Headshot Photo Retouching – Is It Ethical to Retouch Headshot Photos? | Atlanta Headshot Photography
You’re waiting to audition with headshot in hand. You look right and left. The competition is stiff.
A story of headshot photo retouching…
You notice the headshot of the person next to you. It’s perfect! Not a blemish…. ideal coloring… impeccable! Their headshot photo has obviously been retouched.
How do you feel about retouched headshot photographs? Is headshot photo retouching ethical? Is it expected? Should you have your headshot photos retouched?
If you plan to compete for parts in movies or commercials or are an actor or actress, headshot photo retouching is something you will come to find is commonplace.
A model, actor, or actress is essentially selling a fantasy. You become part of a story to be told. In general, it’s an illusion. This means, you have to sell yourself as the ideal player in that illusion – in that story or that fantasy – every time you have the opportunity to compete for a part.
Therefore, in order to best compete – to hang with and stand above your competition – headshot retouching is likely something you will need to embrace. It’s all part of selling yourself as the perfect person for the role.
This starts with a quality professional headshot from a professional Atlanta headshot photographer. A top Atlanta headshot photographer will know how to coach you from the moment you book your appointment.
He or she will be able to help you with location or set, the best time of day to shoot your photographs, what you should wear, how you should style your hair, and even how to achieve different looks that will capture and reflect the wide range of roles or parts you might find yourself up for now or in the future.
Then, once the photos have been shot, your headshot photographer should be able to edit and retouch your photo so that it merely smooths out and polishes the image and not make you look like someone completely different. Or he / she should only outsource such work to a professional photo retoucher or editor.
The bottom line is – in order for a retouched headshot to sell you best – it needs to still look like you… just the best version.