creative director and/ or photographer art direct the retouch one-on-one with the artist. So its important to know who you're working with, to have chosen them yourself because of their particular retouch style, and then to work together one-on-one to create the final image.

What makes good Photo Retouching

Good photo retouching involves techniques that retain fine details and textures in an image. So when removing imperfections it is important not to reduce the information in the image by using simple blurring & softening techniques. At Happy Finish we understand good photo retouching, so for example our beauty retouching will be un-noticeable because the hairs and skin pores will still be present after we have finished.

The secret of successful Image Manipulation

At the more extreme end of creative retouching is image manipulation, where image construction is completely altered using multiple-part montages, changing a models clothing & the background, rearranging location etc., the list of possibilities are endless. However to make image manipulation successful and look convincing its important to have a realistic goal and ideally to consult with Happy Finish prior to the shoot, so we can advise on what elements we need to make the finished image.

A history of Photo Retouch

Traditional photo retouch, sometimes referred to as airbrushing, started with hand painting over prints. Of course this had its limitations for retaining detail so when photo retouch went digital it transformed the art, allowing for blemishes, unwanted intrusions and imperfections to be removed without losing the sense of reality of the image. Now photo retouch has become an essential tool of the commercial photographer.