DON’T FIX IN POST…UNLESS YOU REALLY, REALLY HAVE TO!
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As you can see from my portfolio I happen to be on a lot of photo shoots in various positions. Sometimes I do the lighting and I am capturing the images via »tethering« directly from the camera into a computer while making sure they are backed up and safe during and after the shoot. You don’t want to lose those precious files.
On other projects I shoot the photos myself. But either way, when the shoot ends my work is not done. I have to backup the images. (If you want to know how my backup strategy looks like – I may write an extra article about that in the future.)
Then I reorganize and sometimes all the files according to the project. Afterwards I scale them down into a manageable size (e.g. 2500 pixels) in order to upload them to a web-based platform where they can be shown to the client as a first preview for selections. (If you want to know more about my organizing process after a photo shoot – I may write an extra article about that, too.)
Afterwards I will retouch the approved photos or make a illustrative composite from many different images into a movie poster or a webdesign graphic. But later more about retouching…
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Sometimes a team on a regular photo shoot consists of 3-5 people but sometimes also 20 – depending on the scale of the project. And since I am oftentimes in the position to also be responsible for the post production and retouching of the images my colleague and I try to work as »cleanly« on set as possible. But what does that mean?
Well for me it means that I try to stick to my »1 vs 10 minute« rule – so an action that takes 1 minute on set can save – at least – up to 10-100 minutes in post-production. For example:
I might talk to the hair & makeup (H&M) artist to overpaint a few more zits on the face of the model – this will not prevent me from retouching those zits but at least colorwise it is taken care of
Sometimes a model has a tattoo that should not be featured in the final image so painting it over – even very rough – is oftentimes faster than retouching it in Photoshop
I sometimes ask H&M to put layer of makeup on the hands or legs of the model because they tend to get reddish after a while when all the blood gathers in the extremities due to gravity – which again is often faster on set than in postproduction
If the hands play a major part in the shooting (e.g. in a close up) I may ask the model to put her hands in the air for a minute or two – so the blood flows back out of the hands so they are less reddish and don’t show so much venes (although this can be an advantage for male models to look »ripped«)
I also often ask the costume designer or stylist to use a lint roller on the clothes once in a while – because everyone has loose hair or skin particles/dandruff or just ordinary dust falling on them which can show up in post-production easily. And this can be one of the most time consuming things to retouch. ONE MINUTE of lint rolling literally saves half an hour or more in retouching.🤯
If we shoot on a white background – a painted wooden cyclorama (»cyc«) in the studio or a paper background – we ask the team to remove their shoes and only wear socks or put on special plastic covers over their shoes so that they don’t smudge the white ground. This will also prevent additional costs for cleaning or even repainting of the cyc when you are in a rental studio. Retouching those foot prints after a full day is very time consuming. Although there are some AI plugins available by now.
We also try to have a broom on set to brush away particles and dirt from the floor if it is in the shot
If you do product photography it is quite practicable to use white gloves before you touch the product or have an an air pressure can ready to dust off the small dust particles. A small hand vacuum cleaner is also useful.
If you shoot in front of a grey or white background in order to knockout/extract the model for later compositing work it is also good to light and expose the background evenly – this way, if you use the selection tool in Photoshop, the algorithm has a much better starting point and you don’t have to paint so much out manually
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All the above details may seem banal or overly finicky but the sum of all those actions save quite a noticeable amount of time in post-production. If you have retouched two teenagers with lots of zits and dandruff your retoucher wishes to have that fixed on set. Especially if you have a series of photos.
I also oftentimes have to »extract« shadows from models to composite them into the new scene. That can be quite cumbersome if you have to »clean up« the shadow first. It is also very annoying to clean up dust particles from product shots – especially shiny surfaces.
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There are of course times when all these measures cannot be taken due to time constraints or logistical reasons. And you have to rely on the cooperation of your team and your clients.
But if you abide by them once in a while you save your retoucher (or yourself) a lot of headaches. Of course you could argue that the retoucher could earn more money. But in reality there is often a fixed budget for retouching images and if you do it yourself you appreciate it a lot afterwards. When I shoot myself I always account for the retouching in my head while making decisions.
And what people also tend to forget – in the end all this time that you invest on set to fix the small annoying problems you can re-invest in the post-production: to make a good image look excellent instead of making a mediocre one just good! And this is what separates the professionals from the amateurs.🤓
