For editorial usage, what are the general guidelines on retouching? i.e. a magazine is doing a story on some hot new start-up tech company and wants a stylized, dramatically lit environmental portrait of the CEO in front of their building. However, let's say I want to entirely replace the sky, or add a tree, etc... Allowable?
Advertising would be a definite yes, photojournalism a definite no, but I'm not sure where editorial lies in between. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Retouching in that sort of capacity is not only fine but usually expected.
A Time Magazine might expect unretouched images as they're (at least nominally) a news outlet. But a magazine like Wired, Fast Company, Crain's, etc. will not have the same obligation. If you flip through you'll regularly see photo illustrations, manipulations, retouched skin and features.
If there's a magazine in general that you're wondering about, and you're actually doing work with them, you should simply ask their photo editor or art director...whoever's generated the assignment for you.
I allow my magazine layout artist to perform certain editing like Title words, resizing (of course!), overlays. As long as the images are not fully edited. If they want to remove or add stuff on the image, they have to confer with me first. It's in the contractual clause.
