I am editing some photos from a shoot I did a few days ago, and they’re for headshots for an actor, she has requested that I remove some blemishes, mainly the acne scars she has, I removed them but it’s quite a drastic edit, and it makes it look a lot less like her, I told her this and she still wants it removed.
Part of me just wants to get the job done, but also, I feel like it’ll be bad for her as a headshot as it doesn’t represent her fully, and personally I think she looked better with the scars left in, not because the edit was bad but because it gave a bit more character to her face and they weren’t even unattractive.
I’m deciding whether to send her versions with blemishes and without or if that’ll annoy her enough to not work with me again as she seemed quite offended that I even suggested leaving them in.
What does everyone think?
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Edit out the blemishes. As someone with acne, I would not want to immortalize my acne. Make up and money can remove blemishes from a film she might act in, so remove the acne in her headshots.
Do what the client requested, but also send some shots edited the way you originally wanted.
I think this is what I’ll do tbh
Remove them.
I had this same issue with one of my first photoshoots. It is a delicate balance between pleasing your client and doing work you are personally proud of. In this case, I think she might get offended if you send her both versions. If it was me, I would remove her most prominent blemishes but not leave her with baby screen. Still leave some texture and stuff. There’s not much else I can tell you to do since it seems you are pretty deep now.
But do keep this in mind for future clients, especially women. Make sure you write your “boundaries” in your contract, or say them to the clients since the begining. “There will often be some edits done to the pictures in order to enhance the image as a whole, but within reason.” and then go on to explain a little of what you are willing and not willing to do.
Sorry I cant give you a better answer, good luck friend.This is great thank you
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I let my clients know they can go to a professional retoucher to do things that either I don’t have a lot of experience in, or just can’t do. I would give the retouched photo and a less retouched photo, so if she’s not happy, she can send it to another retoucher
I don’t know why this got downvoted, I think it’s a perfectly acceptable option if you’re not willing or able to do the work for one reason or another. Referrals, especially, can build a decent network in a community.
Raw image untouched, send it. Seriously though she’s paying the bills the post work is getting done.
I do headshot photography and retouching, and I am always upfront with my clients that I will remove things that I missed (flyaway hairs, lint, etc) and things that won’t be there 2-3 weeks from now (scabs, pimples, dry skin spots, globs of eyeliner, missed hairs from shaving, and so forth). I do not remove scars or any other permanent features.
Especially for actor headshots as they need to represent themselves accurately.
See that’s the approach I would like to take, but I don’t have enough repeat business atm to take that risk
You need to do what you agreed to do beforehand. AnsibleMedia’s guidelines are something you can relate to future customers before shooting, but for now you should give the client what they expect.
But the fact is that your job with headshots is to help the client sell themselves. Making judgements on how they portray that self, especially if it’s about something as sensitive and personal as their face, is a crappy attitude.
If it wasn’t discussed ahead of time, I’d deliver the images as requested. How she uses them and portrays herself is her responsibility, not yours.