← The Camera in Your Pocket: Smartphone Photography
Lesson
Lesson 2. Restraint, retouching, and a consistent style
Know what's appropriate in retouching and what ruins a shot, and why to keep a consistent editing style.
Lesson rule: remove what's random, leave the character alone
Retouching with taste
Retouching is spot cleanup of a shot. A good rule: remove what's RANDOM and temporary, but leave what's PERMANENT and characteristic alone.
What's fine to remove:
— Random litter and specks, a cigarette butt, a wire, a stain on clothing.
— A temporary pimple or a sweaty shine on the forehead (tone it down gently).
— A stray object in the background you didn't notice while shooting (if the tool handles it cleanly).
— The red-eye effect.
What NOT to do:
— Erase moles, freckles, fine lines, and scars — they are the person's face; without them a portrait looks plastic and lifeless.
— Heavily “smooth” the skin: the texture disappears and the face looks like a mask.
— Change the shape of the body and face — it's easy to slide into something unnatural, and it's unethical without the person's consent.
A consistent style. If you post several shots together (a feed, an album, a story), keep the editing similar: the same warmth, contrast, and overall color “temperature.” Then the photos look like a series, not a random collection. Many editors let you copy the edits from one photo and paste them onto others.
The whole course in one sentence: light first, then composition and vantage point, then careful camera settings — and only at the end, light editing. The most important part happens before you press the button.
Lesson notes
Retouching with taste
Retouching is spot cleanup of a shot. A good rule: remove what's RANDOM and temporary, but leave what's PERMANENT and characteristic alone.
What's fine to remove:
— Random litter and specks, a cigarette butt, a wire, a stain on clothing.
— A temporary pimple or a sweaty shine on the forehead (tone it down gently).
— A stray object in the background you didn't notice while shooting (if the tool handles it cleanly).
— The red-eye effect.
What NOT to do:
— Erase moles, freckles, fine lines, and scars — they are the person's face; without them a portrait looks plastic and lifeless.
— Heavily “smooth” the skin: the texture disappears and the face looks like a mask.
— Change the shape of the body and face — it's easy to slide into something unnatural, and it's unethical without the person's consent.
A consistent style. If you post several shots together (a feed, an album, a story), keep the editing similar: the same warmth, contrast, and overall color “temperature.” Then the photos look like a series, not a random collection. Many editors let you copy the edits from one photo and paste them onto others.
The whole course in one sentence: light first, then composition and vantage point, then careful camera settings — and only at the end, light editing. The most important part happens before you press the button.