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Are Before and Afters Tacky?
 (Post needed cute puppies) What's everyone's opinion on this? Obviously I'm referring to retouching.  Maybe this is a weird question to ask, but I was just wondering. I noticed that some of my favorite retouching profiles here don't seem like they have to rely on before and afters to get the point across that their work is good. Meaning, the end result can stand on it's own as being obviously skillfully done, a comparison isn't required. Now, personally, I love seeing before and afters for some photos at least. But is it in bad taste to make an entire portfolio before and afters? Or, does it not really matter as long as the work is good? Haha. Mar 25 14 03:50 am Link I was just thinking about this yesterday. Not sure what to do yet. Mar 25 14 05:36 am Link J Strath wrote: Yes, It is. It looks ugly and destroys the flow of your portfolio but you always should have 1-2 b&a. Not necessary in your portfolio but somewhere on the web, like imageshack , photobucket , deviantart etc. If you really want to post them on your website , make a separate page with B&A but include a nice swf file that slowly fade to the before state when hovered. Mar 25 14 07:34 am Link Before & After's are horrible, tacky and a smack to the original photographer. Now please excuse me while I hide my avatar.  As a non-retoucher, I find B&A's useful since it gives me a look at what the retoucher started with, how much they stayed within the original photographers vision and how they handled the details other than the just the skin. Mar 25 14 08:18 am Link I removed them all and put a few compiled into 1 picture. Really like it. Mar 25 14 08:48 am Link As a non retoucher, who sometimes hires retouchers, I like seeing them because it gives me an idea of the work that was done by the retoucher. Without that, how do I know what the retoucher did? Mar 25 14 08:58 am Link Strength Studios wrote: If you can't tell what the retoucher did, that's probably a fantastic retouch job. Mar 25 14 10:03 am Link CHAD ALAN wrote: true true Mar 25 14 11:01 am Link I used to think you should show some pre/post examples in your portfolio and/or website, but I changed my mind about a year ago and now I don't. Mar 25 14 11:05 am Link Teodor Sirbu wrote: Or, the photographer & MUA did a great job and the retoucher just cleaned up the background. Mar 25 14 11:05 am Link Xpat John wrote: Than why do we even exist? You could hire the best MUA out there, clean the BG before shooting and you'll eliminate completely the need of us. Mar 25 14 11:40 am Link Teodor Sirbu wrote: I understand. And I agree that almost all pictures need retouching. Goodness knows that my images need all the help they can get. Mar 25 14 11:47 am Link Teodor Sirbu wrote: +1 Mar 25 14 12:23 pm Link Xpat John wrote: Look at the portfolios of all the retoucher that commented on this topic. Do you really need to see their B&A version to know that they are skilled? Mar 25 14 01:02 pm Link Teodor Sirbu wrote: +1 QFT Perceived worth is a precious commodity, so difficult to achieve and so easily lost... Mar 25 14 01:58 pm Link Xpat John wrote: Teodor Sirbu wrote: ^^ This. As a MUA first, and newer photographer second who struggles with Photoshop, I just do my best to get it right in camera and 'retouch' with makeup as much as possible. When I screw something up however, or its beyond my scope of cleaning up in post, I want to make sure the retoucher I hire can produce the after I want based on my before. I have some images that look similar from the same shoot but one may have vastly more retouching done depending on how the particular shot came straight out out camera. Mar 25 14 07:55 pm Link I feel it's tacky for a portfolio. If you want to show before and afters or work process, it's better suited, more appropriate in a blog. Mar 25 14 10:27 pm Link Mar 26 14 02:02 am Link Who cares what other people do or what they think is cool or tacky. Do what is proven to work in marketing if your in this for business. Use Before & After images as much as you can. If I'm looking for a retoucher I want to see what they did not guess. Mar 26 14 02:17 am Link If you can't see if a photo is retouched correctly only from the after version maybe you don't have a well trained eye. Mar 26 14 03:10 am Link I have just few images without before in my port and most of the comments were i wish i could see the original. Client wants to see your skills and cannot see them in a finished image. A model can have a very clean skin and the shoot was made with a good mua so leave just a little work to the retoucher who can be completely incompetent when its about a complex retouching or in my case composition. Famous retouchers dont need before and after but a no name definitely has to have it in their port because a client will never hire someone who cannot guarantee a good finished product Mar 26 14 04:43 am Link Actually, in my experience, clients rarely care for before images, most of the times ones who want to see before images are other retouchers/artists Mar 26 14 12:04 pm Link Your canine retouch knocked my socks off. I can assure you I wouldn't have been nearly as impressed had it just been an after image. Since my career is in marketing, everything I do is an attempt to gain an emotional reaction, therefore I'd leave at least this b/a, if not several examples, in one's retouching port. Mar 26 14 12:40 pm Link Toto Photo wrote: When