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How many of you make a living by retouching?
Just a bit curious. I'm a full time in-house retoucher at Victoria's Secret. I am so lucky to have made a career out of my retouching skills for a big corporation. I still freelance on the side simply because I love retouching. But It is hard for me to imagine actually making a living by freelance alone. How do you guys pay the bills and still work as retouchers? - Jessica Jun 17 13 08:07 am Link Well, as a freelance I have 2 or 3 frequent clients at a time and during that time, I don't include new clients in my calendar. With 2 or 3 clients, provided they do enough editorial and a campaign every now and then, your freelance calendar is pretty much covered. 2 of my main clients are almost exclusive to ELLE and L'Officiel Paris, so from them I do 3 or 4 editorials per month, averaging 1000€ per editorial. If, for instance, one of these photographers is represented by a production company with more photographers, then chances are the production company will count on me for retouching their other photographer's work when their usual retoucher can't do the job. Some of us also teach. I personally teach at two photography schools and do workshops every now and then. The workshops pay instantly, instead of 3 months after image delivery, so they're good for paying the trimester taxes. As with everything, making a living off freelancing requires a couple years of building a client base and a portfolio. Most freelance retouchers end up having to reject a lot of work because they just can't do more images. Working simultaneously on 2 sets of images is a nightmare. So, some freelancers move on to opening their own studio where they can hire junior retouchers for increasing their work capacity. Jun 17 13 09:13 am Link I used to work in-house for American Eagle/ Aerie and am now 100% freelance. It pays the bills and keeps things fresh but I'm looking at possibly going back in-house. I miss being in a room full of retouchers, I don't miss the politics. Jun 17 13 09:22 am Link o.O How the hell do you guys work for all those big companies? Did you contact them personally, or did they find you..? Or was there a job opening or something? Lol sorry, from a young retoucher who's not so good from a marketing standpoint, it would be nice to know where to start! I've been retouching since I was 9, also... so it's not like I just started.  Jun 17 13 09:56 am Link I work full time and have for the past 15 years, that allows me to do the freelance images that I want and not have to work on everything that comes along just to pay the bills. Victoria Secret, nice, ever have an opening there? Just a question, who did the famous internet fails, http://www.lovelyish.com/2011/05/24/5-v … hop-fails/ Jun 17 13 10:42 am Link Lol It is a pretty nice gig. And honestly, A lot of those 'Fails' are not incorrect. Some of our models do have really extreme body types, Like the one where they circled Candice's shoulder, That is not edited. She has broad shoulders in comparison to her tiny waistline. All of those images were used in the catalog. They go through hundreds of images a month, so it's no surprise that some mistakes are made.  Everything I work on you can see in stores. Greg Curran wrote: Jun 17 13 11:10 am Link I love having my 9-5. It's a fantastic company and pretty much a retouchers heaven! haha I hate the politics of managing your own time! lol. I'm not cut out to be my own boss. =P Jeffrey Scott Fogarty wrote: Jun 17 13 11:11 am Link I did freelance for 4 years... Got so sick and tired of all the amateurs who call themselves "photographers" dumping all their BS in my lap because of their inabilities. Have given it all up and am working hard at freelance photography! (Still do analog restoration work for small museums though). Photographers everywhere! Please save your retoucher some heartache and do your job *before* you press the shutter! It will save you time and money later!!! Jun 17 13 11:39 am Link I agree 100%!! I used to consider my job title, "Professional Turd Polisher" haha Ethan Ingram wrote: Jun 17 13 12:12 pm Link Porter Retouching wrote: Cool that you're happy with that job. Such jobs are not for everyone. I'd hate working for a big company retouching catalogs and headless models when all the campaigns and the cool stuff is sent to externals. Jun 17 13 01:18 pm Link FLEXmanta wrote: Most everyone is bringing everything in house now. I know at least 4 big retail that are expanding the photo studios to shoot all product on body. Currently lots of demand for web retouchers. Being on the print team is where its at though.. Thats the fun stuff ;-) Jun 17 13 03:15 pm Link I do too, full time for now. Jun 17 13 07:17 pm Link Fulltime freelance here, for 4-5 years now. I instruct a little on the side too. It's been getting a bit too tight of late so I'm