“Can’t we just fix it in Photoshop?“, the fashion stylist queries when I ask her to steam a wrinkle out of the garment.

The makeup artist whispers to the hair stylist, “Don’t worry about that stray hair, he can fix it in Photoshop later.”

“I had a late night last night. Look at those bags under my eyes.“, The model laughs while begging for her own vanity, “Can you Photoshop those out? Oh and my pimples too?“

“You can just Photoshop out that horse standing in front of the model, right?“, The art director questions when where running 5 minutes late.

Sometimes in passing and other times direct to my face, I hear a variation of one of these phrases at least once on every shoot. Usually, I reply “There’s no such thing as Photoshop, let’s get it right now!” And most of the time we do.

I talk to photographers all the time, at seminars, conventions and in forums, about the amount of time they spend working on their images in Photoshop and trying to find ways to speed their workflow. I think every photographer shooting digitally (which is probably most these days) is spending more time than they want to in front of a computer when most would rather be behind a camera.

STOP THE MADNESS
DON’T FIX IT IN PHOTOSHOP,
GET IT RIGHT IN THE CAMERA!

Now, I must admit when I was first starting out and didn’t know any better, I would probably just answer “yes” to any of the above questions. Then I’d spend a day slaving in front of the computer manipulating the pixels to remove the purple monkey from the picture. Since quitting my day job 9 years ago and deciding that photography was going to be a career path, rather than just a hobby, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned what a GOOD team can create; the quality of an image that is lit flawlessly and exposed properly, the makeup artist that can cover blemishes as if they weren’t even there and make a model’s skin glow, the hair stylist that has every strand of hair in place and uses just the right amount of product to get the perfect amount of shine, the fashion stylist that picks the right garments to fit the model and cares enough to steam each piece carefully, the assistant that is watching my back to make sure all equipment is functioning properly and being my second set of eyes to ensure perfection, the digital technician that is analyzing the files on the capture system as they are captured so there are no surprises later. I know that a cohesive team can create a near flawless image every time the shutter is clicked, for every client (no matter what they’re paying us), and on every location. On a commercial or editorial job, you already have the full crew on set. There’s a model, a makeup artist, a fashion stylist, an assistant or two, the art director, the client (who may be an editor), and other crew. Your client has already made the investment to have this crew involved in the production. So why should your client have to spend extra funds from the budget to have a retoucher fix everyone else’s mistakes?

These days, 95% of the post production work on my imagery is done under my direction by my in-house professional retoucher, or during my busy season outsourced to a couple trusted retouchers. I made that decision about two years ago when the number of days I was personally spending in front of a computer was just too many to focus on what I’m really good at – creating beautiful imagery and making my clients’ products shine. It happens in every small business, eventually the job of one person turns into the job of two people due to the workload. Don’t get me wrong, this is great thing because it means the business is growing, but in the end the “fix it in photoshop” method is going to cost more in time, resources, money AND IMAGE QUALITY!

Turnaround time
The turnaround time on a job is influenced by many external factors. When working with publications, it’s usually their press schedule. It could cost the publication thousands of dollars if the press is delayed. When working with fashion/apparel clients, the timeline on a job is usually influenced by the date the samples will be ready and if the samples come in late, their ad deadlines don’t change nor do their market dates; Images still need to be ready and delivered.

I do a lot of catalog work, sometimes I have days where I’m shooting 15 – 20 different setups. My retoucher already spends 15 – 30 minutes per image to get the look that I want, that’s 10 hours. Now if I’m turning over 20 images from a days worth of shooting and the retoucher is required to spend an hour per image, we’re talking 20 hours to retouch one days worth of shooting.

People time
Earlier, I mentioned that the job of one person (myself) turned into the job of two people, and I decided it was time to bring in additional staff to handle post production. Well, as a photographers business grows the job of two people will turn into three, and then the job of three people will turn into four, etc. The more days a year the photographer is shooting, the more post work there will be. Adding MORE work for the retouchers because you decided on-set that it would be “fixed in photoshop” only means that more staff will need to be brought on board sooner. And if it’s only you working in your business, it means YOU will have to put in the extra hours (read as: 20 hour days).

Resources
Resources are not only your people (your retouchers or other post production staff), but also your equipment. If you only have three computer systems at your studio that are powerful enough to handle retouching, you’re limited at a total of three retouchers at one time. If you only have one computer system at your studio that is powerful enough to handle retouching, you’re limited at a total of ONE retoucher at a time. Now, if you’re smart, and you’ve forecasted your workload (beforehand) you could place orders for a new system and software licenses beforehand, but what if you didn’t.

