Airbrushing Magazine Photos ...

[IDrinkaRum]

of BABIES!?

This debate started when a 5-month-old baby model was airbrushed to lighten his skin, eyes, and smoothed blotches and/or creases in his arms.

Has airbrushing officially gone too far?

[the_std]

I don't see how this is any worse than airbrushing photos of adults. Babies are not perfect.

[Amina516]

Way to start a complex early... lol.

I think its stupid but I understand why they do it. Like putting lipstick on strawberries to make them more red and etc for pictures. Gotta make a pretty picture for the $$$$$$.

And for the record, little fat rolls on babies arms and legs are where I like to bite them. Id appreciate seeing a roly poly baby in a magazine. If only to squeee with delight.

[BroomJockey]

I betcha airbrushing photos of babies has gone on longer than airbrushing of adults, too, since it's a lot harder to put make-up on a kid.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I think it went too far a long time ago.

I can see a little retouching, but making people look unrealistic is going too far.

I had a pic of my pregnant belly I retouched because I also had a very unattractive tick bite on said belly. I liked the pic. I knew my mom's head would explode if she knew I'd been bitten by a tick while pregnant (actually, it was two ticks). So I airbrushed it out.

Beyond that sort of thing, no. My kid had a mark on her face from fighting on her first birthday. I left it. I wanted to remember what she looked like on her first birthday, fighting marks and all.

I hear about parents straightening kids teeth, removing birthmarks, etc. That sucks. Pictures are for remembering. If your kids teeth are crooked or missing on his 8th birthday, that's what he looked like then. Go with it.

[DesignFox]

<snip>
I hear about parents straightening kids teeth, removing birthmarks, etc. That sucks. Pictures are for remembering. If your kids teeth are crooked or missing on his 8th birthday, that's what he looked like then. Go with it.

Don't get me started on parents who want their kid's photos re-touched. Encountered a few of them in my time as a photographer.

It also made me sick when I started seeing advertisements for high school yearbook pictures. In my day, yes, they would edit out your acne. That was it, though. NOW? You can get your acne fixed, teeth straightened, braces edited out and edited to look slimmer. Got a fat kid? No problem. We'll photoshop out about 10 or 15 lbs. Shit you not.

It's definitely gone too far in my opinion. It's no wonder people have self-esteem issues.

[Greenday]

I honestly don't see a difference between airbrushing pictures of adults and airbrushing pictures of babies.

[Flyndaran]

Photos are already not very realistic. People pose, put their best side forward, set up flattering background, lighting, etc. to look the best possible and avoid candid shots like the plague.
This is just doing it more effectively, not something new.

[jackfaire]

Last time I had a visit with my daughter she posed for two pictures for my camera phone.

The one I love the most is the third one I took when she didn't want me to when she was focusing on her computer game and just getting lost in her own little kid world.

You can airbrush all the photos in the world but if you do you might just miss the true beauty of the photo.

[the_std]

What most people seem to be missing is that magazine photos are not about the "perfect little moments", like RK's or jackfaire's. Those pictures are cute, and they have their place, but magazine photos are, for lack of a better word, ads. Even if they're not selling something specific. The beauty of a magazine picture the glamour and the perfection, not capturing the essence of the subject.

[tabbyblack13]

I can understand airbrushing in magazines and advertisements because it is to sell. Who wants to pay money for products that don't look perfect on the model. I can understand touching up glamor photos. Who wants to do a glamor shot and see zits and blotches. I don't want to pay a lot of money for these shots and have these imperfections seen.

I do think that there has been an increase of unreasonable airbrushing. If the model's head is bigger then her hips I think that it is starting to get out of hand.

I personally take photos for the slice of the moment and no for perfection. I don't do any air brushing to any of my photos mostly because there are times that the imperfections actually make the photo better.