Beauty photography image analysis

Karin Berndl

I will start my image analysis with a more natural looking shot.

The shot is shot with one beauty dish at an above the model and at an angle to which is providing slight shadows down the right hand side and under the nose.

The retouching is very natural looking as the lighting is quite even so there are no harsh shines on the models skin, only on the models nails.

Texture is visible on the skin and the wrinkles around the eye and on the fingers.

The lighting for this shot is soft but atmospheric. There is a light above the models face which is facing towards her. The shadows are relatively dark so there is probably a black reflector underneath her face also.

The shine on the models cheek bone is white which adds a shimmer to the models skin and facial hair and texture is very visible.

This will have been done using layer masks on photoshop. In my own experience the texture is achieved by creating a duplicate layer of the image, one layer should be surface blurred to where the skin is blurred but the facial features are still visible. The second layer is then converted to high pass in hard light mode, and the opacity of the layers is adjusted accordingly. 

This is a more extreme example of retouching. The skin texture is very noticeable in the white shine on the models face and in the shadow too. The skin texture can be seen in the shine from the light directly above the model on her forehead. I personally think this is too crisp and makes her neck look strange which is slightly out of focus with no texture visible. I also think it makes her skin look bumpy, not smooth like it should in beauty photography.

Here is an example of really extreme editing. This type of retouching does not make the image look unusual as it is a cropped shot of just one facial feature. The lips are lit from above. I can tell this from the slight nose shadow visible at the top of the image and the bright white gleam in the middle of the lower lip. I find the other white gleam on the top lip and very lower rim on the lower lip quite baffling. I cannot tell if they are edited in for a glossy effect or if they are from another light source. The very small star like gleams in the middle of the lower lip have been retouched in for a shimmer effect. The texture on the skin around the lips is believable.

I think the second analysed image is more appropriate to my project work at the moment as I want my models skin to look flawless but believable. The skin also looks quite matte which is a bonus effect.

Image 1 and 2's editing would apply well to portraits where as image 3 and 4, are quite specific to beauty photography where everything has to be emphasised and flawless in order to sell the product.