Rethink your retouching

Some experts couldn’t bare to think of posting a photo without heavy editing.

Perhaps it’s time to rethink your retouching.

One of the more common questions that I receive during a consultation call involves retouching. 

Or, as you people like to call it, “airbrushing.”

Ugh.

If you’re one of those people, please stop being one of those people :) 

My answer to this question is always the same:

If you have a pimple on your face that shows up in the image, yes, I’ll get rid of that. If you want me to restructure your face and alter reality, I’m not a fit to work with you.

For many years, I would do more advanced retouching for my clients, but it always felt wrong to me. 

While it may seem harmless to remove a couple wrinkles and slightly reshape the face in order to make the visual more flattering, I started to feel like I was contributing to a lie. 

And that’s not why I became a professional photographer.

So, one day, I decided that I was no longer going to offer heavy cleanup work and shy away from full-blown, photographic plastic surgery.

At first, I was nervous that this decision would cost me a ton of business.

But what I found out was that I was not alone. 

You see, the experts I serve understand the importance of integrity and trust when building relationships with those they serve. 

They know that in order to nurture those relationships to the point that their people are ready to buy, they need to be straight up with them from the moment they enter into their worlds.

And that involves looking like the person they are in their photos as they are in real life. 

They own their appearance, and are not afraid to show their age, weight or anything else. 

By focusing less on themselves, they have freed up space in their minds to focus on those they serve. 

It’s pretty magical - and a gigantic sigh of relief that I didn’t blow up my business :) 

So, if you feel like you need to create major alterations to your face in your photos, I want you to take a moment to answer this question:

Why is this so important to you when it has nothing to do with the transformational services that you offer your people?

And then, follow up that question with this one:

Do you really think that because of (your perceived imperfection) that potential clients will walk away from the opportunity of paying you to help solve their problem? 

Have a think on this the next time you look to hire a photographer. Perhaps you won’t even ask them about their “airbrush” skills at all.

And while we’re on the subject of photos…

If the time for you to update your lifestyle portraits and other image content is now, schedule a call to chat with me and let’s see if we’re a fit to work together.

And no, I won’t hang up on you if you ask about retouching services :)