Natural skin retouching for portraits
Good retouching removes distractions while keeping real skin texture. Techniques from healing to frequency separation and dodge and burn.
Photo by Zulmaury Saavedra on Unsplash
Over-smoothed, plastic skin is the most common retouching mistake. The goal is for people to look like themselves on a good day.
What to remove
Temporary blemishes, stray hairs, lint and small distractions. Ask before removing permanent features like moles or scars.
What to keep
Pores, texture, freckles and fine lines that give a face character.
Tools
- Healing and spot removal for blemishes
- Lightroom’s masking for subtle skin smoothing: reduce texture slightly, not clarity heavily
- Dodge and burn in Photoshop to even out tones by lightening dark spots and darkening bright ones
- Frequency separation for advanced control of color and texture separately
Eyes and teeth
Brighten eyes and whiten teeth gently. Overdone whites look unnatural.
Under-eye circles
Reduce, do not erase. Lower opacity of the correction to about 50 percent.
Check at 100 percent and at full screen
Zoom in to fix details, then zoom out to see if the face still looks natural.
Want to put this tip into practice with pro gear? Rent cameras and lenses in Mérida, or hire us for the shoot. WhatsApp →