you refer to the 'Canine Retouch" do you mean the two completely different images of a dog at the top of this thread? Mar 26 14 01:12 pm Link Toto Photo wrote: That's no retouch. XD Mar 26 14 02:10 pm Link Oh. Well. Nevermind. Mar 26 14 02:12 pm Link I like having befores and afters in a printed portfolio, or behind password protection on a website. For general viewing, I prefer the afters only, and so do my clients. Mar 26 14 05:29 pm Link As someone who is currently looking for a retoucher I like to see B&A's to help me decide if the retoucher can handle the types of work I want to hire them for. Without the B&A's I have no idea what they started with to judge what their true talent is. I understand that I can ask them to see one or two however that takes more time and hassle then just looking at their ports to see if they posted a few. So what happens with me is I just pass on that person. Mar 27 14 11:02 am Link Teodor Sirbu wrote: If you are only marketing to people with well a trained eye that's a fairly small market that leaves people like me without a well trained eye out of it. Mar 27 14 11:06 am Link This is one of those questions where people will likely be on two sides of the fence as to yay or nay for B & A. I have a separate page with a few B & A, where a potential client has the option to see some comparisons. Mar 27 14 05:30 pm Link I like B&As. They show the extent of a person's skill IMO. There are plenty of retouchers who do nice touchups, sure... and then there are people who are capable of skillfully, DRASTICALLY altering an image and making it so that you'd never be able to tell from just an "after." I know I have afters (not on here, lol, but ex. ones I've been hired to do for private clients) that make people go "oh, yes, nice after, good job" and then I'll privately show one of my friends the B&A and it's the difference between "oh, yes, nice photo" and "*spits out water* JESUS CHRIST, THAT'S WHAT THE ORIGINAL ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE?????" It's that last reaction that gets me business, so I keep B&A versions of most of the files I retouch.  Mar 27 14 09:10 pm Link IMO all that matters is the end result. Though I do enjoy seeing B&A's I do think it's tacky to have in your actual portfolio. How I handle it is by having a small B&A section on my webpage but leave my portfolio pleasantly viewable. I only do this as an example of the detail I work in which is often hard to see in web sized images. Mar 27 14 09:25 pm Link Nothing is saying you have to have B&A's in your port, it helps those of use that want to see them however I would be just as happy with a link to them listed somewhere on your profile. Mar 28 14 12:09 am Link Before and After are very useful and demonstrate clearly the skills of the retoucher. Most of all I want to see how much of the life and photographic look is maintained. Retouching is about retouching defects and unwanted things from images. I might see some nice work, but without seeing the before and after there is no really way of assessing the retouchers ability. Saying it's tacky to have before and after shoots in a retouchers portfolio is like saying it's tacky to try on a suit before buying it. Mar 28 14 12:58 am Link I think I've seen at least two other topics on MM discussing this issue and as usual the crowd is divided in its opinion. I will give only one argument for not showing before/after images in your portfolio I value the most. It's all about the final result and if potential client wants to get most of the working relationships with me it should be collaborative process and he will get in touch to get more info and ask for samples if he really needs them. This way the client shows to me that he respect what I do and is invested to get best results for his images. This way I don't have to deal with people who are looking for "pixel monkeys", but rather for best solution to get their images to the next level. Of course no one stops you from testing it for yourself. Mar 28 14 04:14 am Link Toto Photo wrote: Lol! Mar 28 14 01:17 pm Link B&As are tacky to fellow artists. They are valuable and necessary to potential clients. To whom are you presenting? Mar 28 14 11:14 pm Link As a photographer browsing for retouchers, I pretty much outright discount someone if I don't see at least several good, solid before-and-afters in their portfolio. I'm looking for attention to very particular areas, and no matter how amazing the final image looks, if I don't have the starting point as a reference, that does not sufficiently identify for me which aspects of the final image are due to the retoucher's work. Amazing image with no "before" shot, shows me, at most, that the retoucher can avoid screwing up an image that looks great to begin with. Not good enough for me. If the retoucher isn't going to give the effort to show me before and afters in the portfolio that tell me if that person is accomplishing what I need, then it's almost certain that I'm not going to give the effort to contact the person regarding his or her work. I just wouldn't have enough information to make worthwhile the time involved in sending messages and communicating back and forth. Mar 28 14 11:34 pm Link CHAD ALAN wrote: QUOTED FOR TRUTH! Mar 29 14 12:11 am Link Are photographers going to start putting before and after shots of their studios and locations before they light it and add modifiers and filters and gel sheets etc etc? Mar 29 14 12:18 am Link |
