Forums > Digital Art and Retouching > Retouching as a career/Working on site

Retoucher

Laura EB

Posts: 65

Rochester, New York, US

I'm looking to get into retouching as my career despite also being a decently skilled photographer.  I'm doing this because I have a medical disorder that makes it hard for me to be reliable for on site work but naturally I can relax and retouch in bed even if I'm not feeling 100%.  At first retouching seemed like a dream job, I could work from home, I enjoyed it and seemed to be rather skilled.  However I've seen a few people saying it doesn't work as a good money earner unless you work on site (and even then it's not a good career and to just do it as a hobby).  In all honestly I don't care how much money I make as long as I can cover my bills, even $12000 a year would be awesome and more than I'm currently getting from disability which I'd like to get off of, naturally.  Is this a reasonable ideal or should I just quit while I'm ahead and try to look in other areas for ways to work from home and make a living?

Jan 14 13 12:19 am Link

Retoucher

Alexey Adamitsky

Posts: 226

Minsk, Minsk, Belarus

I don't want to be a downer, but this is not easy job to do if you want to do it at a professional level. There is so much you need to do to make it a well paid job for yourself. Actually a networking and leg work is a big part of it. So I'm not sure if you can make your bed your office then relax and make good money with retouching. You might get lucky I guess, but still you need to find someone who are willing to pay the money you need and offer them great quality in return.

There are just so much more in retouching business than just retouching.

Jan 14 13 01:18 am Link

Retoucher

Michael Brittain

Posts: 2214

Wahiawa, Hawaii, US

It's a good job for someone that wants to work from home, at the same time I do go on location from time to time. As mentioned above, networking is very important, in my opinion its just as important as being able to deliver the product your client wants. However, I know retouchers who are doing their networking via email and over the phone and are making a pretty good living. So while face to face meetings are good, I don't think its neccesary although your in the perfect location for it.

Jan 14 13 02:12 am Link

Retoucher

Laura EB

Posts: 65

Rochester, New York, US

Alexey Adamitsky wrote:
I don't want to be a downer, but this is not easy job to do if you want to do it at a professional level. There is so much you need to do to make it a well paid job for yourself. Actually a networking and leg work is a big part of it. So I'm not sure if you can make your bed your office then relax and make good money with retouching. You might get lucky I guess, but still you need to find someone who are willing to pay the money you need and offer them great quality in return.

There are just so much more in retouching business than just retouching.

Understood, I already know that a lot of the business is contacting/working with people and creating a good client base, I was just hoping that I could continue to do that from a home setting.  It doesn't have to my bed lol but calling and emailing clients doesn't need to take me away from home at least it hasn't so far.  As a professional what kind of things do you find take actually away from the computer?  It seems that unless you're working on site with a major company most individual clients can simply forward you raw files.  Or is it that the only way to make good money is with major companies and not individual clients?

Jan 14 13 12:06 pm Link

Retoucher

Laura EB

Posts: 65

Rochester, New York, US

btdsgn wrote:
It's a good job for someone that wants to work from home, at the same time I do go on location from time to time. As mentioned above, networking is very important, in my opinion its just as important as being able to deliver the product your client wants. However, I know retouchers who are doing their networking via email and over the phone and are making a pretty good living. So while face to face meetings are good, I don't think its neccesary although your in the perfect location for it.

Thankfully I'm not completely unable to go on site or go to meetings, it's just simply that I can't hold a full time job.  Anything 9-5 everyday would be out of the question, but a shoot or a meeting once or twice a week would probably be doable if I was careful about managing my health beforehand.  Honestly so far I have yet to be asked to meet with anyone in person but I can imagine once I start to get more professional clients of worked with an agency/ photography team it would be a lot more common.

Jan 14 13 12:12 pm Link

Photographer

KA Style

Posts: 1583

Syracuse, New York, US

have you ever thought about basic portrait studios? Like school portraits or the like? I know its the boring side but Im sure some would pay for this to save time. Yes? I dont know much about the retouching world, I just know what I need to do for me.

I would think that can be done remotely. As most know sometimes you have to take some blah jobs to pay the bills. lol If I were a retoucher school portraits would bore me but Im still getting paid to do what I do..

Jan 14 13 12:25 pm Link

Retoucher

Alexey Adamitsky

Posts: 226

Minsk, Minsk, Belarus

Laura Bello wrote:
It seems that unless you're working on site with a major company most individual clients can simply forward you raw files.

This is true.

Laura Bello wrote:
Or is it that the only way to make good money is with major companies and not individual clients?

This is true as well. From my experience meeting with clients or other people from industry in person can bring really good benefits. On of them is that it provides stronger connections and higher paying work as a result. So there are reasons, why it's important to meet people in person at least occasionally if you have that option.

Laura Bello wrote:
Thankfully I'm not completely unable to go on site or go to meetings, it's just simply that I can't hold a full time job.

Good news for you then. There is nothing stopping you from being successful at retouching. As Michael mentioned you're in a perfect place to do networking and occasionally do meetings in person.

Jan 14 13 12:47 pm Link