Portrait Photography Post-Processing Workflow: A Step-by-Step Guide
Post-processing is an essential part of portrait photography. It's where you refine your images, correct imperfections, and add your personal artistic touch. This guide will walk you through a comprehensive workflow, covering everything from basic adjustments to more advanced techniques. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced photographer, you'll find valuable tips to enhance your portrait photography.
Why Post-Processing Matters
While capturing a great image in-camera is crucial, post-processing allows you to:
Correct imperfections: Adjust exposure, white balance, and remove distractions.
Enhance details: Sharpen images and bring out textures.
Create a mood: Use colour grading to evoke specific emotions.
Retouch skin: Smooth skin and remove blemishes for a polished look.
Express your style: Add your unique artistic flair to your images.
1. Importing and Organising Images
The first step is to import your images into your chosen editing software. Adobe Lightroom and Capture One are popular choices, but there are also free alternatives like Darktable and GIMP. Proper organisation is crucial for efficient workflow.
Importing
Create a folder structure: Before importing, create a logical folder structure on your hard drive (e.g., Year > Month > Project).
Use keywords: Add relevant keywords during import to easily find images later (e.g., "portrait", "outdoor", "family", "location").
Apply basic presets: Consider applying a basic preset during import to speed up your initial editing.
Organising
Culling: Go through your images and select the best ones. Use star ratings or colour labels to mark your favourites.
Metadata: Add or edit metadata like copyright information, photographer name, and location.
Collections/Albums: Create collections or albums to group related images together. This is especially useful for projects or specific clients.
Good organisation saves time and frustration in the long run. Think of it as setting the foundation for a smooth and efficient editing process. If you're looking for a professional touch after editing, our services can help you present your portraits in the best possible light.
2. Basic Adjustments: Exposure, Contrast, and White Balance
These are the fundamental adjustments that affect the overall look and feel of your image. Getting these right is essential before moving on to more advanced techniques.
Exposure
Exposure refers to the overall brightness of your image. Use the exposure slider to brighten or darken the image. Be careful not to overexpose (blow out highlights) or underexpose (crush shadows).
Histogram: Use the histogram as a visual guide to check for overexposure or underexposure. A histogram that's pushed to the right indicates overexposure, while one pushed to the left indicates underexposure.
Contrast
Contrast is the difference between the light and dark areas of your image. Increasing contrast makes the image more punchy, while decreasing it makes it flatter.
Highlights and Shadows: Use the highlights and shadows sliders to fine-tune the contrast in specific areas of the image. For example, you can recover details in blown-out highlights by decreasing the highlights slider.
Whites and Blacks: Similar to highlights and shadows, the whites and blacks sliders control the brightest and darkest points in the image.
White Balance
White balance corrects the colour cast in your image, ensuring that whites appear white. Incorrect white balance can make your image look too warm (yellowish) or too cool (bluish).
Presets: Use the white balance presets (e.g., daylight, cloudy, tungsten) as a starting point.
Temperature and Tint: Fine-tune the white balance using the temperature (warmth/coolness) and tint (green/magenta) sliders.
Eye Dropper Tool: Use the eye dropper tool to click on a neutral grey area in the image to automatically correct the white balance.
Getting the basic adjustments right is crucial for a good starting point. If you are unsure about any aspect of portrait photography, frequently asked questions might provide the answers you need.
3. Skin Retouching Techniques
Skin retouching is a delicate process that aims to enhance the skin's appearance without making it look unnatural. The goal is to remove blemishes, even out skin tone, and soften wrinkles, while preserving texture.
Spot Removal
Healing Brush: Use the healing brush to remove blemishes, spots, and small imperfections. The healing brush samples texture from a nearby area and blends it with the area you're retouching.
Clone Stamp Tool: The clone stamp tool duplicates pixels from one area to another. It's useful for removing larger distractions or covering up areas where the healing brush doesn't work well.
Frequency Separation
Frequency separation is an advanced technique that separates the skin into two layers: high frequency (details and texture) and low frequency (colour and tone). This allows you to retouch the skin tone without affecting the texture, and vice versa.
