Wedding Photography and Videography Forum

how much retouching is standard?

hi!  I have a question and am curious to hear the opinions of others.we just got our professional pics back.  my question is in regard to editing/retouching.  my photographer's contract states that basic editing for all images is included and that if we want additional beyond that there is a charge.well, my photog is clearly capable of great editing.  the photos she put online were all retouched nicely but nothing extreme (she airbrushed my little underarm/boobage blob, did a good job eliminating shininess on our faces, covered DH's thinning hair spot when it was in the shot, etc.).  they look natural and I'm very happy with all those.  it's just little things but they make a big difference.my question is about the rest of the photos we received, the ones that were not placed online for all the world to see.  most of them have not been retouched in that way.  I'm sure she did some "basic" lighting adjustment, etc., because it's not like they are hideous or unprofessional looking, but she didn't do anything like the things mentioned above.  so there are quite a few that I would really like if she had just elimated one obvious unflattering thing like that.so I guess my question is whether or not this type of retouching/airbrushing for personal appearance is considered basic/standard or whether she just went above and beyond for the ones she did it to.  I kind of feel like it should be standard due to the amount we paid and it sort of bugs me that she obviously took the trouble to do it for the ones she put online.  what do you all think?  what has been your experience in terms of photographers retouching your images?  should it be done to all of them equally whether they are put online or not?  I know not every photo can be a beauty and she can't make every single one perfect, but seriously, we paid for 400 images, she put about 40 online, and she only did it to those.  tia!!

Re: how much retouching is standard?

  • koosh ballkoosh ball member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Airbrushing things like boobage blob and such is totally above the standard adjustments. You might consider fixing shiny faces 'standard' but it totally depends on the photographer.I asked mine if there was a zit... and she said all that would be airbrushed out. But if you don't specifically ask then I would say it was above the standard.
    image
  • edited December 2011
    Many of the photographers I talked to don't retouch the images. They are giving you proofs. They said they would edit the pictures selected for the album. If all your pictures were edited, you would be probably paying double or triple just for the time involved. If you have 400 pictures and they spent 5 minutes editing each, it would take over 30 hours to edit them.
  • tabbycat82304tabbycat82304 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    ok, thanks for the input.  this is why I asked, I didn't want my expectations to be out of line with what's normal.  out of the 400, 40 perfect images is good I guess, it's certainly more than I would ever frame anyway.
  • edited December 2011
    I am in the VERY early stages of planning my wedding and this post is very helpful. Should I check with my selected photographer to see if they offer editing/retouching at all? I hadn't even thought of that! Does anyone know the going rate for editing/retouching?Thanks!
  • NuggetBrainNuggetBrain member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Our photog includes all basic retouching (so opening closed eyes, lighting issues, etc) but will also do any special retouching we want for pictures no charge (black and white with a splash of color, softening the photo for the dream look, adding borders, evening out skin tone, etc).  He said that his team spends about 30-40 hours on retouching and processing the images on average per wedding.
    image

    If I wanted to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, I'd put shoes on the cat. image

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