Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

[Chris S.]

Hello there,

I'm hoping for some basic advice on "what is usually done when retouching photos for a fashion lookbook".
It's my first lookbook, the photos taken are pretty similar to these:
http://www.style.com/slideshows/fash.../collection/18

So is there some kind of basic routine or workflow which I can follow to not miss anything important?
What are the differences when retouching the photos for web and print?


Thank you in advance!

Kind regards,
Chris

[skoobey]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

Set up a look with conversions and color layers, fix everything looking odd, dodge and burn to enhance things, unify color locally, sharpen, export.

Please fix the color of knees and knuckles, so many lookbooks skip that.

[Aladdin]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

Skin tones are inconsistent between the face and the rest of the body. Look 47 is an obvious example, there are few others.

[DJSoulglo]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

make sure the garments fit. Take out any clips/pins. When anyone is wearing pants fix the bunching on the bottom. Clean 1 background and use that for all images. Quicker than cleaning it over and over as it gets dirtier as the day goes on. skin should have the same color on face/NECK/arms and hands (it never does models always have blue hands). fix the big blemishes and bim bam boom, done.

[insmac]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

On another note, I'm surprised by the quality (well, lack of it) of the Valentino lookbook. Uniformity and tones are shit.

[Aladdin]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

On another note, I'm surprised by the quality (well, lack of it) of the Valentino lookbook. Uniformity and tones are shit.

Did you realize that lately, all editors are lax! Seriously? I am talking brand name stuff. depressing to say the least. And yet, when any of us attempts to get the same job, a whole load of requirements and qualifications presented that basically shuts the door close. Go figure.

It is who you know not what you know.

[Chris S.]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

Thanks a lot, I already did an example for the designer yesterday and it was ok for her and the photographer. Just correcting what I thougt needs to be corrected. It's pretty much what DJSoulglo wrote plus removing flying hair (or what it is called in english, think you know what I mean). This model had red hands by the way
I will have a close look at what you pointed out and maybe will point out in addition on the Valentino example (which are not edited by me, for my defense . I'm sure it will improve my work!
And surely it's useful for others, too.
Thanks again!

[skoobey]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

It's highly unrealistic to expect a brand to have perfectly retouched look book images, and here are a couple of reasons I can think of.

Sheer number of images. In the Valentino lookbook there are 97 looks, and that is just for the frontal shot(I am sure there are shots from the back and side, detal, presented to buyers). So, something like 300 images?

These images are mostly presented to buyers(distributors), so often there are different looks for different markets, different models used... and did we mention accessories? So, we are at 600 images.

And there are 4 seasons, each having it's own lookbook. 2400 images a year.

And if every item needs to be shot from a couple of angles separately, and we know it does, we are in the high 10's, maybe 15s. 15 000 images, that's right. For a single brand and their stores. Online retailers often reshoot stuff for their own purposes.

And how many brands are out there, hundreds? Not to mention that Valentino is relatively limited in it's production volume/number of items per season. Some more mainstream brands have far more items on offer each season.

There simply aren't enough retouchers in the world for everything to be retouched. And lookbooks and runway shots are something most people don't see. It's campaign shots that are on the website, that are in the adds, and in the stores.

You may only see the lookbook image while actually shopping online.

[insmac]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

Oh c'mon. We're not talking pixel-perfect pushing to the limit, we're talking obvious fixes.

If my wife has spotted the yellow faces compared to red legs it is an issue to address - even a non technical person has immediately noticed the problem without prior notice.

[Repairman]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

I used to do look books for a major shoe brand and compromises often had to be made that wouldn't have been accepted on the core advertising shots. Production is controlled by wholesale rather than retail departments. Volume of images is the kicker. These are shot within a couple of weeks of printing and mods to product lines go right to the wire; you are often changing product colour, shape and texture. Often I'd have to create a left or right shoe as only one existed as a prototype. Outdoor pix will probably have the wrong seasonal backdrop (e.g. High summer images have been shot in late spring meaning ambience needs to be addressed). The more obvious major model defects would be looked at, general skin tone, spots and broken nails etc but plenty went under the radar. Great fun actually but I wouldn't want to do it every week.

[adtechniques]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

look at Timothy Sexton (Gloss Studio) in Lynda. I learn alots from his workflow.

[jklier]

Re: Fashion Lookbook: What needs to be done?

It's highly unrealistic to expect a brand to have perfectly retouched look book images, and here are a couple of reasons I can think of.

I would agree. These are technical images, not advertising images, and they go to a small technical audience. Cost on high image count is a factor, and the brand won't be judge on image quality unless it's just ridiculous.

Actually a small or emerging designer is more likely to need cleaner images than a major brand. If they're not known yet, their ability to execute may be judged by the images.

Finally, images are often printed pretty small or web only. So color and consistency is more important than super clean skin.