Task: Retouch, Color-Correct, And Create 3 Different Color Interpretations Of The Image
From My Garden To My Retouching Portfolio
My hand touched every aspect of this image—literally. I grew the Chinese lanterns in my garden, then photographed, retouched, and executed the three versions as pictured below: full-color, hand-colored look, and black & white.
©Martha DiMeo 2018
Color & Light
The project began with the edits to the full-color version. Adjustments to the color and lighting were in order. The color in the original capture was a bit too red. The color of the lanterns needed to move from an orange-red to a more orange-yellow hue. Next, I considered the lighting.
Nature gave me a beautiful starting point. The back-lighting—coming from a window positioned behind and to the left of the subject—needed to be accentuated. I increased the overall contrast and painted with light in Photoshop on selected areas on each of the three pods. This creates a greater sense of depth, translucency, and form. Next came the retouching.
Retouching: An Invisible Hand
My approach to retouching is always for the hand of the retoucher to be invisible. I never want the image to look as if it has been retouched. When the subject is something from Nature, this is an absolute imperative.
The beauty of the lanterns lays in the “imperfections”. Working from that perspective, I minimized only what I felt was distracting to the composition—the dark spots on the lanterns and the white spots on the vase. The “damaged” area on the bottom pod was never under consideration to be retouched away. There is so much beauty—and visual delight—in the pattern, texture, and translucency revealed by the peeling back of the layers.
Scroll back up to the top of the page to see the retouched and unretouched versions.
Exploring the Potential
Photo editing and post-production is always about considering the possibilities. Exploring the potential by asking “How else might this image be interpreted?”
The simplicity of the color and composition provided the raw material necessary for the successful outcome of each of the alternative versions of the image. I don’t favor one over the other—I think because, each one pays homage to my fascination with this flower and the play of light on its shape and form.
Photography, Retouching & Gardening By: Martha DiMeo
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