Pratik Naik

I recently bought the new Wacom Intuos Pros that was recently redesigned and wanted to do a quick unboxing video to show you what’s inside along with some initial impressions! This video was not scripted nor was it sponsored by Wacom. So the thoughts are my own! I bought the small as I’ll be using it as I travel when I on location, teaching workshops, and working from coffee shops! One thing I didn’t mention in the video is the top of the stylus pen can be unscrewed! Inside of it, there’s a weight that you can adjust for balance or remove entirely. You can make it top heavy or center the weight in the middle depending on what you prefer. It’s a pretty neat feature. I’ve been loving removing it entirely to make it super light! Enjoy! #wacom #intuospro #intuos

Pratik Naik (@solsticeretouch ) is a high-end retoucher and educator known for his refined, natural approach to commercial and editorial imagery. With more than fifteen years of experience, Pratik blends fine-art sensibility with technical precision, creating seamless retouching that honors the photographer’s original vision. As the founder of Infinite Color and a pioneer in AI-driven creative tools, he teaches photographers and retouchers worldwide how to streamline workflows, master Photoshop, and thoughtfully integrate emerging technologies without sacrificing artistry. Pratik is leading a Photo Walk at WPPI on Monday, March 2 at 1:30pm Mastering Light: Transforming Portraits Through Simple Shifts In this hands-on session, Pratik explores how subtle adjustments in light can completely transform a portrait. Rather than relying on rigid setups, he encourages experimentation—demonstrating cause and effect in real time and helping photographers build trust in their eye and intuition. You’ll walk away with practical lighting techniques, creative freedom, and striking images created along the way. Pratik will also be speaking at WPPI on Wednesday, March 4 at 9:00am with The Modern Portrait Workflow: From Capture to Retouching In this live demonstration, Pratik walks through his complete high-end portrait workflow, beginning with photographing a model and ending with a polished, portfolio-ready image. Learn how to light and compose with retouching in mind, maintain natural texture and tone, and apply non-destructive techniques that meet editorial and commercial standards. He’ll also share where selective AI tools can responsibly speed up the process while preserving quality and control. To see Pratik Naik speak at WPPI, get your full conference pass now — and add on his Photo Walk for an immersive, hands-on lighting experience. wppiexpo.com #WPPI #WPPI2026 #WPPIExpo #WPPISpeaker #WPPIEvents #PhotographyConference #TheLightingSummit #WPPIPortraits #SpeakerSeries #PortraitPhotography #WPPIEducation

Free Retouching Workshop... and more! I got invited by the amazing @nikkiclosser to be one of the 18 incredible instructors at Reflect, which is a FREE 2 day virtual workshop she created! It’s made for photographers who want to grow their business, attract better clients, and feel re-inspired in their work. My class is naturally all about retouching! The lineup for Reflect is incredible and includes a variety of mega talented creatives like @suebrycephotographer , @vanessajoy , @vinsonimages_jason , @audreywoulard , @peter_hurley , @roberto_photo , @nikkiclosser , and SO many more! You can get your free ticket by visiting the link in my Bio “Reflect Online Workshop” Each presentation will be free to watch for 24 hours when the event goes live. Or, if you want to keep the videos forever and get over $2,000 in bonuses from the speakers, you can upgrade to the Premium Pass. If you check out my class, I’d love to know what you think! I’d also appreciate a comment so it can be seen by more people on the feed!

The Namibia Creative Adventure 2026 is now sold out. If you'd like to get to the waiting list, you can fill out the form at the bottom of the Namibia page in the profile of @felixkunze . Thank you everyone for your interest and we can't wait to share more from Namibia in January!

