Headshot Editing

Why Your Headshots Look Retouched (And How to Fix That Before the Client Sees Them)
Portrait Retouching

Why Your Headshots Look Retouched (And How to Fix That Before the Client Sees Them)

I keep a JPEG from 2017 in a folder on my desktop called “Do Not Delete.” It’s the first headshot I ever delivered to a paying client. The skin is smooth the way plastic is smooth. The eyes have that over-sharpened, almost illustrated quality. The subject’s face looks like it was ironed. She was kind enough to pay me and never hire me again, and I deserved both of those outcomes.

Why Your Headshots Look Over-Edited (And the Frequency Separation Fix That Changed How I Work)
Portrait Retouching

Why Your Headshots Look Over-Edited (And the Frequency Separation Fix That Changed How I Work)

A few years into my retouching work, a client sent me a message I still think about. She’d hired me to retouch a batch of corporate headshots, and after I delivered the files, she wrote back: “These are great, but… everyone kind of looks the same? Like they’ve been smoothed over?” She wasn’t wrong. I’d been so focused on removing every shadow and blemish that I’d accidentally erased what made each person look like themselves.

Why Your Headshots Look Over-Edited (And the Frequency Separation Fix That Actually Works)
Retouching Techniques

Why Your Headshots Look Over-Edited (And the Frequency Separation Fix That Actually Works)

A client once told me my edits looked “like a wax museum.” She wasn’t wrong. I had smoothed every pore, blurred every shadow, and delivered what I genuinely thought was polished, professional work. I still have that file. I keep it in a folder called “Before I Knew Better,” and I open it maybe once a year just to feel something. That was the edit that sent me down a year-long obsession with frequency separation, and it fundamentally changed how I approach headshot work.

Why Your Headshots Look Retouched (And How to Fix That Before the Client Notices)
Portrait Retouching

Why Your Headshots Look Retouched (And How to Fix That Before the Client Notices)

The first headshot I ever retouched that a client actually complained about wasn’t overexposed or poorly cropped. It was technically clean. Sharp eyes, even skin tone, good contrast. The client called me and said, very politely, “I just look kind of… plastic?” I had smoothed her skin so aggressively that the natural texture was gone, and what was left was something between a wax figure and a LinkedIn filter. I kept that file.

Why Your Headshot Edits Look Overdone (And the Exact Workflow That Fixed Mine)
Portrait Retouching

Why Your Headshot Edits Look Overdone (And the Exact Workflow That Fixed Mine)

A client once told me my retouching looked “like a wax museum.” She wasn’t wrong. I still have that file saved in a folder called “Humbling Moments,” and I open it maybe once a year to remind myself what over-processing actually looks like when you’re too close to the screen to see it. Headshots are the trickiest category in portrait retouching, not because the techniques are complicated, but because the margin for error is almost zero.

The Art of Professional Headshot Editing: My Essential Workflow
Portrait Retouching

The Art of Professional Headshot Editing: My Essential Workflow

The Art of Professional Headshot Editing: My Essential Workflow When I first started retouching headshots, I made every mistake in the book. Over-smoothed skin. Unnatural eye enhancement. Teeth that glowed like neon signs. After years of refining my approach, I’ve developed a workflow that delivers results my clients genuinely love—and I want to share it with you. The key to great headshot editing isn’t about making someone look like a filtered version of themselves.