What does it mean to re-touch or enhance a photo?

Retouching a picture refers to the minor or major manipulation of photos, usually through digital means, for the purposes of enhancement or restoration or image modifications.. Among the issues handled by retouching, are eliminating red eye, removing objects, adding objects, erasing physical damage or cleaning up the background. On several occasions, we have had clients work with us to create one final master image that has elements from several different images.

A typical use for retouching a photo is removing blemishes, removing crow lines from around the eyes, or adding color to enrich lips and cheeks.  It is common to retouch a wedding photo that has unwanted objects or people from an image.

In this image, the house does not really exist here.  It was what we call composited into the image along with the mountain range on the background.  The purpose of this type of image compositing is to aid the builder in suggesting what style of home you should consider in a space such as this.

Can I improve my photos myself?

We just love the ads on television that show with one click of a button a face in a photograph is replaced or another person is magically re-made to look like an entirely different person. This is called the magic of television!  There is software available that will allow you to edit and retouch your own pictures.

However, the benefits of choosing Studio 3 Creative as opposed to retouching your pictures yourself are clear.  We are professionals providing a very high standard of work.  We do this level of re-touch hundreds of times in a single year.  We are affordable, knowledgeable, and easy to work with.

It is a smart choice to have any retouch worth doing, done professionally.  Because we have been retouching images for years, we are expedient.  We can most likely complete a re-touch project in a fraction of the time it would take an inexperienced person; detailed work that may take you much longer personally to complete, with no guarantee of positive results.  Working with Studio 3 Creative simply makes good sense.

What aspects of my photos can you edit or retouch?

There is very little that we cannot do when it comes to altering a digital image.  We are artists who create wholly new images using digital software, so we are very capable of handing just about anything in digital image alteration.  We can smooth, soften, or remove wrinkles, lines, freckles, blemishes and other facial features.  If necessary, we can change faces in a photograph and create smiles where frowns exists.  We can improve the color, contrast and depth of your pictures.  And, we even remove red eye.

On more than one occasion we have recreated a complete family photo using several images from different photographs.  It can be very challenging to make it look real and natural, but that is what we do.  In the photograph above you can see that the color has been completely stripped out except for the girl. The quality of the final product is determined by "naturalness" in the transition between black and white and color.  Working with fine hair so that it retains its color, while everything around is becomes black and white, can be difficult to do.  When done correctly, it lends authenticity to the photograph.

On the larger and more complex end of the scale is the building or re-building of an image not yet complete.  In the example of the housing complex shown here, a final version was needed to prepare an advertising display.  In order to meet the deadline for printing purposes the exterior was completed digitally.  In the end, the retouched photo looked just like the actual completed project.  Both the display and the building project met their deadlines.

What can you do if the quality of my original picture is not very good?

We will make every effort to improve your photos to the greatest extent possible.  We have had faded out, old black and white photos brought to us before that the client wanted restored then colored to create a more realistic look.  The bottom line on projects such as these, it is always the willingness to invest in the artwork.  Because in the end, that's what it is, it's a work of art!