The really ARE airbrushed... - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Stephanie Osborne · 08-28-2006, 12:11 PM

Ok so I like most women fall into the trap of lusting after obtaining the fit bodies of celebrities. I would always hear people talk about them being airbrushed...thats not really what they look like etc... Ofcourse how much can airbrushing really do was what I was thinking. Remove a couple freckles etc...Well I am learning how to do it for an upcoming wedding I am shooting and came across the following:

Pre Airbrush:

POst Airbrush:

That is a HUGE difference....so now looking at a picture like this

I know better, her stomach is not flawless as it appears in that photo. I think this is a really good thing to know when we look for women to constantly compare ourselves to in showbiz. Just thought someone else might benefit from this too!

jillybean720 · 08-28-2006, 12:40 PM

Yeah, there are actually websites you can go to to see how insanely airbrushed most pictures are. I've seen "before and afters" of lots of famous stars, and the airbrushing can do wonders! They not only remove blemishes, freckles, skintone inconsistencies, and shadows, but also make thighs slimmer, make lovehandles disappear, make breasts bigger/rounder, make waists tinier, make skin creases (like in elbows and knees and such) disappear...That's why I laugh a little when someone posts a perfect picture of a star and says they want to look like that. Honey, not even THAT person actually looks like that!

Here's one that shows how imperfect hair and skin really are (click on "portfolio," then "before and after"): http://www.fluideffect.com/

This one goes into detail about the many things that have been changed on a typical covergirl photo (particularly for us, I'd check out #11-Waist): http://demo.fb.se/e/girlpower/retouc...uch/index.html

NotTheCheat · 08-28-2006, 01:14 PM

This is one of my favorite sites about retouching - it shows you each section before and after. It is so amazing what they can do with photos.

http://demo.fb.se/e/girlpower/retouch/

LIL'JJ · 08-28-2006, 03:13 PM

WOW I knew people airbrush but I didnt know what a huge difference it made. They completely transform the way natural people look. These girls they show are not even real anymore. Thanks for the sites!-JJ

trnsfrmnreplace · 08-29-2006, 12:38 AM

I'm a photo retouch artist... i do it all day long, and you can make anyone look the way they want to.

I get angry thinking about how fake it all is but it also reminds me to not look down on myself because everyone has something about them.

I retouched a VS model before, they do look different then the ads.

jillybean720 · 08-31-2006, 11:22 AM

Stumbled across this thread while browsing through 3FC:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92702

galengail · 08-31-2006, 03:19 PM

Wow...it's amazing what a nice graphics program can do. I have one of the simple ones on my computer and with a touch of a button I can give the picture a similiar look. It's crazy how easy and wide-spread airbrushing is.

snuggle · 08-31-2006, 03:38 PM

It's amazing what people can do with photos. I laugh when I see 'perfect' women on magazine covers because I know they look nothing like they do on the cover.

And I actually used to photoshop my own pictures...

WhitWhit · 08-31-2006, 08:11 PM

Saying that they look nothing like their photos or that they look totally different is a bit extreme. I think that the people are pretty...but after airbrushing, they are beautiful, gorgeous, etc.

It's as if the person has a nice canvas and a retouch artist simply adds some paint to produce a magnificent piece of art! I think we can all agree that an unnattractive person would never "look different" or beautiful or gorgeous just with a little airbrushing.

jillybean720 · 08-31-2006, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhitWhit

Saying that they look nothing like their photos or that they look totally different is a bit extreme. I think that the people are pretty...but after airbrushing, they are beautiful, gorgeous, etc.

I don't think anyone is saying the "before" pictures are ugly or anything...just that the "after" pictures (the ones the media actually use) are quite unrealistic and unachievable naturally. Even completely thin, fit, and healthy people have creases or folds in their skin when they bend or hold a certain pose, and erasing those lines to make everything smooth by airbrushing would equate to actually removing skin in real life

Lifeguard · 08-31-2006, 11:16 PM

There was just a news story on tonight about this being done with promotional pictures of Katie Curic, the news anchor. I think it is sick. Our girls have enough obstacles to having a healthy self esteem & body image without being bombarded with pictures that are not even real. It's making the "ideal" doubly impossible.

It is one thing to clear up some skin imperfections or fly away hairs, I personally think it is something altogether different when they start changing women's proportions.

Sorry if I have offended anyone here, but this is a hot button for me. I work with girl guides & see first hand how the constant bombardment of these unrealistic (& truly unreal) images are changing how they view themselves. Lol - as if it's just the girls & not full grown women are affected.