pratiknaik

This Model Doesn’t Exist: The New Age Of Modeling

I know it’s hard to believe, but this beautiful model has no feelings or emotions. Why? Because she’s not even real. No studio was rented, no lights setup, the entire shoot never happened. No photos were taken.

Impostor Syndrome Might Be Where Your Self Doubt Comes From

I don’t deserve to be writing this because there are more capable people who can speak more eloquently than I can that can deliver this message to you. This is exact thought that went through my head as I was writing this blog post because I’m not the best writer.

Infinite Color: I Created a Smart Color Grading Tool for Photoshop

Working as a retoucher, one of the hardest parts of my job wasn’t even the cleanup work that an image typically requires, it was the color grading. Applying a specific look to an image to really enhance or create a mood that meets the client’s vision was either doable or really hard. There was never a time when it was completely easy, even for me.

Review: The Touch Bar MacBook Pro Through the Eyes of a Creative

This post is a concise review of the touch bar MacBook Pro from a creative point of view. I use and like both PC and Macs and don’t have loyalty to one or the other. This has been a long time coming, and for good reason: I really wanted to put my laptop through the paces for a few months before I formed a true opinion.

Why the Brush Tool Has a Weird Purple Line in Photoshop CC 2018

If you've started using Photoshop CC 2018, you may have noticed a strange purple line following your brush around as you're using it now. That line is called a "brush leash," and here's a helpful 6-minute video by retoucher Pratik Naik about what that purple line is and how you can use and customize it.

I Asked Photographers for Ideas for Photography Horror Movies

I asked photographers to come up with a premise for a photography-based horror movie, and the answers did not disappoint. Some of these situations quite literally terrify me to think about, and others make me outright laugh!

This Photo Has No Red Pixels: A Fascinating Optical Illusion

I initially refused to believe it when this photo came across my feed. My eyes aren't broken! I can see they're strawberries, and they're definitely red. They have to be trolling us with this image, right?

The Sassy Invoice You Wish You Could Give Your Worst Clients

On a recent business trip to San Francisco to help my long-time friend and talented photographer Jenn Collins on her retouching workflow, she graciously gifted me in the best way possible. She knows my sense of humor and somehow found this loose-leaf paper book of the sassiest invoices I had ever seen!

The Impact of Adobe’s Subscription Model on Photoshop

As a professional photo retoucher, I owe Adobe most of my life. Without them, I would honestly not be where I am today, being able to do what I love every single day! Over the years, it has also gone through a multitude of changes, and since my life is tied directly to Photoshop, I pay very close attention to them.

When Someone Follows You Around the World to Copy Your Photos…

Jack Morris (@doyoutravel) and Lauren Bullen (@gypsea_lust) are both travel photographers and Instagram's favorite travel power couple! With a collective following of 2 million people, you can imagine they've developed quite a great following! Rightfully so, the work on their accounts are beautiful and they travel quite religiously.

100% Crops of Photos from a 100MP Medium Format Camera

Phase One made a splash back some months back when it unveiled its 100-megapixel medium format camera system. To show the power of a 100MP medium format sensor, retoucher Pratik Naik has published a series of 100% crops from a recent shoot with the camera.

30 Things You Never Want to Hear from a Client

"We love your style! So we're going to hire you to do something completely different!" If that sentence makes you laugh, then the 30 statements in this post are going to hit home.

14 Things I Would Tell My Younger Self Starting In The Photography Industry

I was internalizing a dialogue I had the other day after seeing a mistake someone made on how they presented their thoughts and the reaction it received, when I realized that what I was actually doing was telling myself what I wish I knew early on in my career. It encompassed some mistakes along the way, and some key points that I feel some people may benefit from reading.

You will not agree with every point, and don’t worry, you shouldn’t. At the very least, you’ll agree with and consider one of them. That is what is what I hope to achieve.

1.5 Hours of Face Retouching in a 7 Minute Timelapse

To show the extensive work that can go into retouching a beauty portrait, editing guru Pratik Naik of Solstice Retouch created this 7-minute timelapse video showing how he spend 1.5 hours cleaning up a photo by photographer Jonas Jensen.

This PSD Reveals What Every Photoshop Adjustment Layer Does via Curves

Want to see what Photoshop's adjustment layers are actually doing to your photos in terms of curves? There's an easy new way to do so.

Los Angeles-based photographer and retoucher Edmon Amiraghyan has created a special PSD file called Live Curves. It's simply a Document window that contains a Curves view of the document that updates in real time.