Maternity retouching has a problem that newborn work does not: the subject has an opinion about her own body, and she is going to look at these images for the rest of her life. The technical part is straightforward. Knowing where to stop is the job.
In short
- Skin, blotching, blemishes and fly-aways — routine
- Fabric creases, bunching and light shaping — routine
- Stretch marks and body shape — only when you tell me she asked
- A bump is never made smaller or rounder by default
- Same $4–5 rate as the rest of the portrait work
What gets done without asking
Temporary things. Pregnancy blotching on the chest and face, a spot that will be gone in a week, fly-away hair, mascara smudges, a bra strap mark, the crease in a dress from the drive over. Colour and light are evened out, and the fabric is cleaned up so a gown reads as a gown rather than a bundle.
What is never done by default
Arms are not slimmed. The bump is not rounded. Stretch marks stay. Not out of principle — because I do not know what she asked you for, and the default that cannot be wrong is the one that leaves her body as it is.
If she has asked for something specific, say so and it gets done properly: "she asked to soften the stretch marks on the side" is a clear instruction, and it is a very different edit from erasing them completely.
Why this matters more than it sounds
A client who receives images where her body has been quietly changed learns something she did not ask to learn — that her photographer thought it needed changing. That is the one review no studio recovers from quickly. The safe default costs nothing and the conversation takes one line in your notes.
Maternity and newborn together
Many studios shoot both for the same family, six weeks apart. Sending both to the same editor means the maternity gallery and the newborn gallery look like one story rather than two sessions, which is exactly what the family is going to put side by side on a wall.
FAQ
Only if you tell me she asked. Otherwise they stay — that is the default that cannot be wrong.
Yes. Creases, bunching and awkward folds are fabric problems, not body problems, and they are part of the normal edit.
Same work, same rate — skin, colour, distractions, and the blinking child swapped from another frame if you shot one.
No. $4–5 per image, same as everything else.
Deividas Kvederys — photographer and retoucher based in Lithuania, EU. 450+ weddings and 1,500+ sessions of my own before I started editing for other photographers, and I still edit every image myself. Newborn retouching · All genres and pricing