“THREE BOOKS HAVE ARRIVED!!!” – my email screamed at me. The books Eric ordered for my b’day finally arrived:
- Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing and
Retouching Faces and Bodies - Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In The Studio
- Digital Retouching and Compositing: Photographers’ Guide (Power!)
Ok I didn’t need all three and I doubt I’ll get through them all but buying from Amazon is quite cheap so why not?
I am pretty interested in photo retouching and I’m not talking about colour boosting a landscape or softening “pockets” (what I use to call baggy eyes, a.k.a panda eyes) in my portraits etc. I’m talking commercial type photo retouching for magazines and advertisements.
My interest sparked when I was looking for a job and Judith Caingat (site under construction at the moment) advertised a free training program. I checked out her work and thought they were fantastic. She also won a lot of awards. I unfortunately couldn’t take it up as the hours were not flexible for me (then again who’s to know if she would’ve hired me in the first place). I really would’ve loved to be trained by such a talented person but oh well…I got the books instead to play around with.
I also watch a lot of ANTM (that’s America’s Next Top Model) and no not ‘cos I want to be a model but the photography is what interests me (ok the rest of the show too!). The photos always turn out very glam compared to the what you see happening in the shoot and guess what, it’s the work of the photo retoucher. Funny how retouchers never get a mention, only photographers do. That’s a little unfair isn’t it? Those photos only look that awesome ‘cos of the combined effort of the photographer and the retoucher. Judith told me that in America (and I don’t know how true this is) retouchers often get booked before photographers. Interesting.
Anyway, if I ever get through the books and learn something new and interesting, I’ll be sure to put it up =)
