retouching

Welcome to the Friday forum, my dekeOmmunity. Today's post is brought to you by the Toronto wing of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty via Photoshop Diva Katrin Eismann. In a nutshell (which is an admittedly hard and tiny place to put such a complex issue), Ogilvy Toronto posted this video---"Thought before Action"---about a magical and socially conscious Photoshop action that reverted the model to her true unretouched self. Thus, retouchers are reminded in flagrante delicto that they are not honoring True Beauty. 

(That is, if professional retouchers do all their work in one fell swoop without saving their file before applying an action downloaded from the internet.) 

As the story goes, this action, presumably made available at sites like Reddit where art directors, graphic designers, and photo retouchers lurked---was called "Beautify" and falsely claimed to create a skin glow effect. The mindless unassuming users of the action would instead find their work reverted to the photo's original state. 

(Wait, Reddit? The place where my teenage son goes to look at animated GIFs of sloths playing banjos? The place where President Obama says anyone can ask him anything as long as they can do it in the next half hour? That's where pros go for their retouching actions? Welcome to dekeOnline you poor hapless souls.)

Ok, there's something poetic about using something called an action to attempt to incite---maybe not actual action, but at least social consciousness---about the way women are force-fed unreal idealization in advertisement. And yet, I must ask the following:  Read more » 

Stop it people. (Don't stop listening to Martini Hour, there are so precious few left. But do stop doing these things that you don't need to do in Photoshop.) Whether it be laziness, or convention, or excitement over tools or techniques to the point of employing them past all earthly reason, this week's show comprises a list of bad habits that Deke and I have collected in our travels (and Deke admits to having occasionally collected based on personal experience). Inspired by this blog post of things photographers can stop shooting already (sunsets, homeless dudes, . . .) we delightfully discuss our candidates for the things you are free stop doing in Photoshop. With our blessings. Not to mention, our insistence. 

Here is our list of "don't do"s: Read more » 

Hey, Dekapolitans! Just back from Adobe, a land of very nice and smart people by the way, where it's entirely possible the back of my head was captured to be seen by millions watching the CS4 launch. Deke told me I shouldn't retouch my own self portrait (just how do I get that nonchalant look like I don't even know the camera's there when I'm holding the dang thing right out in front of me?), so here is a completely un-altered photo of me in the audience.

Read more »