Do you ask the bride beforehand?

[PhotoMatte]

Over the years I've had brides with scars, tattoos, and lots of acne. It always occurs to me, during the initial interview, whether or not I should ask the bride if she wants any or all of these 'imperfections' removed in post-processing...but I've never had the nerve. In the case of tattoos I figure I'll just leave them as they were (since that's a choice made by the bride) but as for scars and acne, it's been touch and go. For acne I always do some work to make it much less noticeable (if there was a lot) or remove it entirely (if it was only a small flare-up). As for scars, however, I've never been sure if I should remove them from the images, and have always wondered if I'd be offending the bride if I was to ask, either before or after the wedding.

[tim]

I don't ask, but I do tell people for the album let me know if they'd like any retouching. I will remove temporary marks without asking, but never remove anything permanent like a mole or freckle. I charge to remove tattoos, it's quite time consuming.

[jonwhite]

Originally Posted by tim

I don't ask, but I do tell people for the album let me know if they'd like any retouching. I will remove temporary marks without asking, but never remove anything permanent like a mole or freckle. I charge to remove tattoos, it's quite time consuming.

+1

same same

[TTk]

Originally Posted by jonwhite

+1

same same

Same here,

[PMCphotography]

I only do minor retouching on closeups, and wouldn't remove scars/moles/tattoos unless specifically asked/requested.

[Peacefield]

Tim's approach is right. You'll also find other clues during the day. For instance make up, clothing, or even flowers placed to hide a tattoo. If they have an errant pimple, I'll take that away without thinking about it. If they have quite a bit of acne and it's clear that it's a chronic condition, it's part of their normal appearance. I may soften it, but they will most certainly still want look like themselves.

[RT McAllister]

Originally Posted by Peacefield

If they have quite a bit of acne and it's clear that it's a chronic condition, it's part of their normal appearance. I may soften it, but they will most certainly still want look like themselves.

^This

tattoos and moles I never touch.

Tim's approach is very tactful.

One can dig a very deep PP hole if you're not careful. I have seen grooms who looked like they shaved with a butter knife that morning.

[wndrlst]

Yes, those of you who leave scars and freckles, etc, thank you. I recently had portraits done and didn't recognize or connect with my images after the heavy pp work. I earned my laugh lines and would like to keep them. I have a small scar near my eyebrow that changed my life - I'd like to keep it, too. I wish the photographer had asked - I'd have requested they be left alone!

[ni$mo350]

It's a catch 22. I shot a friend who I know is sensitive about his acne so I cleaned it up in post and couldn't tell if he liked it or didn't because everyone we know would know immediately that I cleaned it up pretty extensively.

[Big K]

I always just ask. It's not like they don't know they have a scar, tattoo or big mole and I have always had people respond positively to being asked regardless if they wanted it removed or left alone.

[C at Carol's Photography]

I never touch scars ,freckles,etc but I do soften the skin a bit, I don't like over processing but just a soft touch for wrinkles and lines. It's a fine line some times, i also use special effects and different actions to hide problems skin conditions.

[John the Geek]

I agree with the others. If it doesn't go away after a month, then I remove it. Anything permanent stays.

I just had a bride with a huge red pimple on her cheek. I took it out of every single shot. Her makeup helped, but not completely.

[PhotoMatte]

I normally ask as well but there are times I won't see the scar (or whatever) until the moment it suddenly appears (ie, a strapless dress) and sometimes there's no quiet, tactful place to pose that question. Waiting to ask until after the wedding seems even more strange to me. For the most part I leave people 'as-is' and only use PP for things like removing bags under their eyes, spinach in their teeth, etc. I did have one shot, however, where grandma got into the picture and gave me her best smile...and she had the worst false teeth (crooked, stained, etc...I hope they were false, anyway!) I've ever seen. Her daughter, the mother of the bride, had a very similar smile so I used a light opacity and painted some of the mom's smile onto the grandmother's smile and left it at that. I didn't really see a tactful way to ask about it and the grandma had been giving me close-lipped smiles all evening, which made me think she was somewhat self-conscious of her teeth, which is why I 'fixed' them.

[hover]

I don't ask about it. In fact, I make it a point to mention and have in my contract that retouching of this magnitude is not included in my packages. I've heard waaaaay too many horror stories about brides wanting 300+ shots retouched in this manner to even think about it. Of course, it helps that I also shoot in a very photojournalistic style that my clients love.

[Philco]

In my experience, if brides are worried about blemishes, they'll usually be the first ones to bring it up. Temporary things like a pimple, or a little crack in the base make up are automatically touched up regardless. Permanent features, like a mole, you have to be careful with. If you do push up color/contrast in processing (or shoot with a lot in camera) then something like a mole that isn't very noticable in reality will be more noticable in a photograph...adding pop to an image pops everthing. I often clone/heal the mole on a dupe layer and fade it back 50% or so...that way it's still there, but not overly contrasty or colorful....especially if the mole creates a tiny shadow...just not something you want to draw attention to.