Retouching a Close-Up Photo of Blueberries

Task: Retouch Blueberries So They Look Picture-Perfect, Tasty, and Delicious

Helping Produce Brands Look As Good As They Taste
For my third installment of the fresh produce series, I turn my attention to a close-up image of blueberries. As with the clementine and tomato images, the visual strategy centers on meticulous attention to detail and nuanced color refinement.

Preserving Realism While Refining Distractions
The camera lens always magnifies details we barely notice in real life. Much like skin retouching in portrait photography, food retouching is often about softening the visual distractions the camera amplifies.

What becomes exaggerated in this close-up view of the blueberries are the crowns. Tiny irregularities that appear perfectly natural to the eye in real life can become visually dominant once enlarged. The retouching focused on reducing these visual distractions without making the fruit look artificial and heavily retouched.

The frame is filled with blueberries in water. Overlaying the image is retouching instructions. To the right of the photo, is text that say, color reduce saturation; add shape and contrast; create variations a tone; retouch blueberries so they look picture-perfect. Byline reads: Art Direction & Photography copyright Martha DiMeo — In high-end retouching, meticulous attention is given to every detail.

Refining Tone, Color, and Contrast
The original capture of this single-hue palette appeared overly saturated and lacked sufficient contrast. As a result, the blueberries lacked shape and dimension appearing visually flat. Through a series of adjustment layers that selectively refined tone, color, and contrast, the blueberries gained greater depth and dimensionality, appearing more naturally round.

A down shot of blueberries in water, after retouching. The byline reads: Photo: Martha DiMeo — The retouched photo.

The Takeaway
As with the clementine and tomato photos, refining produce photography is about making freshness visible. My role as a food photo retoucher is to make produce look as good as it tastes.

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Photography, Art Direction & Retouching by Martha DiMeo