Money
A good retoucher charges anywhere between $25.00 / hour to $250.00 / hour. Even if you’re doing your own post production, your time is valuable also. Why should you get paid $200 / hour to shoot a job and $0 / hour to do the post work? If you’re charging your clients for post production (and I sure hope you are), the “fix it in photoshop” method is going to cost your client money. If you’re not charing you’re clients for post production (please tell me you are though), the “fix it in photoshop” method is going to cost YOU money.

In discussing a conversation with a colleague, Photographer Andre Gunther says

“Even if the person I encountered would be able to “photoshop it later”, he would need at least 15-30 minutes of work on a difficult exposure, vs. 15-30s of work to recompose the shot and press the shutter one more time.”

Andre is discussing fixing exposure here, but what if he was talking about stray hairs, bad makeup or a wrinkled garment? Maybe it would take 5 minutes to get your crew (that you’ve already paid for) to fix the problem on-set, but it could take 30 minutes in Photoshop to fix the problem. At $250.00 / hour for retouching that 30 minutes fixing it in photoshop just cost the client $125.00. Imaging if you have 20 images from a day of shooting that require the same types of retouching work; It’s now cost the client $2500.

I vote for fix it on-set.

Image Quality
I’ve saved image quality for last, because to me it’s the most important! My clients put their trust in me because I’m able to create images that will sell their products and make their products look the best they possibly can. Now, I’m not saying that I ALWAYS make images that I love, in fact most of the time I still feel that the image can be better, but I always try to create the best image I can create. Photoshop can take a good image and make it better, but a bad image will still always be a bad image.

John Watts writes:

I’d suggest heeding the advice of the old adage – GIGO – “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. Somewhere along the way, in the transition from analog/film to digital, some photographers have gotten sloppy in their photographic discipline – “Oh, I can fix it in Photoshop”.

And there’s good reason for not being sloppy. Nearly everything you do in Photoshop to fix an exposure, retouch a stray hair, fix the makeup, or remove a blemish is destructive. You are replacing and moving pixels, and effectively damaging the image.

Andre Gunther explains it like this:

There is no substitute for a good photograph. You can use Photoshop to make Enhancements to the color saturation, increase sharpness and do a whole bunch of useful things (including adjusting brighntess levels), however you will not get the same result as you can get with a photo that is exposed correctly in the first place. You cannot turn a blurry photo into a sharp photo simply by applying sharpening either. It is more a means of increasing the perception of sharpness by increasing the gradients between pixel brightness levels.

When I turn over images to my clients, I want to provide them with the best quality file possible. One that will look great as a small inset in their catalog or a 20′ x 40′ billboard in New York City.

I want to always create the best possible images for my clients and do so in the most efficient manner possible.

Christopher Robins, Editor of Digital Photo Pro Magazine, said of the “Fix It In Photoshop Method”:

Plenty of people will still “fix it in Photoshop,” but for those who take the time to hone their photographic technique, the program will rise to the occasion and offer tools to make solid photographs into superstars.

Working professionals know the value of efficiency while shooting and after the assignment is completed. Relying on a computer to fix a day’s worth of sub-par images is about as efficient as pushing molasses uphill. And besides, wouldn’t you really rather be out shooting and creating photographs instead of wrestling with your mouse?”

PHOTOSHOP IS ANOTHER TOOL IN YOUR ARSENAL, NOT A CURE ALL!
It may sound like I’m anti-Photoshop. I’m exactly the opposite, I think Photoshop is a wonderful tool to have in your arsenal, but it isn’t a cure all and isn’t a reason for slacking on-set.

I agree with Tim Grey, Editor of Digital Darkroom Quarterly:

I try to reinforce that you need to start with the best captures possible (aesthetically and photographically), and that Photoshop should be seen as a tool for making your great images amazing, not for salvaging your challenging captures (though it is indeed very useful for that as well).

Moving over to digital has made everyone think they are a photographer and let those of us who call ourselves Professionals take the easy way out, but taking the easy way out has the effect of sacrificing quality, costing more money, and wasting resources.

About the author

Kevin Michael Reed
Kevin Michael Reed (Google+, Facebook) is a fashion & beauty photographer and producer/director based in New York City and Los Angeles, CA. He is the President/CEO of RedFOG Visual Media, a production company in New York City, and a partner in Passion of Photography, Inc, a company dedicated to teaching photographers and sharing our passion through charitable causes. Kevin has lectured and hosted workshops throughout the United States and the world teaching photographers the business and creative sides of photography. (Kevin's Fashion & Beauty Photography Portfolio can be seen here).