Creating the Layers: Duplicate your background layer twice. Rename the top layer "High Frequency" and the bottom layer "Low Frequency".
Blurring the Low Frequency Layer: Apply a Gaussian blur to the "Low Frequency" layer until the skin details are blurred out. The amount of blur will depend on the resolution of your image.
Applying High Pass Filter to the High Frequency Layer: Apply a High Pass filter to the "High Frequency" layer. Adjust the radius until the skin details are visible.
Blending Mode: Set the blending mode of the "High Frequency" layer to "Linear Light".
Retouching: Use the clone stamp tool or healing brush on the "High Frequency" layer to remove blemishes and imperfections. Use the brush tool on the "Low Frequency" layer to even out skin tone.
Dodge and Burn
Dodge and burn is a technique used to selectively lighten (dodge) and darken (burn) areas of the skin to create shape and dimension.
Creating Dodge and Burn Layers: Create two new layers. Rename one "Dodge" and the other "Burn". Set the blending mode of both layers to "Overlay". Fill both layers with 50% grey.
Dodging: Use a soft brush with low opacity to paint over areas you want to lighten (e.g., highlights on the cheekbones, bridge of the nose).
Burning: Use a soft brush with low opacity to paint over areas you want to darken (e.g., shadows under the cheekbones, sides of the nose).
Skin retouching requires patience and a light touch. The goal is to enhance the skin's appearance without making it look artificial. Remember to zoom out frequently to check the overall effect.
4. Colour Grading and Toning
Colour grading and toning are used to create a specific mood or style in your image. This involves adjusting the colours in the image to evoke certain emotions or complement the subject.
Colour Balance
Use the colour balance tool to adjust the colours in the shadows, midtones, and highlights of your image. This allows you to create subtle colour shifts and add depth to your image.
HSL/Colour Adjustments
HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance) adjustments allow you to control the individual colours in your image. You can change the hue of a colour, increase or decrease its saturation, and adjust its luminance (brightness).
Hue: Change the colour of a specific range of colours.
Saturation: Increase or decrease the intensity of a specific range of colours.
Luminance: Adjust the brightness of a specific range of colours.
Split Toning
Split toning allows you to add different colours to the highlights and shadows of your image. This is a popular technique for creating vintage or cinematic looks.
LUTs (Lookup Tables)
LUTs are pre-made colour grading presets that can be applied to your images with a single click. They can be a quick and easy way to achieve a specific look, but it's important to adjust them to suit your individual images. You can learn more about Portraits and our approach to colour grading.
Colour grading is a subjective process, so experiment with different techniques and find what works best for your style. The key is to create a cohesive and visually appealing look that enhances the overall image.
5. Exporting for Different Platforms
Once you're happy with your edits, it's time to export your images for different platforms. The optimal export settings will depend on where you plan to use the images (e.g., website, social media, print).
File Format
JPEG: JPEG is a compressed file format that's ideal for web use and social media. It offers a good balance between file size and image quality.
PNG: PNG is a lossless file format that's best for images with transparency or graphics with sharp lines and text.
TIFF: TIFF is a lossless file format that's ideal for printing and archiving. It preserves all the image data, but the file sizes are larger.
Image Size and Resolution
Website: For websites, a resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch) is sufficient. The image size will depend on the layout of your website, but aim for images that are no larger than necessary.
Social Media: Each social media platform has its own recommended image sizes. Check the platform's guidelines for the optimal dimensions.
Print: For printing, a resolution of 300 dpi is recommended. The image size will depend on the size of the print.
Colour Space
sRGB: sRGB is the standard colour space for web use. It ensures that your images will look consistent across different devices and browsers.
Adobe RGB: Adobe RGB is a wider colour space that's ideal for printing. It offers a greater range of colours, but it's not supported by all devices and browsers.
Watermarking
Consider adding a watermark to your images to protect your copyright. A watermark can be a text overlay or a small logo.
By following these steps, you can create a consistent and efficient post-processing workflow that will help you enhance your portrait photography and achieve stunning results.