going to explore outsourcing to agencies/companies and teaching more. I prefer directly working with photographers though, I just suck at self promotion. P.s. Flex, I did an editorial for Neo2 too  Jun 17 13 08:07 pm Link Jeffrey Scott Fogarty wrote: They're only bringing the bulk inhouse. The campaigns are still being done by externals making 5 times more money. Also working inhouse leaves you no time for editorial: where it's really at (portfolio value, easy money). Jun 18 13 01:23 am Link Ethan Ingram wrote: couldn't have said it better myself, at least make the models brush their hair and shave! Jun 18 13 05:20 am Link Just curious since there's obviously a lot of skilled people who got to work for some big companies in here; how did you get to that level where you can work with Victoria Secret, AE, ect? Were you retouching for quite a while with a lot of published work before you applied or did you just have a degree? Or does the degree not even matter and it's just about who you've worked for and what you do? I know that other professional retouchers have told me that they've never been asked about their education, just their port. Anyways just curious because I'd love to work in house somewhere someday but other than just randomly filling out applications I have no idea what they're looking for or what I should work on. Jun 18 13 05:56 am Link I started in a shop because I knew someone there, and at least here in Toronto I find unless you know someone you won't get a job at a big shop. I have worked for clients like Sears, Canadian Tire, Ikea, Walmart and a bunch of photographers like Blaise Misiek and Justice Howard. Networking is the best way to get in I found. A little ass kissing goes a long way. Jun 18 13 06:58 am Link For me, It's all about who you know. I met the previous in-house retoucher for VS online while I was still in college. He was looking to find a replacement so he could continue retouching on his own, with his own business. I began honing my skills and building my portfolio. He introduced me to the creative director and it was all downhill from there. I've been here two years now and still love every minute of it. It's all about marketing. Make sure EVERYONE knows what you do and what you want to do. Join LinkedIn. Post your resume and some examples of you. Agencies will find you if they are in need. Hope this helps! Good luck! - Jessica Laura Bello wrote: Jun 18 13 09:07 am Link It seems like marking yourself is a huge part, I guess I'll start by creating a linkedin profile and try to get my name out more. Really I've only been at this for less than a year so time is a big factor too haha Jun 18 13 09:48 am Link Laura Bello wrote: In my case I had been freelance for a while. I had a bunch of catalog and editorials in my book already. I was actually tracked down by a headhunter (recruiter) for the position. I have about 2 years worth of a commercial photography degree from Brooks institute but since I knew I wasn't going to end up in photography I left and stopped paying the ridiculously high tuition. Most places I've talked to say they require a 4 year degree on the job posting but will kindly look the other way if you have the industry experience under your belt. Jun 18 13 10:02 am Link I think some other key points to focus on and learn are: -color correcting both skin and product to match (its awesome that the current trends involve neon colors that in no way fit into any gamut alive. I'm pretty sure our eyes can't even see this mess of color) -for lay downs or table top know your pen tool. a lot of places, even though its shot well will outline a product and run an action on the background to "clean up" random dirt and pin holes. stylist LOVE to pin the crap out of product on a table. -know your stuff about CMYK conversion and how to print on, change ink, change paper, mark up an image. not a big deal but every now and then you'll run into a printing issue -for the on body/on figure images you probably will be expected to retouch 10+ an hour. -lifestyle images will take you more time and go threw a few revisions (2-3 hours each isn) before marketing completely changes the "look" of the campaign the day before it goes to print. For some reason thats always on Friday at 4:30pm. Jun 18 13 10:22 am Link I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to count myself as someone who has made a living from retouching in boutique studios for almost thirteen years. Sep 24 13 10:05 am Link I work as full time Retoucher,in a studio. they call me Photo designer , and also I do Photography as well,in the same studio, so far is paying my bills, Sep 24 13 05:16 pm Link I am a full time digital artist . I work full time for Fae magazine out of the uk so yes me I suppose . But I am more of an illustrator for magazines and books . And I am also a photographer as well . So I do a lot . Oct 19 13 05:46 pm Link |