Wow, I was kindly invited to the big @evotoai One event today, live from NYC! Here are some updates that I thought were fascinating and that you’ll find interesting: Before I jump into it, you can watch the full video and everything they covered here: https://www.evoto.ai/events The biggest surprise, based on the audience reaction, was Evoto Video! Being able to make your videos look flawless in motion is wild. I can see people using this constantly. It’s currently in beta at video.evoto.ai, and it even lets you color match your video to a still of your choice. On the image side, they finally showcased the highly requested AI culling feature. Instead of a separate program, they integrated it directly into Evoto. It can make selects for you to review before you jump into retouching. For mobile, there’s now Evoto Instant. You can connect your camera to your phone and it will automatically import, retouch, and place images into a gallery. Guests can also scan their face to find every photo they’re in, making it super easy to locate their shots. It’s supposedly already on the App Store and Google Play. They also demonstrated wireless tethering, which got a lot of attention as you can imagine! For collaborations, they revealed Cloud Spaces. This allows multiple people to work on the same project at once, while showing who made which changes. Some smaller but useful updates: * Automatic correction for white balance, perspective, and exposure! * If you use AI color match to color grade your images based on a reference photo, you get more manual sliders to tweak the results. * A slider to correct hand texture, plus a new one for newborn skin flaking * Backdrop removal improvements that fix color casts around skin edges Phew, that was a lot! There’s even more. To check out all the updates in detail, head here: https://www.evoto.ai/events #sponsored

The countdown is ON ✨ This is a chance to step out of the noise of everyday life and step into a world designed to awaken your creativity, restore your spirit, and remind you of your why. 📸 Imagine this:
👗 Styled sessions + gowns with Bella Kotak
💻 Editing + AI business mastery with Pratik Naik
🧘‍♀️ Mindset + meditation with Jessica McKnight But that’s just the beginning... ✨ What you’ll experience:
🌙 Live music under the stars
🔥 A private Native American Powwow & photoshoot
💃 Mesmerizing dance + cultural performances
🐴 Dreamlike horse sessions
🌿 Quiet moments in nature on a stunning 46-acre ranch Your days begin with yoga + clarity.
Your nights end with soundbaths, s’mores, laughter, and connections that last a lifetime. All wrapped in:
🏕️ Luxury glamping
👩‍🍳 Private chef dining
🌟 Soul-shifting community This is more than photography.
It’s transformation.
It’s inspiration.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 💫 NEWSTUDENT20 = 20% OFF
💳 Klarna + Afterpay available Spots are limited—don’t wait. 
👉 brilliancekey.com/texas2025 #anewkondofretreat #morethanphotographyeducation #yogareleasescreativity #yogaforphotographers #photographymentor #mindsetmatters #recharge #reset #photographyeducation #beyondbrilliantphotographyretreat

I wanted to take a moment to share something I’m really proud of! It’s not every day you get to teach your passion on stage in Vegas, especially in front of an audience of people you’ve looked up to for years! This stage was at the Rio where they normally do a water show, and behind was the biggest screen I’ve ever had the pleasure of presenting on! It was quite intimidating and exciting! I was invited by WPPI (@wppievents ) to teach my photography and retouching workflow at the Portrait Summit in Las Vegas. I had the incredible honor of sharing the stage with Felix Kunze (@felixkunze ) and Sue Bryce (@suebrycephotographer ) over the course of two days. For my session, I photographed the amazing Jazz (jazzpettis) and wanted to share some of the final images along with behind-the-scenes clips and lighting setup details. Lighting-wise, I used a full 3-light Profoto (@profoto ) setup, combining the D30 and B10X lights with a large umbrella, an OCF beauty dish, and a 4 ft softbox. The softbox was my key light, and everything else was built around it. I began with a single light, explained its purpose and placement, then added the umbrella to create a soft gradient and hair light. Finally, I introduced the OCF beauty dish to add a crisp, punchy fill that brought out beautiful details in the shadows. To add a dynamic element, I asked my talented wife Bella (@bellakotak ) to help toss the dress mid-shot, which brought a lovely sense of motion and magic to the frame. Afterward, we moved into post-production, where I shared a few of my go-to techniques for processing RAW files and laying the foundation for retouching, which led perfectly into my updated skin retouching workflow techniques! Huge thanks to the incredible team who helped bring this to life:
 Backdrop: @oliphantstudio 
Makeup: @jaliadp 
Hair: @ativtexture 
Stylist: @jesswengermcp Grip and setup: @_mjdphotography @thomasingersoll and crew. Special thanks to Thomas! I was inspired by his image, didn’t realize it till later! Grateful for the opportunity and for everyone who came to learn, connect, and create together! Special thanks to @passiophotography and @bellakotak for getting these bts!

