Retouching headshots is like polishing a diamond—you want to enhance its natural beauty, not completely change it
Whether you’re editing for work photos, acting profiles, school books, or editorial,l it’s important to keep it simple and natural.
To ensure that we learn from the best, we collaborated with PixelPhant for their insights. PixelPhant is a professional portrait and headshot retouching service.
They have worked with photographers and studies to retouch headshots for corporate, students, and kids.
In this article, PixelPhant shares five common mistakes people make when retouching headshots, along with detailed tips to avoid them.
Contents
1. Doing Too Much
A big mistake is editing too much. Over-smoothing skin, making details overly sharp, or brightening everything too much can make the person look fake or completely different from who they really are.
People want to look like their best selves—not a completely new person.
How to Avoid It:
- Edit Without Changing the Original: Use tools that allow you to make changes you can later adjust, such as layers and masks in Photoshop. This way, you can experiment without ruining the original image.
- Keep It Real: Focus on improving how someone looks without trying to make them perfect. Small adjustments are often enough to make a big difference.
- Know What’s Normal: Different types of headshots have different standards. For example, business photos need a polished but natural look, while acting headshots may allow for more personality to shine through.
- Take Breaks: Sometimes, stepping away from your work for a few minutes can help you see if you’ve overdone it. Fresh eyes are a great tool.
2. Fixing Blemishes the Wrong Way
Blemishes like pimples or scars are part of what makes someone unique.
Completely erasing them can make the picture look unnatural and impersonal. It’s especially important to handle permanent marks, like birthmarks or scars, with care.
How to Avoid It:
- Use Editing Tools Lightly: Tools like the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop are great for fixing temporary issues, like a pimple that will disappear in a week. However, only remove permanent features like scars if the person specifically asks.
- Ask the Person: If you’re working for someone, always ask about their preferences. Some people want scars or other features left as they are because they’re part of their story.
- Zoom Out Often: Look at the whole picture often to make sure your edits don’t make one part of the image look unnatural compared to the rest. Focusing too much on small areas can lead to an unbalanced final result.
- Practice Patience: Editing blemishes takes time. Rushing through this step can lead to visible mistakes.
3. Messing Up Colors and Tones
Sometimes, skin tones don’t match or the colors look unnatural because of poor editing.
Uneven or strange colors can make the subject look unhealthy or like the photo was badly taken.
How to Avoid It:
- Check Your Screen: Make sure your computer screen shows colors correctly. Tools like X-Rite’s i1Display can help you calibrate your screen for accurate colors.
- Balance Colors Carefully: Use tools like Curves or Levels in your editing software to fix uneven skin tones and colors. Adjust only as much as needed to keep it looking natural.
- Think About the Purpose: Warm tones might work better for personal branding or lifestyle headshots, while cooler tones can suit corporate or professional profiles.
- Use Reference Images: Comparing your work to well-edited examples can help you stay on track with realistic colors and tones.
4. Forgetting to Be Subtle
Good retouching doesn’t stand out. Overdoing things like whitening teeth, sharpening eyes, or adding makeup effects can make the photo look strange and distract from the person’s natural features. Remember, subtle edits go a long way.
How to Avoid It:
- Enhance, Don’t Overdo: Small changes can make a big difference. For example, brighten eyes slightly to make them stand out, but don’t make them glow unnaturally.
- Work Slowly: Make small changes one at a time, and check your progress often to make sure everything still looks real. It’s better to go step by step than to try doing too much at once.
- Ask for Opinions: Show your work to someone else for feedback. Another pair of eyes can help catch things you might have missed or overdone.
- Study Real Faces: Spend time observing how light and shadows naturally fall on faces. This will help you make edits that look more realistic.
5. Ignoring Lighting
Lighting is one of the most important parts of a good headshot. Poor lighting edits can make the subject look flat, create weird shadows, or make the photo seem over-processed.
Lighting should enhance the person’s features, not distract from them.
How to Avoid It:
- Work with the Light: Use tools like Dodge and Burn to make highlights and shadows look more natural. These tools can add depth and dimension to the face without making it look fake.
- Follow the Original Lighting: Pay attention to the direction and strength of the light in the original photo. Your edits should match that to keep the photo looking realistic.
- Fix Unwanted Color Casts: Sometimes lighting adds strange colors to the skin, like a yellow or green tint. Use color correction tools to remove these unwanted tones and bring back natural colors.
- Emphasize Depth: Lighting can help make a person’s features look more three-dimensional. Focus on enhancing the natural contours of their face with subtle adjustments.
Conclusion
Retouching headshots takes patience, practice, and attention to detail.
By following insights from PixelPhant, photographers and beginners can start avoiding common mistakes like over-editing, removing too much of a person’s natural look, or mishandling lighting, you can create photos that look polished and professional.
Always aim for subtle, realistic edits that bring out the best in the subject without making them look artificial.
As you practice, you’ll develop an eye for what works and learn how to adjust your techniques for different types of headshots.
With time and care, you can create stunning images that truly stand out!
