Hi. My name is Jimmy and I'm a blur-a-holic. It's been 3 years since I used a total face or body Gaussian blur mask.Sometimes it's hard. I look at my pictures and think, it's only going on the web. At 72 dpi, whose gonna notice? Besides, the women I photograph don't all have porcelain skin. What's a little virtual porcelain between friends? There's a reason Mattel has been so successful with their line of Barbie dolls. If people didn't like plasticized Barbie skin they would have already stopped appreciating (and buying) those dolls and Mattel would have already changed their manufacturing process and added pores to Barbie's skin, right?
Okay, I'll admit that sometimes... sometimes I might use a blurring tool on a pretty girl's skin. But only a tiny little bit and only in a few places. It's barely noticeable, if at all. What's the harm in that, right? It's glamour. It's all about fantasy. If a little blurred skin helps create the fantasy, what's wrong with that? It's not like anyone is getting hurt if I do. As long as her eyes are sharp and focused, right?
Besides, I don't always have time to carefully and meticulously "heal" every freakin' blemish on every model's skin. Dammit, Jim! I'm a professional photographer, not a plastic surgeon! Most of my models don't have sick skin anyway. They might have an occasional blemish, scar, pimple or other flaw, things that could use a bit of post-production TLC but, for the most part, there's usually not *that* much to heal. She is what she is!
A model's epidermis is her largest organ. Okay, maybe a few of my models have mammary glands larger than their epidermises but that doesn't mean their entire skin organ is in trouble. If the whole damn thing needs healing, her skin I mean, maybe she needs a doctor? You know, a dermatologist. Maybe she should take better care of her epidermis? Maybe she shouldn't even be modeling or I shouldn't be showcasing my pictures of her.
The model at the top is Bella from last night's shoot. No model was injured in the production of this photo. No post-production blur was used in the processing of the picture. (Not even a tiny bit.)
5 comments:
I approve of this ad...lol. I agree with ya Jimmy and practice the same methods with my younger models. The same cannot be said for alot of others I shoot, many who are nearing middle age and want glamour type shots. In the end you do what you have to, to please the client and I can show you gazillion different ways to process the epidermis, because sometimes I have to.
Robert
Fusion Photo
Dang...I guess i'm not anonomous anymore...lol
Robert
@Robert: I agree ya gotta do what ya gotta do, especially when you're being paid to do it. But when it's for personal ports and other public displays of work, I'm a "less is more" kinda guy. That's not to say I don't do things with lighting to soften skin but, when it's the light that does the softening, it still looks real... and human. Just sayin. :-)
and I'm hearin' ya bud. I'm guilty of posting some that I probably should'nt with too much work being done to make it presentable, but that's mainly what I have been shooting. You are making me re-think my variuos ports for re-work. But as stated, I'm getting paid!
Thanks for the eye opener Jimmy.
Robert
To those who believe you must blur if the client wants smooth skin, I disagree. Although not meaning to be an advertisement, you should investigate Gry Garness's ebook and/or video.
http://www.grygarness.com/
With just a bit of effort, you can do a much better job of retouching.
ks
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