I’m thrilled to be teaching at the Beyond Brilliant photography retreat (@brilliance_key ) in Texas later this year, alongside @bellakotak and @jessica_mcknight_photography (who is an amazing host)! It is packed with a TON! From October 6–10, 2025, we’re teaching in the heart of the Texas Hill Country at this beautiful place called The Retreat Ranch. The whole idea is to create a space where we can step into a secluded place, reconnect with our creativity, and really dive deep into our work, not just creatively, but also on the business side of things! I had a chance to teach at Jessica’s event in Costa Rica and I was blown away with just how incredible it was that I decided to come back to do one in Texas with her! Trust me on this, you’ll want to join! Let me tell you a little about it: Over the course of the event, it’s going to be a mix of styled shoots (with gorgeous natural settings and pro models), retouching and post production, learning lighting techniques, seeing the latest in A.I. tools for your business, creative vision work, and even yoga and mindfulness to help us reset. It’s all-inclusive too with beautiful glamping accommodations, farm-to-table meals each day (good food is important), and even a private and authentic Native American Powwow experience (which I’m really looking forward to photographing!). I’ll be teaching alongside Bella Kotak and Jessica McKnight - both incredible educators and friends. Together, we’re building a space that feels inspiring, supportive, and transformative. If you’ve been craving a reset, new work for your portfolio, or just a creative recharge surrounded by like-minded people, I think this will be the perfect fit! You’ll be working with incredible models like the world-famous Dane Halo @theredbomb_model and the universally loved Aniya Wilson @the_aniyalator_ ! To see all of the info in this multi-day event, go here: 
> brilliancekey.com/texas2025 We’d love to see you there and hang out in person!

To my fellow U.S. based friends, just a quick industry heads up. If you’ve been thinking about grabbing some camera gear in the next year or so, now might be a really good time to do it. You might want to let your colleagues know too. As you know, a large amount of our gear comes from overseas, and there are new tariffs – anywhere from 24% to 46% – on stuff coming from the main countries like Japan, Vietnam, India, etc. So, while you probably don’t need another excuse to buy gear, this is a pretty compelling one! Once the current stock runs out, there’s a strong chance the next shipments will cost more. I can’t say for sure if the companies will eat some of that cost, but it’s likely at least some of it will get passed on to us. Of course, don’t feel pressured to buy anything you don’t truly need. But if you’ve had your eye on a particular camera, lens, light, or accessory for a while, you might want to seriously consider picking it up now before prices potentially jump.

Kind, fierce, and clever— @thealeximelvin is a gem and a true gift to the sapphic community ✨🌈 Thank you to my talented & dear friend @solsticeretouch for retouching this image! #wlw #sapphic #queernyc #lesbianstyle #nycphotographer

I will be speaking at the 2025 Lens and Light summit Feb 24-27 in Mystic, CT! I’ll be covering modern retouching workflows in the world of AI. There will be meals included, a gala, vendor fair, small group mentoring, supper clubs with speakers, portfolio reviews and so much more. To learn more, see all of the speakers, and register, visit lensandlightct.com! You can also use discount code PNLL on checkout to save $100 off your ticket! Along with myself, you can expect to see tons of incredible speakers, including: @scottrobertlim @joemcnallyphoto claudiaraschkedp @justinmarantz @marymarantz @aliciaann_daw @rggphoto @ct_photographer @stevewalterphoto @egilphoto @bellakotak @valerieeidson @hannah.rachael.photography @photographyct @brandinicolephoto @gab @jbivphotography @_emilyteague @myrnapdaramy @amandaakokhiaphotography …Continued in the comments!

SOLD OUT: Creative Adventure Namibia! Wow! @felixkunze and I are beyond thrilled to announce that our Creative Adventure in Namibia is officially SOLD OUT in 48 hours! 🌟 A massive THANK YOU to everyone who expressed interest this year. With only 8 spots available, the response was overwhelming, and it was incredibly tough not to accommodate everyone. 🙏 You can still sign up for the mailing list at the form at the top of  /namibia to be notified of future events. To select our adventurers, we had to literally draw at random! The first group who won the luck of the draw got a chance to secure their spot, and they did. We couldn’t be more excited to embark on this unforgettable journey with you. Get ready for epic landscapes, vibrant cultures, and endless creative inspiration! If you missed out this time? Don’t worry! Our adventures are just beginning, and we’re already planning more amazing retreats and trips in the future. I wish we could take everyone, because everyone was deserving but it wouldn’t be feasible with the immense interest we had! We look forward to doing more of these so that everyone has an opportunity to go!