Portrait and Event Retouching
Class Description
Portrait Retouching
The goal of this class is to make you the go-to photographer for your wedding, senior, and portrait clients - and to take memorable photos of your family and friends.
In this class you will learn how to get realistic and flattering portraits, adjusting skin, eyes, smiles, hair, and other issues. Emphasis is on getting the best possible image in-camera, evaluating what can be done in retouching, and evaluating your results. The ultimate goal is to be able to process and optimize your own images independently.
We begin with a brief discussion of the past, present and future of retouching, followed by hands-on demonstrations and step-by-step instruction. We discuss image assessment and best-practices workflow for the most efficient and successful retouch for single image and quantities. Tools of the trade: the Wacom tablet, and different softwares are introduced.
We break for a lunch provided by the Photo Center, and then work in depth with cloning and healing tools, customizing brushes, using layers and adjustment layers, masking, blending modes, and many more retouching methods. Our goal is to understand what the different tools do best, which one will give us the most natural-looking results and when. More tips and tricks, and evaluating final results round off the day.
On Day Two we do retouches as a class, start to finish. This is the ideal time to bring your own examples of troublesome problems, such as difficult reflections in eyeglasses.
Being able to critique one’s own work is a crucial part of good retouching. We evaluate successful and unsuccessful retouching work in the public domain.
One-on-one time with the instructor tailored to your specific needs and images can be arranged at a rate of $75/hr.
Although many important edits can be done using Lightroom, all demonstrations and classwork will be done using Photoshop and not demonstrated on both Photoshop and Lightroom. Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw employs the same engine as the Lightroom Develop module but the menus and panels are distinct.
Topics Covered:
- Raw image versus jpg - why raw is preferred
- How to assess an image - which standards to use
- Vision - how far to go?
- Color and exposure correction
- Removing color casts
- Contrast
- Basic retouching techniques
- Skin: Removing or minimizing blemishes, wrinkles, dark circles; skin smoothing
- Eye issues: contrast, blood vessels, darkening eyelashes, shaping eyebrows
- Whitening teeth
- Contouring: dodging and burning
- Slenderizing
- Hair: Adding highlights, repairing dark roots
- Different retouches for men, women and children
- How to use a basic Wacom tablet
- How to evaluate a retouch and developing your ‘eye’
Class Requirements
Class Requirements:
1) Experience with Photoshop CS5 or higher and a basic understanding of layers in Photoshop.
2) Wacom tablet (if you do not have one, you may borrow one of ours for the class.)
Because so many restorative techniques require layers, masking, drawing and other precise adjustments, this class uses Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw only.
A prerequisite Photoshop class is recommended if you have no working knowledge of Photoshop. We offer Part 2 of our two-day Photoshop Workshop that teaches valuable layers and layer adjustment techniques. See class list for more information.
Class Schedule
Date |
Start Time |
End Time |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, January 16th, 2016 | 10:00 AM | 4:00 PM | Digital Learning Center |
| Saturday, February 6th, 2016 | 10:00 AM | 4:00 PM | Digital Learning Center |
Additional Class Information
Class Images:
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About the Instructor
Corinne (CJ) Standish:
CJ studied drawing and photography at Art Institute Minnesota and photography and digital imaging at MCTC colleges. She has been retouching using Photoshop since 2005 and has fashion and portrait retouching clients in the US, Europe and Russia. She continually participates in retouching workshops to stay abreast of the latest techniques and software developments. CJ is also a portrait, event, and performance photographer.
Register for this Class
The cost of the "Portrait and Event Retouching" class is: $295.00
Learn more about our membership and be eligible to receive a 10% on all MPC classes.
Click Here to Register for "Portrait and Event Retouching" Class
