If the food photos need to be retouched, can you do that?

Photoshop has made most retouching relatively simple.  Even I can do most minor retouching.  I can do a good job at color correction, level adjustment, and minor repairs, but if major retouching is needed, then we might need to go to a professional retoucher.

Color Correction

Color correction is usually not a big deal when using studio lights. I know what color temperature my lights are set at, so I usually have no problems getting the color perfect in the camera.  If we decide to shoot with natural light, or a mixture of natural light and studio flash, there might need to be a little adjustment.  I can usually take care of those kinds of color corrections with no problem.

Levels Adjustment

Level adjustment is something done to the files to make the brightness of the photo look as good as possible. Right out of the camera, the photos might be a touch too dark or maybe a little too light.  Adjusting the levels in Photoshop is a way of perfecting them for reproduction.  I can do this no problem.

Minor Repairs

On pretty much every food photograph, there will be little things you’ll want to change.  Maybe a crumb fell onto the plate or maybe there will be a little split in the bun lid.  Most of these things are very simple to repair and will only take a few seconds to fix.  Some of these repairs will be because we all missed the problem when we were shooting the photo, but many of these repairs will be needed because we saw them and know that it would take less time to retouch than to fix while shooting.  Let me give you a little warning here…  Beware of the food photographer that totally depends on post-production to “fix” his photos.  That means he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.  Sure, it it will take ten minutes to fix in front of the camera or take ten seconds to fix in Photoshop, then of course, it makes more sense to fix it in the computer.

Major Retouching

I’m a food photographer, not a professional retoucher.  There may be times when a client has requested things that I am not just capable of doing.  A retoucher is a highly skilled individual that has skills to an illustrator.  I have worked with several and I know when it’s a good idea to turn to them for help.

So to answer your question…  I can do some of the retouching, and if I can’t handle it, I know where to go for help.