Can You Remove My Wrinkles?

Alright, as of last week my first website Trendi Creative has officially expired and I did not renew my site.  Trendi Creative is officially in the past leaving Rob Trendiak Photography my official brand!  Trendi Creative was an important stepping stone to get to where I am today, but Rob Trendiak Photography is where I want to be!  So….. For old times sake I want to pull out of the Trendi Creative archives the most successful and impactful blog posts I have done to date!  It was a blog post under the “Ask A Photographer” series, a series I am going to continue.  The question was “Can You Remove My Wrinkles in Photoshop?”.

Can you remove my wrinkles?

Most people today are aware of Photoshop and its capabilities and I am often surprised what people ask me to Photoshop.  I am surprised that people are aware Photoshop is capable of achieving anything your imagination can dream up.  Along with people asking me to remove wrinkles, I have had people ask me to remove polka-dots on a polka-dot shirt,  make their teeth straight, and take a smile from a particular photo and transplant it on another photo.  Yes, these are questions I have received.  I am always fascinated people would ask me to do this because it means they know it is possible.  Yes, its possible.  Literally Photoshop is limited to your imagination and the photo editors skill.  However, the most common question is “Can you remove my wrinkles?”.

The answer is yes.

However, this question can make me feel sad.  Wrinkles add so much character, they are a testament to the life you have lived.  Generally women are asking this question, not men.  Women,  you are daughters, mothers, grandmothers, life long friends, wives, business owners and entrepreneurs, athletes, cancer survivors and trend setters .  Your laugh lines show how much you enjoy life and your wrinkles how strong you have been in the hard times.  Wrinkles are not something to hide, they are to be celebrated.  I encourage you to be proud of who you are.  The world needs you just the way you are, the world needs you to be a role model to the next generation.

Just because something is possible, doesn’t mean it should be done. 

If photoshop gets in the wrong hands it can be a disaster.  It seems daily another story sheds light on photoshop mishaps.  All I have to say is Kim Kardashian and you know exactly what I am talking about.  I feel a shift in media on the horizon.  Dove soap has a very successful advertizing campaign promoting woman’s natural beauty called Real Women.  Magazines are starting to have covers featuring +size models with no photoshopping at all!  The time is now to embrace who you are.

When I take a photo of a woman who has gracefully aged I think flawless, not flawed, wonderful, not wrinkles, gorgeous, not grey.

So what do I Photoshop?

The photos on this blog post are exactly what I handed to the client and have very little skin retouching.  What I generally Photoshop are minor skin blemishes.  My rule of thumb is, if the skin blemish will not be there in in two weeks then I remove it.  If it is a feature like a mole or freckles that will be there longer than two weeks, I do not remove it.  I also put a lot of time into colour correction.  Generally peoples skin colour is a different shade depending on the body part.  Hands tend to be a little more red,  I will usually bring down the redness that is naturally present and try to get the skin colour to match the rest of the body.  I adjust the light levels to draw the focus on to the person.  Sometimes there is wardrobe malfunctions or a piece of hair got away from us, I fix those things.  I use Photoshop to enhance the beauty you already have, I do not use Photoshop to turn you into somebody you are not.  I use Photoshop very responsibly.

Well, those are my thoughts on wrinkles.  If you have been avoiding getting in front of the camera for these reasons, I hope this encouraged you to take that step and get a portrait session done.  A portrait can be a powerful thing and a way to celebrate your beauty.  Your kids, your husbands, your parents and the rest of the world needs you to exist in photographs.