In this article, I am going to share two of my must-have retouching tools to help you achieve that perfect final image.
As a portrait photographer, I strive to achieve beautiful skin in my images. Getting beautiful skin that is also realistic and preserves natural skin texture is what makes my heart flutter.
Of course, you need perfectly applied makeup and good lighting as your base foundation when wanting to capture beautiful skin. But retouching is the cherry on top. It is the final step that can make or break your image.
Kristi Sherk
First up, the legend herself, Kristi Sherk or SharkPixel.com. Not only is Kristi a guru, specializing in high-end photo retouching. She is also one of the leading educators when it comes to teaching the process and techniques involved.
For the past 10 years, Kristina Sherk has been a high-end photo retoucher. She specializes in realistic retouching and has done work for many clients such as Time Inc., Hasselblad, Merz Aesthetic, and Cotton Incorporated. She’s a contributing author for educational publications like Shutter Magazine, Photoshop User Magazine, and Lightroom Magazine. She also has several classes with KelbyOne.
My favorite purchase from Kristi’s has been her Signature Lightroom Tools and her Beauty and Skin Actions for Photoshop. They have been a game-changer for me and my photography. I use at least one or two of her presets per image.
Retouching Academy
My next must-have tool is the Beauty Retouch Panel from Retouching Academy. Whether you are a beginner or a working freelancer, these tools have a wealth of information shared by successful professionals to help you improve your retouching skills and business.
They offer video courses taught by the best in class that provide an excellent skill base in Beauty, Portrait and Fashion Retouching. Their retouching panel has helped speed up my beauty and portrait workflow by at least 10 minutes when working in Photoshop. It has consolidated all the tools I need in Photoshop into one panel allowing me to work quickly and efficiently.
As a beauty and portrait photographer, the tools I use to retouch my images are as important as the gear I use to take the image. These two tools have been a staple and must in my retouching processes for the last five years. I could not complete an image without either.
Yes very nice software, that does a nice job. However if we did this much retouching for our customers they would not like it. We have found that most people just don’t understand retouching and don’t want it. Not this much anyway.For a model or commercial job yes, but not the general public.
I completely agree. There is definitely a particular type of client for this type of retouching.