Retouching of Photos Exists Before Photoshop
Photo retouching has always been an important part of photography. Every professional photographer cannot rely solely on “raw images” and hopes that popularity will come soon. Everything must go through a process and in the world of photography, photo retouching is a process that must be passed by every professional photographer. Many people think that Photoshop is the opening of the era of photo retouching, but in fact, photo retouching existed long before the device was launched.
Some time ago we did a treatment and an image composition for a candidate for mayor. When the material was made public the next day there was a small article in a newspaper about the use of photoshop and photo retouching, excessive according to the person who wrote it, opinion that I respect, but this motivated me to talk a bit about retouching and image processing, which is something almost as old as the invention of photography itself.
How the photos were retouched.
The old photos were retouched to a result that is very reminiscent of what we see today in the techniques used in photoshop. At that time, this retouching was done on the negative itself, with specific tools like brushes, paints, styling and magnifying lenses. There were also techniques of multiple exposures and the collage and composition of several negatives to arrive at a new original. These processes were used to remove glitches, distractions, increase the contrast and especially create images that would provoke the imagination of the observers. Nothing different from what we do today in advertising and fashion.
Colorizing Portraits.
Another fact that many will remember is those portraits that existed in the houses of our grandparents, common in the cities of the interior. They were hand-colored black-and-white photographs. They looked a bit gloomy, but anyway, you could say that we were already living with the manipulation of images inside the house of the ninth and the ninth!
Photoshop. A powerful tool for retouching photos.
About the manipulation, retouching, and treatment of images these days, we can say that this is part of our daily life and some types of treatment have become standard for advertising and fashion. How much to deal with, is a subject much discussed and it generates many controversies. Today with photoshop, besides the possibility of retouching the image, it was very easy to tweak the structure of faces and bodies, thinning and adjusting silhouettes. I’m in favor of manipulating an image until I get the result I’m looking for, I do not have the slightest modesty because we always need to think about the intentions our client wants to achieve with a certain image. And if you are empowered for these clients will come looking for you.
So what are you waiting to give wings to your imagination and use this fantastic tool? But if you think that photoshop is the only tool for retouching photos, you’re wrong. Today we have more options including what is offered by Skylum. Hopefully, this article is able to provide knowledge that is beneficial to you, now and maybe in the future.
