… continuation of To Photoshop or Not?.

Where Is the Line?

That’s a great question. I was hoping to be able to draw a line where the edits are too much, but I couldn’t figure it out! If you have your own “definition” of what’s too much, please leave me a comment. I’d love to know other people’s perspectives.

For me, it’s probably a feeling. As soon as it starts to look suspicious, it’s too much. When the person looks different from reality, it’s too much.

To be able to answer this question precisely, I’d need to be able to define what is “real us” and what not. But where is the line in real life? I’m talking about a hair cut - hair colour - makeup - tattoo - liposuction and silicon boobs. It’s not related to the permanence. Tattoo is permanent, but is it “real us”? It’s relative. For some people yes, for some no. At some moment yes, in another not.

We are born somehow. And we “take care” of our exterior. Some people do more changes, some less. We’re all different. Why do we “change” ourselves? Because how we look affects how we think about ourselves and how other people treat us. And how people treat us, that more or less changes our own perception too. And it’s important for us what we think about ourselves. That’s why we change our look in real life.

I do edits. Minor edits. I strongly focus on keeping things how they could be real. Maybe with a better light, pose, washed and dried hair, on a day with a better sleep. I don’t see any point in publishing pictures that make people feel uncomfortable. E.g.: “Oh no, I should have washed me hair today morning, it looks so lank.“ It’s OK to get help, just not to pretend that the unrealistic plastic person on a picture is reality.

The Selfie - Reality Check

Obviously I did some editing with my picture too. I made myself how I perceive myself on a best day.

You can find below the original shot and the final one - to allow you to see the edits. I know that if I had time to wash my hair, it would have been different. I know that if I added an extra light (and rest), the dark circles under the eyes may not have been there.

It’s all relative and temporary. We look how we look and we are who we are. It doesn’t really matter how we look at a picture. Pictures are not reality. It’s a snapshot of a light reflections under certain conditions. That’s all. But of course, that we like seeing things and people (especially us!) looking as expected.

I made these specific changes:

• fluffed my hair up

• removed blemishes and softened the skin a little

• lightened up the area under my eyes

• adjusted brightness, contrast and some colours:

  • some in general

  • some selectively in my eyes, hair or a vignette for example

• darkened my eyebrows a tiny bit to bring more attention to my eyes