About this episode

The episode discusses the ethical boundaries of portrait retouching with guest Skaistė Gulbinaitė, focusing on authenticity and client experience.

What Portrait Photographers Should Never Retouch asks a question: when does improving an image become changing the person? In this episode of The Camera Shake Photography Podcast, Kersten speaks with Lithuanian portrait photographer and RetouchLab founder Skaistė Gulbinaitė about natural portrait retouching, client confidence and creating photographs that still feel authentic. Skaistė explains why many people dislike photographs of themselves, how phone cameras and beauty filters can distort self-image, and why trust begins long before Photoshop. She shares practical photography advice for directing nervous clients, maintaining flow during a portrait session and using posing, lighting and camera angles instead of reshaping bodies in post-production. The conversation also explores skin retouching, scars, wrinkles, commercial beauty photography and the ethical line between polishing a portrait and erasing someone’s identity. Skaistė reveals how repetitive editing inspired her to build RetouchLab, why photographers should keep creative control when using AI, and what she learned from leaving medical school to pursue art and build a photography business. Whether you work in…

People in this episode

Host: Kersten Luts

Guest: Skaistė Gulbinaitė

Topics covered

• portrait photography
• retouching ethics
• client confidence
• natural portrait retouching
• photography advice
• self-image
• creative control

Keywords

• portrait photography
• retouching
• client experience
• self-image
• photography tips
• ethical photography
• lighting
• posing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: RetouchLab

Places: Lithuania

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