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“Cherrydeck and MK Retouching invite you.” It all started with this saying. We – Cherrydeck & MK Retouching – held an exclusive meet and greet of the beauty & fashion scene from Munich and the surrounding area on November 23rd, 2019. What was this networking event about? “Find and connect with photographers, videographers and models. We make collaboration between creatives and businesses easier.” – Cherrydeck This is Cherrydeck’s motto. Which fits perfectly to this concept of events. For me they […]
So far, removing dust spots has been one of the first steps in post-production. Previously, there were two ways to do this: While the limited number of 100 points within the Remove Spot option in Capture One 12 was quite unflexible and of course limited, Photoshop was more time-consuming but more accurate and flexible in the shape of the correction area. There we used the combination of our Solar Curve (= Dust Spot Finder) and Healing Brush/Spot Healing Brush. Some time passed […]
Since we were little, we are judged by our zodiac sign or ascendant, pigeonholed by friends, family or strangers. From time to time, we stumble over various personality tests. And we have to find out our strengths and weaknesses for job interviews. After a certain time, we finally think, that we know each other very well or know each other better than anyone else on this planet. No matter how much you may have thought about yourself, this article gives you […]
Facial aging is a dynamic process involving the aging of soft tissue and bony structures. In image editing or retouching, we influence this bone structure and the fall of light on the human face through Dodge&Burn (painting with light and shadow) and Liquify. We must therefore be clear whether we are artificially rejuvenating a model and whether this is intentional or undesirable. We also have to be careful not to mix different signs of age, i.e. to hide some signs […]
Large amounts of data are generated during post-production – previews, composits, layered and non-layered versions, revisions etc. – also for the client. These files consume storage space and must be backed up. Ultimately, we have to keep an eye on our files and reduce the file size to a minimum – of course without loss of quality. Minimize RAW files Dotphoton Raw offers lossless compression of RAW files with up to 80% file size reduction. Check out there website to get […]
There is very good news for all our German fans! In the course of the last Corona virus events, we took part in a great campaign to support other photography artists and recorded a 30-minute retouching video for retouching hair. This should be available on March 26th up to March 28th 2020. Whole 3 days! Limited Offer! Click here to get to the shop. We hope we can use it to fill your free time sensibly and hope you have […]
Dodge & Burn is a subject where opinions differ. There are many ways to make areas in the picture lighter or darker. We quickly discuss the different methods and test them for suitability – there are sky-wide differences. Dodge & Burn Tools (DE: Abwedler & Nachbelichter) Photoshop has always offered two tools for Dodge & Burn. Surely everyone has experienced this situation: take the Dodge tool and painted around in the picture, oops done too much, used the Burn tool […]
Author: Stefan Kohler Conny Wallström posted a video on YouTube about “Brightness vs Luminosity inside of Photoshop”. As always a somewhat more technical topic, but fascinating: It is about the possibilities of transforming an image into its black-and-white representation. Especially when you use this as help layer while retouching, you have to be extremely careful — otherwise you get massive color problems very quickly. Conny shows the different interpretation possibilities in Photoshop: The initial picture: Here we have 6 […]
Author: Stefan Kohler What is the “Solar Curve”? The “Solar Curve” looks like a wave created from the normal linear curve inside of Photoshop. Normally 4 or 6 points are inserted. Mathematically one divides the entire range (0-255) into 5 or 7 parts and sets accordingly the points: 4-point Solar Curve If you want to set 4 new points, simply divide the 255 (maximum) by 5 and get 51. These points result accordingly: Input / Output 0/0 51/255 101/0 152/255 […]
Author: Stefan Kohler Presumably, each of you knows: You retouched forever on an image, retouched the fingers sore and if you want to show the final image quite strange rings in color gradients arises. These rings are called “banding” and are nothing more than tonal value demolitions. Before I explain where these tonal separations come from and how to avoid them, I would like to show you a small example: As you can see in the background, we have — just on […]
“Our language culture is in a rapid transition to a visual culture” (Franke, 1997, quoted in Gläßel, 2010, p. 17). Considering the date of this quote – we actually live in a visual culture. In which way are (ideal body) images processed by our brains? Which tools and biologically preprogrammed patterns does advertising use to make the images more effective? These questions will be discussed in the following sections. Credibility of images Besides the impressive effect of images, there’s another dimension […]
Author: Stefan Kohler I recently had an interview on the ethical responsibility of retouching. I found the experience very moving and very thought-provoking. In this article, I would like to write down a few of these thoughts. What we see in advertisements and in magazines every day feels like reality to people outside of the retouching industry: Impeccable models, even skin, great characters. If the retouching is carried out properly, the processing won’t be visible — which creates an own […]
Almost everyone of us is seeking a change of one kind or another. Being thinner, firmer, smoother, better trained or simply a different look — beauty is at its peak. Photographers and retouchers apply this analogously to the digital image: A flawless appearance of the image becomes the goal. The discrepancy between the beauty of the recipient and the medially ideal of advertising is increasingly emphasized by retouching. When does retouching starts? The question of where exactly image manipulation starts is […]
MK Retouching investigated different Vogue Paris on retouching lables in 2019 after the first investigation in 2018. Here you can read about the latest developments and possible forecasts. It is recommended to read the general legal context and first study from 2018 first to understand the overall context. In the last study it could be determined that the advertisements do not change depending on the magazine. Therefore, this time only Vogue Paris was chosen as the magazine that had the […]
Presence of advertising Media are everywhere: They reinforce values, offer models of behavior, shape role models — they make us think about different topics, they evoke emotions, we learn from them, we identify with them. They become co-designers and orientation aids at the same time (Jäckel et al., 2009, pp. 7-8, Gläßel, 2010, p. 13). That does not sound problematic at first. But what if this leads to unconscious processes and influence that we can not escape, that we can not control? […]
MK Retouching investigated popular fashion magazines on retouching lables in a research in Paris. These were then sorted and evaluated according to their appearance. To visit Paris is unavoidable, as the access to resources in Germany is very limited. For this purpose, various editions of the following different magazines (french edition) were examined several times. Vogue Paris (No. 981, October 2017) Vogue Paris (No. 982, November 2017) Vogue Paris (No. 983, December 2017) Vogue Paris (No. 984, February 2018) Vogue […]
Background to the adoption of legal measures In France, studies have come to the following conclusion: Worrying developments regarding women, such as the increase in eating disorders, are probably due to the medially widespread and their though slimming norms. France sought a way to protect its population from unattainable, unrealistic body images and to avoid anorexia (anorexia) among adolescents. This resulted in the restrictive decree “2017-738”, which came into force on 1st October, 2017. Advertising bans and restrictions But what […]
Presence of the retouching lable in public How to deal with an avoidable retouching lable in public? Through a 3-day stay (15.02.2018 – 17.02.2018) for orientation and material procurement in Paris, MK Retouching was able to get an idea of the current distribution of the retouching lable “Photographie retouchée” in public places. Overall, it was noticeable that very few advertising posters with the hint of retouching were to be found in the streets of Paris. Even in the expensive department store […]