Hello,

I'm in the process of building a website to showcase my retouching services, and I have a quick question about creating a portfolio -

I noticed that most retouching website only showcase the "after" picture.  Rarely have I seen a professional retoucher show the before and after image.

Is this a restriction from photographers - them not allowing the artist to display the before image publicly, or is this more of the industry standard for retouching portfolios, only highlighting the completed image?

In my mind, you can get a good scope of talent from looking at the completed image, however it doesn't tell the full story of where the photo was and what all was required to get it to its current completed state.
It seems like you could better showcase your talent by displaying the before and the after.

Thoughts on this?

I appreciate all of your input!

Corey, professional clients don't want to know the full story of that image, they want to know how beautiful that image looks, therefore no need to know how the before was.

The before on websites to me only says.. "I am amateur". I have worked for so many years now and have rarely been asked for a before image.

My recommendation to you. Don't watermark, don't upload before's.

:-)

I think it Splits both ways as you suggest. 

I personally LOVE before and afters...then I can SEE what the retouchers talents and skills are explicitly... and appreciate what they could do. 

And I agree...some photographers are a bit sheepish about being identified with a Before Image.  I dont mind it either way myself as a photographer... but it is always wise to involve the photographer and to gain copyright and display permissions before working on an image...  and especially in displaying a before and after.  In some cases, if not all,  its Better to have a paper trail...CYA... and the model too sometimes...  depending on the end use and exposure and previous agreements.

After all...the Photographer alone has the Copy Rights...  and can Legally Enforce how their image is used and displayed and used if they choose.  Every photographer has their own stand on their art usage.

I appreciate the input from both of you.

I think I'll try my website portfolio without any before images for now and see how that goes for me.

Thanks again!