Portrait Photography in Sangamwadi, Pune

Recognisably you, later

A heavily retouched portrait stops looking like the person quite quickly.

It is a strange effect: the more a portrait is smoothed and corrected, the sooner it reads as a photograph of a period rather than of a person.

Skin retouched flat, colour pushed hard, a background replaced — each of those is a decision that will be visible as a decision within a few years.

A portrait edited lightly ages very slowly, because there is nothing in it to go out of fashion except the person, and they age honestly.

That is why light retouching is the default here. Tell us if you want more and it will be done.

It is also worth saying that people frequently ask for more retouching than they actually want, because they assume it is expected.

It is not, and a portrait that looks like you on a good day is more useful in almost every context than one that looks like somebody smoother.

Backgrounds date portraits more than people realise.

A background that was fashionable at the time is immediately identifiable later, and a plain one is not.

That is the argument for plain rather than styled, quite apart from any question of what a specification requires.

It is also worth avoiding anything in frame that fixes the year — a device, a visible brand, a piece of technology.

Those age faster than clothing does and they are usually in shot by accident rather than by choice.

Noticing them takes a moment and it adds years to how long a portrait stays usable.