(Rundqvist retouched)Hey everyone! Ever wonder why a picture in a magazine ALWAYS looks flawless? Well the other day in my fashion in the media class Peter Rundqvist who is a master retoucher for Harper Bazaar spoke to us. He is originally from Sweden. He explained to us the process of retouching and the different things he does to manipulate a picture to make it the most appealing he can. Usually it takes a total of 10 hours to analyze and retouch an image. Most of his work is for advertising because the cover of a magazine is the most appealing and it is what makes people want to buy the magazine. He stated that he gets a lot of pressure from clients; he needs to make the image to what the client wants not just his taste. There were many images he showed us that we can compare the before and after. I also never knew that every picture in a magazine is retouched, even if it is just enhancing the colors. Some main things Peter does to retouch an image is the lighting or the shadows. He also goes beauty retouching and slimming, shaping and extending retouching. Some pictures are even composited for 2 or more pictures to make one complete image. Sometimes the background and the model for the picture are taken separately and then composited together for a more finished look. He also adds texts to some of the images. Although Peter doesn’t always have full say in how the image looks he sometimes will get invited to photo shoots to give his opinion so they picture will not have to be retouched as much. He also stated that print images are hard because of the sizing, such as if it going to be on a huge billboard or just in a magazine page.
(Image taken from google images)How does a certain celebrity or model get on the cover of a magazine? Well Stephen Walker who is the photo director of Nylon told us about all the details that goes into a magazine cover. He has been working for Nylon Magazine for the past three years. Nylon magazine is geared towards 18-25 year olds. They have more of a rebellious and edgy feel to their magazine. The covers are fun and colorful with the patterns and younger styling. Stephen spoke to our Fashion in the Media last night. He told us about his main responsibilities, and his day to day tasks and routines. He doesn’t always have time to go to every single photo shoot, but always goes to the cover photo shoots. When at the photo shoots he deals with publicists and managers. He also accommodates everyone on the set. Stephen is also responsible for the budget for the photo shoot and has to prepare for the unknown during a photo shoot such as props breaking or possibly needing extra equipment. Nylon usually does 30-40 photo shoots a month. On the days that Stephen goes to the cover photo shoots he works with the photographer to collaborate ideas on how the final image should turn out. Stephen also works with the editors and stylist on a day to day basis. When setting up a photo shoots Stephen knows what stylists to pair with specific photographers. He often travels to L.A. and sometimes to London for a cover photo shoot. He mentioned that Nylon has less retouching than most magazines because they don’t want it to look perfect, but more real. Stephens’s favorite part of his job is putting together the best team to successfully pulling off a difficult photo shoot. He finds it exhilarating not to have control.
<3 Christine
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