Fashion photography photo editing can be considered as a hybrid. It look a lot like portrait photography at first glance but you will have to remember that the focus is the clothes and the accessories instead of the model. That makes it similar to product photography as well. Since we are talking about fashion, there is pressure to make everything look good and aspiration. After all, the goal to make people want to buy the featured items. Some images are for high fashion while other are for sportswear or casual clothing. All these require different sorts of treatments although some considerations hold true for every case.
White Balance and Other Adjustments
Some editing processes will start by adjusting the white balance for parts of the image in preparation for more intensive changes. For example, the editor might ensure that the background is white or at least neutral. Sometimes it can skew cool or warm. Software editing can be used for quick corrections. Overall brightness, contrast, saturation, highlight, and shadows will be tweaked as well. Even small adjustment can be make a big impact. In fact, this is often preferable because excessive editing can make the image look unnatural.
Retouching the Model
This has gotten more controversial over the years. Critics say that models become almost unrecognizable once their images are processed. This lead the mases to glorify beauty that does not even exist. Every flaw is removed to end up with impossible perfection. Wrinkles are removed to make the old look young. Folds of fat are taken away for a slimmer figure. Due to the backlash, more magazines now favor a more natural look with minimal editing. They may remove temporary blemishes such as pimples but leave most of what’s there intact. Editors will just have to follow the policies for their publication.
Editing the Products
The products such as dresses, shoes, and accessories may also be edited to put them in a good light. Perhaps wrinkles on the fabrics are smoothened to make them look better. Maybe shadows are removed and the accessories are made more prominent. The items may need to stand out more against the background. The art director will provide the creative inputs as to how the final image should be like. Editors should listen and find ways to make these happen.
Fashion photography photo editing can get extremely technical. Choose an editing software and master it by practicing with countless images and trying to produce various effects.
