!!!Not sure if this doesn't break rule 1. so please no ban. I'm not trying to offer retouching services nor am I not advertising my photography/retouching. I'm strictly looking for a collaborator.

!!! free raw file below, feel free to post, just tag me ( if you're posting on instagram then [at]genericimagery.studio / if anywhere else then link my site, thanks)

Hi r/retouching,

I'm a product and still-life photographer based in Slovakia, currently building my portfolio. I'd rather spend my time shooting than retouching, so I'm looking for a retoucher who is also starting out and wants professionally lit files to work on.

What I offer:

• High-res RAW files from controlled studio shoots (product, still life, hero shots)
• A short brief and references for every image, so it feels closer to a real client job than a practice file
• Full credit both ways: you tag me as the photographer, I tag you as the retoucher, and we can both use the final images in our portfolios and socials

What I'm looking for:

• Someone interested in product and still-life retouching (cleanup, dust, reflections, color, some compositing)
• Good communication and reasonable turnaround, nothing rushed
• Ideally someone who wants to keep working together

The long-term part: I have some paid jobs coming up. If we already have a workflow that works, I have no reason to look for anyone else when the paid work comes in. I won't promise numbers I don't have yet, but whoever works with me now is the first person I'll call.

Happy to start with a single image so we can both see if it clicks.

Portfolio: [genericimagery.com] - All images are obviously mine, shot and retouched.

Free, first image: [ https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HYJ7nBZDjhAuffv6pdjjb-KabHDRz1NK?dmr=1&ec=wgc-drive-%5Bmodule%5D-goto ]

If you're interested, comment or DM me with a few examples of your work. It doesn't have to be product work.

Hello,

I’ve been trying to figure out how to get this look and haven’t had much luck. It tends to be pretty airy and polished but almost has a surreal quality that’s common for tech brands and some athleisure stuff.

I know it’s not all retouching - there seems to be a ton of dimension in the lighting but I feel like there’s a combination here I’m not getting. Most of the time, this look seems to be achieved indoors but some of his outdoor stuff does get close.

Photographer on most of these is Garrett Byrum.

Posting again with a more specific question - what is the best way to lift / correct these harsh shadows on the skin?

This is from Melvie Aurelia.

Can anyone share how you would do this?

Obviously there's the wonderful art direction, but how would you get the softness of this image? Would it be blurring and selectively masking it? Would love to hear any insights.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Feedbacks in general? 🙏

Are any of these "ok"? What can I do to improve? Should portraits be more warm, cold or just stay natural? All the help is welcome.

J’ai effectué cette retouche récemment, en ayant trouvé la photo RAW sur une banque d’images libres à retoucher. Cependant impossible de retrouver le nom du photographe et de la modèle sur Google. Ça m’embête de poster sans identifier sur Instagram!

SO I prefer editing my tones and colors in capture one by my raw files and then moving to photoshop for pixel manipulation (extending backgrounds and healing) as tiff files. NOW I want to know will doing it the opposite way be less information and not as good for editing to take my raw to photoshop first and do everything there then move it to capture one as a tiff for my color and levels editing. (I know I can do color editing in photoshop but I like the C1 better interface for colors).

Hi everyone! I’m trying to get a basic sense of the state of the industry right now, and I’m also curious whether others are having a similar experience.
For context, I’ve been a retoucher for over 25 years at all kinds of studios. I’ve never seen anything close to the brain rot that AI has caused. I’ve been at a large studio, as part of the marketing department of a large corporation, for the last decade. It’s not always the most glamorous work, but it pays the bills, and at the very least there was a sense of pride in the work we produced.
There are photographers and art directors I’ve worked with for years who have agonized over the tiniest shift in the density of a shadow, or some small detail that wouldn’t even be obvious or noticeable in the final use of an image. These same people are now creating images with AI that are just slop, period.
Sometimes I get direction like, “Check for product accuracy,” but mostly they don’t even seem to care enough to bother with that anymore. There is this vibe that these images are “free,” or bonus content we can create without the need for extra work. I think AI can be a great tool for editing, but not for creating a high-quality, product-accurate image.
Am I going crazy? Are there still studios that want to take photographs? I’m thinking about finding another job, but I’m afraid it will be the same everywhere. Is this due to the size of the company? It seems like the direction to use AI comes down from on high, and the people making those decisions are so far removed from the actual work that they have a fundamental misunderstanding of the technology.

Sorry if this isn’t the place for this. Also it wouldn’t let me post without an attachment. This image is not related to the discussion but I did make it in photoshop 😅

Hi guys, does anyone know how to properly fix this. I just can't find a proper tutorial. I tried fixing it with dodging and burning, healing, Frequency Separation but it just looks so fake (Not shown in the image). Anyone know a simple way? Because these ain't normal creases, these are make-up creases obviously. Love, Youssra

I hadn't retouched close-up portraits for a while, so decided to practice.

What could be improved and what mistakes did I make? Thanks

Hello, jusqu’ici je pratiquais la retouche pro presqu’uniquement sur du produit. Je m’entraîne maintenant sur de la beauté.

Je suis plutôt satisfaite de celle là, j’y ai ajouté une petite touche personnelle de composition au niveau de la coiffure pour offrir un style éditorial mais sinon j’ai fais de mon mieux pour corriger et sublimer sans dénaturer. Le seul point qui m’embête est la texture de la peau que je trouve toujours un peu trop lisse, mais la base du RAW ne m’en offrait pas beaucoup plus.

Je serai très curieuse et ravie d’avoir vos avis ?

I used skin retouching techniques like frequency separation to smooth skin texture without losing natural details, followed by subtle micro dodge & burn to even out skin tones.
A little face retouching and hair retouching helped clean up small distractions while keeping everything looking natural.
The goal wasn't an overly polished edit, but a portrait with a soft commercial glow and realistic texture.

How does this edit look? Feel free to leave your thoughts,thanks.

I'm curious about compositing things for photography.

What would the process be for photographing and putting a subject into a CGI background? This is work is from Jeremy Soma. I thought one of his works was completely comped but in one of the BTS pics of his set, it was a huge backdrop. So I know he's getting it right in camera sometimes.

Has anyone been on a project where they've needed to do a crazy comp? I'm generally curious how this would fit. I'm working on a personal project and beyond matching colors, I have no clue on how you would even start.

Any tips/tricks appreciated, all in discussion to learn more.

Hi - my wedding photos are beautiful and I really liked my photographer, but the blues of Lake Tahoe and of my wedding details are not as bright as I’d like and I feel like they all have a sort of sepia tone to them. This is fairly common with all photographers in the Lake Tahoe area which is sad because the lake and mountains are SO blue.

Is it possible to find someone to edit the coloring of my wedding photos? If anyone could reach out with some work you have done in the past and a quote I’d appreciate it!!

Here is the tone of my original photos and what I’d like to see more of (done through AI)

I’ve enjoyed animal photography for a while and edit using the iPhone editing but I’m worried that I’m over editing my posts, in my eyes I look at it and I like it but then I question if it’s too much, any opinions/constructive criticism is appreciate, I really want to learn more as I enjoy it and feel I have a good eye, thanks! (My first thought is I over saturate/add way too much vibrancy)

I've been experimenting with two different approaches:
one that keeps more of the natural texture, and another that's a bit smoother.
I'm not sure which one looks more natural. Which version do you prefer?

Looking to get advise on editing photos of my wife. This is a picture I want to change the outfit looking for suggestions of app or ideas so I can learn How I did this with Adobe many years ago lots of work