Retouching

Due to the request of my wife,  this post is dedicated to retouching.  Retouching is a service that is included with all family, bridal and engagement sessions.  Some retouching is very simple, such as basic color balancing, teeth whitening, blemish removal, etc.  Others can be a little tricky, such as head swaps, thinning, building removals, changes of background, insertion of people, removal of people (happens very seldomly), the occasional color change of an outfit, etc.  I try and compose my photographs in such a way that minimal retouching is necessary, but in a large family there is usually at least one kid not smiling or someone blinking,  and as much as the parents want to print that picture as large as they want with the kid giving a silly face just to teach them a lesson, we would rather have a nice portrait on the wall.  Below are some examples of some retouching I have done.  I have included the before and afters along with a little explanation of what was done (albeit a little vague, you have to guess who it was done on.)

This image had two head swaps, some thinning, and building removal, along with standard color and tonal adjustments.

This image is a little easier to pick out.  Here I did one head swap of the little girl.  

This one had multiple head swaps and a little background alteration.  Some of the parents opted not to switch their kids faces, just so they could remember them just the way they were.