On 2017-11-30 04:28, Tony Cooper wrote:
On Wed, 29 Nov 2017 21:58:17 -0500, PeterN
wrote:

On 11/29/2017 9:34 PM, Mayayana wrote:
"Tony Cooper" wrote

| Today, school photographers offer editing-at-a-cost. The local
| photographer charges $20 to whiten teeth, whiten the whites of the
| eyes, and remove minor blemishes. Other, more extensive services are
| available. If all the services are taken, the amount could be as much
| as $240. That might include taking braces off, restoring missing
| teeth, removal of tan lines, adjustments to the hair, etc.
|
| I've used "Photoshopping" in the Subject line, but some other software
| may be used.

I think that's not really a PS thing. There are
specific programs. When I bought PSP16
"Ultimate" version it came with Face Filter 3.
I never used it. It required me to register and I
had no interest in the functionality. But it's
one of a number of automated programs that
do what you're talking about. The difference
with PS is that these programs don't just provide
tools. They provide "wizards".

Face Filter describes functions like so:

Create a flawless complexion... skin smoothing...
blemish removal.

Beautifying tools. Basically graphical makeup.

Expression redefining. "Muscle based facial
morhing to create a desired expression".

I'd guess that the school photographers are
using such tools. Not skill with PS. Just feed in
the photo and get a picture of a more attractive,
similar looking person. On the other hand, like
plastic surgery it doesn't really quite work. The
personal character is lost and that's most of
what makes someone interesting.



It looks like my initial response to Tony did not get through.

It came through to me as email.

Event and portrait photographers have been fixing blemishes for years.
In the digital age a lot of people tend to regard photographers as a
commodity, and not as craftsman and artists. Photographers are entitled
to make an honest living. They need to eat, as do all of us. If fixing
images of teeth helps them do so, I think that's great.

I don't object to photographers making money, but I do see the
practice as somewhat objectionable. The message it gives to the kids
is that their appearance is of paramount importance to their parents.
You're teeth aren't brilliantly white in a photo? You don't live up
to my expectations. You're parents didn't pay to have that gap where
the baby tooth came out filled in with a fake tooth? They must not
love you.

When the demand for physical perfection starts that early in life it
can have later repercussions.

If you alter the contents of a photo so that it don't reflect a
reasonable normal perception of reality then it's not a photograph
anymore. It's a collage! Removing blemishes like acne and such are doing
that. Removing dust bunnies stuck on the sensor is not.

--
teleportation kills