Photo editing: what to expect (and my "golden rule")

I have a really intentional approach to photo editing that was born from personal experiences of having my pictures taken — and not always loving the results.  

My personal experiences with “bad skin” and photo editing 

I’ve had acne and rosacea since I was 12 years old (almost ⅔ of my life!). In particular, having pretty substantial acne was a big part of my life for a long time, even into adulthood. It was something that I was very self-conscious of for a long time, and I found that it led me to feel really uncomfortable being photographed. 

I had a particularly negative experience when I got my senior pictures done in high school. I really loved so much of the experience, and at the time I thought the pictures looked super pretty — but they’d done a ton of retouching to my skin and made my skin look flawless and plasticy and unrealistic. 

As much as I liked the pictures, I could see just how much they’d edited my skin. There was a little voice in my head that said, “Wow, they had to do a lot of editing in order to make you look pretty.” I remember feeling really uncomfortable with that at the time. 

I also remember feeling weird that no one had asked me how much editing I wanted or asked if I was okay looking totally different in those pictures. Looking back, I wish the photographer had asked for my editing consent. That was a really notable experience — feeling like there was too much editing in those photos and that they weren’t reflective of what I wanted. 

The opposite experience has also happened! I’ve had my photos taken during an extra-tough week for my skin, with no retouching or editing done. I’ve felt self-conscious about that, too! It felt like such a bummer that my photos were taken during a week when my acne and rosacea were flaring up and that it was really noticeable in the pictures. 

My 'golden rule' philosophy of photo editing 

Did you learn the 'golden rule' when you were a kid ('treat others like you want to be treated')? I take the same approach to how I edit pictures, with my own experiences impacting my professional approach to photo editing. My philosophy is to edit others the way I would want to be edited!

I never want to completely change how someone looks in their pictures or make them look unrealistic or plasticy. That’s rooted in my wholehearted belief that a client should never have to be edited in order to feel like they have a beautiful picture of themself! I balance that with the idea that if a client has something temporary on part of their body, I’m comfortable removing it. 

Here's what that means in practice in my portrait sessions! 

I start my photo editing by using my natural editing style to adjust the color and tone of pictures so that they have a bit of warmth and richness. My goal is always to make the pictures look the way the moment felt when they were taken! 

I’ll also use my retouching skills to gently edit out temporary things, like bug bites, scratches, bruises, and blemishes. 

And that's it - my approach is super natural and focused on celebrating clients as they are! 

How I handle special editing requests

Sometimes clients will make special requests to remove things during the editing process. For example, clients might ask me to remove small scars or tattoos from their photos if they carry a negative association for the client — and if they’re small requests, I can usually accommodate them. 

When I’m working with a client who has a bit more skin redness, rosacea, acne, or something else, I’m always open to having a conversation about their preferences. My goal is to soften things so that clients don’t feel distracted by their skin when looking at their pictures later on while also being mindful to make sure the pictures depict clients as they look in real life. I also have a fair number of clients who ask for their skin to stay completely unretouched in their pictures, and that's great too! I think that talking about this openly allows for consent in editing -- I want for this to always be an open conversation with my clients so that their pictures can reflect what they want to remember about this chapter of life. 

What I don’t edit 

I won't change the shape/size of your body

Occasionally, clients ask if I can change the shape of their bodies or make certain body parts look bigger or smaller in their pictures. My answer to that is no. I don’t want to change what a client’s body looks like. I want every client to feel beautiful and worthy, exactly as they are, and for their pictures to remind them of just how amazing they are. 

Concerns about cellulite

Clients sometimes ask if I can remove cellulite from their pictures. Cellulite is so normal — it’s on every body! — and my general rule of thumb is that I don’t edit cellulite. If a client shares that they are self-conscious about it, I can be mindful about it when guiding them through poses, and the lighting in my studio is so soft that it smooths out a lot of skin textures already. 

If it really bothers a client in a particular photo, I can smooth it out a bit — I take it on a case-by-case basis — but generally speaking, I want to show any permanent features of a client’s body just as they are so that they can be celebrated. 

Tan lines or sunburn: really challenging to edit!

Clients sometimes also ask if I can edit out tan lines or sunburn — and this is a tough one! While sunburn can be more temporary, it's unfortunately very hard to edit in a way that looks natural, and so my general answer to these requests is no.   

For tan lines, sometimes I’m able to soften them a bit so that the line is less harsh and less in focus, but because skin is different colors on either side of the tan line, I can’t completely remove tan lines when I edit a picture. When it comes to activities someone can choose to do at a different time (like sunbathing or cupping), it's helpful to avoid those before a boudoir session! But if something unexpected comes up -- a big bruise, a rash, etc. — clients are totally welcome to reach out to me to discuss options. 

More than anything: you are art, true art, just as you are — no editing required! I hope you always remember that.