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Future proofing my career learning UX design

Posted on by bfrankphoto in UX

After more than 20 years as a photo retoucher and photographer, I’ve started to see that my skills are starting to be devalued. Retouching is increasingly getting outsourced overseas or replaced with AI for things like skin smoothening. Photography has been going through rapid changes for several years. The push towards AI-generated model shoots and CGI products is only going to accelerate as the technology improves.

With that in mind, I’ve been looking for a way to help future-proof my career. Some time ago, a friend recommended UX Design as a possibility. I started to look into the career, and I think it looks promising. Upon researching the attributes and skillsets one would need to succeed, I was pleasantly surprised at how much of my previous experiences would translate.

At the core of UX Design, is understanding what the customer wants and problem-solving a solution while remaining within the realm of what is possible. For years, I have been describing photo retouching with those exact same terms. For example, Better Homes and Gardens always wanted the white walls of an interior photo to be neutral, bright white with a touch of yellow to add some warmth. Of course, my managers didn’t want me to spend hours masking out the walls for every interior image in the entire magazine. So I needed to solve the problem of how to give the magazine the look they wanted while also figuring out how to do it quickly. I loved that part of the job.

Of course, there is a lot of learning in front of me. It’s going to be a long road. Thankfully there are a number of resources available online to help me on my way. I’m always open to hearing feedback and recommendations from others. Anyone reading this in the UX field, I’d love to hear from you!

I’ll continue to post updates as I go.

FIFA World Cup Image Retouching Project

Coca-Cola and FIFA World Cup 3D Photo Retouching Project

Posted on by bfrankphoto in Photoshop

Now that the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is over, I can share part of an incredible retouching project I was fortunate enough to have been involved.

For the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Coca-Cola wanted to create an advertising campaign around people around the world watching the matches while drinking Cokes from specially-produced cans and bottles. Because of the production timeline, it was impossible to have the bottles and cans produced in time for the photo shoots. The answer was to replace the existing products with 3D CGI renders.

The process involved taking the 3D renders, scaling to the proper size, adjusting the lighting to match the scene, and blending it into the photograph; this meant adding color casts, blurring to match the depth-of-field, adding condensation and bubbles as needed, and shadows. It simply was one of the most challenging retouching efforts I’ve done. Luckily, I worked with wonderful retouchers and project managers at INDG. I learned so much during that time and continue to learn more as I do additional freelance retouching with the company.

Below are some completed images and some before and after sliders.

Coca-Cola image as part of FIFA World Cup retouching project.
Final completed image where four glass bottles were replaced with cans.
Zoomed in section of the final completed image showing before and after. Because the can is smaller than the original bottle, the arm needed to be moved and hand reshaped to accommodate.
Coca-Cola image as part of FIFA World Cup retouching project.
Final completed image where the 2-liter bottle was replaced with a glass bottle.
Zoomed in section of the final completed image showing before and after. Because the glass bottle is smaller than the original, the table and the glass needed to be rebuilt.

Murphy’s Law: Self-Publishing Edition

Posted on by bfrankphoto in Photography
Layout showing my need to find and update images
Layout showing my need to find and update images

A couple of years ago, I self-published a photography book about small-time mixed martial arts in Iowa. The process of getting there was fraught with unseen issues. One of which was achieving deep blacks while keeping the greys neutral (See: 50 Unwanted Shades of Grey).

Once it was ready to be released and shared with the world, I was ecstatic. More than five years of photography, editing, worrying about layout, and sequencing was over. I had created something substantial, and that would never change. Over the past year, the full understanding of what that meant became a bit more clear.

The forward was written by National Geographic photographer David Alan Harvey. Harvey also runs a photography blog called Burn Magazine, and he was the first to publish selections from early on in my project. In April, I pulled Fight Night off Amazon and removed references from my website after disturbing allegations against Harvey forced him to resign from Magnum photo agency.

I decided to re-release the book without the Harvey forward. I would simply replace the page of text with an additional photo. Unfortunately, the drive that stored the final edited photos and the book layout died. For the last several months, I have been searching for the original versions of the images, re-toning them, running the photoshop action to neutralise the greys, and re-linking the image into the layout. The process is almost complete, and it cannot come soon enough.

A brief statement on Fight Night forward by David Alan Harvey

Posted on by bfrankphoto in Uncategorized

Over the past several months, I have grown increasingly disturbed by the allegations against David Alan Harvey.

Because of the allegations, I have concluded I cannot continue to sell my book Fight Night with the Harvey forward included. Because of the book’s limited reach as a print-on-demand publication, I initially thought leaving it as it was would be fine. I can no longer follow that flawed logic.

David has been incredibly good to me over the past decade. He was the first to publish excerpts from Fight Night from the early stages of the project. He has given me advice and guidance. I can never adequately thank him. This was not an easy decision, but principles are only principles if one stands by them.

I will re-issue the book without the Harvey forward at some time in the near future.

When Photo Retouching Saves the day

Posted on by bfrankphoto in Photoshop

The day before a scheduled photoshoot for the Illinois Travel Guide summer issue, Six Flags amusement park decorated their signature entrance for Halloween. This was quite the shock for the art director, photographer, and models that arrived for a shoot that was supposed to showcase summer fun. Since everyone had traveled to the location and was on the clock, the photoshoot when forward as best it could.

I still remember the opening line of the email reading, “We have a little challenge for you.” Always loving a fresh challenge, I took a look and laughed out loud. This wasn’t just a challenge, but a test of all my retouching and problem-solving skills.

The first step would be to plan the attack. Retouching always takes some mental planning, but that is usually something that can be done in the back of your mind on-the-fly. With this situation, I needed to spend some time t think out all that needed to be done. Additionally, think about how to work in a manner that would allow for adjustments to be made later.

First, I needed to replace the water. I was able to use bits of a scouting shoot for the park since the water didn’t need to be the focal point, and the scouting images were shot at about the same angle and had the right amount of ripples and waves. Next, I needed to recreate the merry-go-round structure, bushes, and pool edges. Then cloned out signage, extended the background to the left and right to fit the magazine cover layout, and clean up the sidewalk, followed by adding some sky. Finally, I did some color correcting to brighten and warm the image, adjusted skin tones, and smoothed out some clothing.