Inside Scott's Brain

scary before photos!? man, the after photos are much, much freakier. at least in the before shots those people looked human. they all look like aliens in the after shots.

that said, i love the miracles of retouching. here are some others that are pretty good: http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/digital.html

Yeah, you've got a point- I think what's scary is how much belt-sanding some people 'need to do' (or at least feel they need to do) with their public pictures. Ah, vanity. I guess this is cheaper than plastic surgery. ;-)

Isn't Greg Apodaca great (re: your link)? He used to give lectures at DVGarage downtown, I've soaked up a ton of tips and retouching ideas from him, in fact.

Thanks for the compliments and exposure Scott, I appreciate it, but you have the old link to my address on your blogg, it's now just, www.glennferon.com No more nyud.net.8090, just so you know.
And the other retouucher Gregg Apodaca is pretty damn amazing, and my hats off to him. I tried writing him but he didn't respond yet, as I have to hundeds of e-mails and comments but I'm sure he went through what I'm going through, it takes a lot of time to do that. My only question to you and other bloggers is this, it right for just anybody to copy someones site and put it anywhere on the web, as I found my sites images now on sites that are selling cameras, Motorolla phones, and so on. I can't seem to stop this, unfortunetly.
I guess I should put a copyright notice on my site, not that it would do much to stop people from doing what they want to do.
Juat food for thought. But again, thanks for the nice review.
Oh! And by the way, (more food)>these images were jobs my clients asked and paid me to do, with their instuctions. They're not what I personaly would do to and image by go to the extreams that in this market is asked for all the time, as they're selling a magazine cover or an advertisment, and want it to stand out where ever it's being sold, so it SELLS. Be aware of that.
And the models themselves approved the "before" shot of themself sometimes with no makeup or stylists enhancements either, if you know what I mean, like they just got out of bed, for the cover no less, and where amazed in some cases, how great they looked that day not knowing they'd been retouched.
I'm also being held, (believe it or not), responsible for making young girls let alone intelligent mature women to go out and get boob jobs and liposuction etc, to aspire to be like or attain the same beautified image of themselves as images I retouch. Again this is what the client asks for. Write them an e-mail, and the make over shows like the Swan & Extreme makeover. They should be held responsible along with the surgeons that make millions on this obsession in society. Not a 2 dimentional image a retoucher does.
And besides that, don't women (and now men too, and not just our gay friends)go to the salon, spend hundreds on Hair, lipstick, nails, pedicures and eye makup, to make themselves more attractive in society. To those who said I'll never look at another celebrity the same way again, look at yourself when you wake up in the morning, and then by the time you walk out the door, it's a different person, ~ big difference, right? Isn't that "fake" as was said about my requested retouched enhancements are? But don't we all do this? So if a little makeup, chin implants, boob & nose jobs, not to mention pickel stiffeners make us feel better about ourselves, what's so controversial about a magazine retouching job?
So enough of those e-mails please. "~I'm not a doctor Jim, I'm just a retoucher,..So, ...beam me up Scotty~"
Glenn Feron

Appreciate the ping, Glenn! I've updated the URL in the original post accordingly- thanks for helping keep me current.

And indeed, your work is absolutely, most definitely ART (and beautifully realized, at that)- in my opinion, it's not retouchers who should be held accountable for the public's obsession over plastic surgery these days. The client ultimately asks for what they want to see in themselves- and it's their responsibility for the ramifications (in my opinion). On that note, it's not much different than hired portrait artists in earlier, pre-photography eras (the client specifies the output), it's just easier and far more photorealistic results using the current digital tools.

I guess my own opinions on vanity come as a guy who views every wrinkle on my face as a story, every scar a bit of history. That being said, I'm certainly guilty of removing a few blemishes, fixing a crooked smile, or digitally-ironing a shirt here and there in my own pictures in past years. I'll fully cop to my own hypocrisy there, you bet. ;-)

Thanks for sharing your insight!