Being yourself is something that many of us struggle with, myself included. I have spent most of my life trying to be someone I’m not, trying to please other people, and live up to a self-created, unrealistic, utopian ideal. It’s one of my primary motivations for wanting people to be themselves when they come for photoshoots.

I want models to be their beautiful, glamorous selves.

Filters

Sadly, I’ve lately encountered an increase in the number of people trying to be someone they’re not. Social media is often held responsible for driving this: images of perfect skin and bodies with the thinnest waists and glamorous curves. Recently, another cause has challenged being ourselves: artificial intelligence! Now with a couple of clicks, photos can transform us; the wrinkles go, we are slimmed down or toned up as we wish. On two recent occasions, clients have shown me pictures taken on their iPhones (other models exist!), asking me to make them look like that. The trouble is, these photos have filters applied, and the person looking back isn’t really who they are.

As a professional, I want my pictures to be high-end, quality images that make models look gorgeous! However, I want the images to be them, and not an artificial creation. If someone wishes to apply filters to images they have taken, that is their prerogative, but there is little point coming for a photoshoot with me: they’ll be unhappy with the results, and I will be wasting my time.

I’ve also had clients who are very picky about their photos, asking for edit after edit. Some clients have also decided to edit their own photos, meaning that the image is no longer my own work; if done badly, this can reflect negatively on me. While I wish clients to have images they can treasure, repeated editing of a large number of photos is disproportionate to the price paid (if indeed the model is paying).

These two issues have led me to reconsider what I should and should not offer as part of a photoshoot, especially in post-processing.

I’m always happy to consult a model about their editing preferences: by this, I mean whether they want the images to have a retro feel, be black-and-white, be glossy, and so on. However, some want to be very specific about removing some facial features, almost always wrinkles.

How I Edit Photos

My golden rule is that a photo should look like the person posing for it.

There are occasions when I will use editing to change things in the photo: in this instance, I ask, ‘Is this something that we could have changed at the time?’ In other words, if we had spotted it at the time of taking the photo, could we have changed it? Or maybe we did spot it but went ahead with the photo anyway, for example, because of time limitations. Here are a couple of examples: first, a model has smudged their lipstick and got it on their teeth; in this instance, we could stop for her to redo it. Second, a model's button has come undone; in this instance, we could stop to help him do it up. These are examples of edits that I will happily carry out.

Another question is, ‘Is this something we could change if we were shooting on another day?’ This might apply to adding sunshine to a photo shoot on a dull, overcast day; in theory, we could return and reshoot on a sunny day. Another scenario is removing a temporary scratch from someone’s face; in theory, we could let the scratch heal and then do the photoshoot.

As a general rule, I will edit photos to remove creases from clothing, remove uneven skin tones (typically where red blotches aren’t covered correctly by makeup), remove the shine from skin, correct unwanted shadows, add volume (this is to give a two-dimensional image a more three-dimensional look), clean teeth, and make the eyes shine. I’ll also make edits to remove unwanted background objects and smooth out backdrops. A final step is to add a profile to an image: a specific look, such as retro or vibrant.

There are things that I have decided not to do routinely: I will not apply filters to a face to remove wrinkles beyond what makeup and soft lighting can achieve. The same goes for slimming someone down or toning someone up. Neither will I do repeated complicated edits that fall within my editing criteria in response to someone’s poor makeup or outfit choices. If you wish to have photographs taken in either of these circumstances, I respectfully ask that you use your phone or that you find another photographer who is happy to take such photos.

The one exception is when the photos are adapted for creative and artistic purposes: for example, making an image look like a cartoon or an oil painting, or creating a composite in which the model is inserted into another photo. In these instances, it should be clear that this is an artistic choice rather than trying to create a false image of someone.

Policies

The Copyright & Licence Policy and Terms and Conditions have been updated to reflect these changes.