Editor's note: The 2026 class of my Lightroom Classic Secrets course is open for enrollment now. Learn the tips, techniques and secrets used by the Lightroom masters. Click here for the details. Thanks for reading, Andrew.
I’ve seen photographers make the same portrait retouching mistakes over and over. These mistakes apply whatever style of portraiture you’re into – from family snaps made with a phone, through to making portraits of models and documentary style portraits.
By the way, don’t feel bad if you’re making any of these portrait retouching mistakes. It’s all part of the learning process!
Portrait retouching mistake #1: Selecting the wrong profile
Profile is one of the most important settings in Lightroom Classic. Get the Profile wrong and it’s nearly impossible to compensate later on in the developing process.
Because of this it’s a good idea to set the Profile first.
White Balance is another important color setting that works hand in hand with the Profile. You need to get the White Balance as well as the Profile correct.
The portrait below shows how it works. On the left, I applied the Adobe Landscape Profile and set White Balance to Daylight. The model’s skin is over-saturated and too blue.
On the right I applied the Adobe Portrait Profile and set White Balance to Cloudy, giving much better skin tones.
Open Lightroom Classic’s Profile Browser and explore the Profiles. Adobe Standard and Adobe Portrait are two great Profiles for portraits. There should be at least one portrait Profile under the Camera Matching heading you can use. If you’re into black and white, check out the B&W Profiles (look under the Artistic heading).
Portrait retouching mistake #2: Not using masks
AI powered masking has transformed the power of the Develop module since Adobe added it to Lightroom Classic. Now you can do things in seconds that used to take ages with the Brush – and with much more accuracy. You have this amazing tool at your fingertips, so make sure you’re using it. Let me give you a couple of examples.
Masks example #1: Take control of the background
Use Masks to independently make the model and background lighter or darker. Here’s how you do it.
1. Go to the Masks panel and make a new Select Subject mask.
2. Then either duplicate and invert the mask, or create a new Select Background mask. Your masks will look something like the ones in the screenshots below. There’s no way you could create masks this accurate with the Brush.
3. Adjust the Exposure of each mask separately. You can see the difference it makes in the screenshots below.
Tip: You can take it further and make as many adjustments to the tone and color of the subject and background as you want with this technique.
Masks example #2: Select People
The Select People mask uses AI to not only select any people in your photo, but physical features like hair, lips, eyes and facial skin. It’s much easier and quicker to use this tool than the Brush, so take advantage of it.
The screenshots below show the masks for Entire Person, Facial Skin, Hair and Facial Hair. You can use these masks to individually adjust the brightness and contrast, add Clarity or Texture or adjust the color of the masked areas.
Tip: Use both masking techniques together for even better results. Start with Select Subject and Select Background, then move onto Select People to refine the portrait.
Learn more: How To Use The Lightroom Classic Masks Panel
Portrait retouching mistake #3: Too much skin smoothing
I blame movie and TV show posters for this one. Photos of people in movie posters are often so over-retouched that the actors are barely recognizable. Don’t do this with your portraits!
A better approach is to first decide whether skin smoothing is necessary. There’s usually no need to apply it to portraits of men. It’s conventional to apply skin smoothing portraits of women, but it’s also important to retain skin texture.
Keep it subtle – you can see the difference in these portraits.
Here’s how to do it properly.
1. Go to Remove and use the Heal tool to remove any skin blemishes (if required).
2. Go to the Masks panel and make a new Select People mask. Select Facial Skin, which gives you a mask like the one below.
3. Set Preset to Soften Skin (Lite) and use the Amount Slider to adjust the intensity of the effect. Use a light touch and go for a natural look.
Portrait retouching mistake #4: Bright eyes
One of the options in the Select People mask is Eye Sclera (the whites of the eyes). It’s nice to use this option to make the model’s eyes a little brighter. You can also use the Iris and Pupil option and emphasize the texture of the irises using Clarity. The problem is when you go too far and the portrait no longer looks natural.
The best approach, just like skin smoothing, is to make subtle adjustment. It’s a good idea to zoom into 100% to make sure it looks realistic. And resist the temptation to add any Sharpening – Lightroom Classic’s default setting is plenty.
Portrait retouching mistake #5: Getting Clarity or Texture wrong, or over-Sharpening
I’ve no idea why they do it, but this is a mistake that lots of wedding photographers make. Applying Clarity emphasizes textures, which in portraits often means blemishes, wrinkles, sun spots and other signs of aging. Not a great look for the bride, and not good for most portraits.
You can see what I mean in the portraits below.
You’ll get a similar effect if you over-sharpen your portraits.
When you open a Raw file in Lightroom Classic it automatically applies a default level of sharpening designed to get the best out of the file. It’s rare that you’ll need to sharpen the image any further. In fact, I recommend that you don’t apply any extra sharpening at all, no matter what anybody else says.
One of the reasons is that other people, and even Lightroom itself, add extra sharpening on top. Lightroom Classic lets you sharpen for web or print when you export your photos. Social media websites often sharpen photos when you upload them. If your portrait is published by a magazine, the printer will sharpen it as part of the printing process. If you start off with an over-sharpened image the result gets worse every time.
Portrait retouching mistake #6: Not having a plan
It’s too easy to aimlessly push sliders around in Lightroom Classic or apply Develop Presets without a specific goal in mind. You can discover some interesting effects and color treatments this way, but it’s not as productive as working with a specific goal in mind.
For example, if know you’d like to create a portrait with a vintage look, you can apply a color and tonal treatment typical of vintage style photos. But if you’re after a modern, edgy look, you’ll need to take a different approach.
Another consideration is the relationship between character and beauty. If your aim is capture your model’s beauty, then you might ask her to dress appropriately, use make-up and retouch the portrait so that her skin looks as clean as possible.
But if you want to capture your model’s character then you’d take a different approach – you might convert the portrait to black and white, use strong eye contact in the composition, and view any wrinkles and other signs of time passing as indications of character.
And if you’re taking a documentary approach to your portraits you need to retouch lightly.
One of the reasons Lightroom Classic is such a great tool for retouching photos is that is adapts to the approach you want to take. There’s no need to take your portraits into Photoshop or a portrait retouching plugin unless you’re a high-end retoucher working for commercial clients with specific demands.
Mastering Lightroom Classic: Book Two – The Develop Module
Learn more about retouching portraits and all aspects of developing photos in Lightroom Classic in my ebook Mastering Lightroom Classic: Book Two – The Develop Module
