It's been awhile since anyone has started a thread like this, so I thought maybe it was time to revisit the subject? What is/was your primary career?

I techedit and revise books, mostly about Photoshop and Elements, for most of the major publishers. Until a month or so ago I also wrote a monthly magazine column about Photoshop. This is my 3rd career. In previous lives I was Marketing Manager for some mid-bubble tech companies, and before that I owned a wholesale photo supplies company.

What do you do?

Decided school was too slow and boring. Went into food service doing loads of various things.

Eventually became a janitor. Being a janitor was kind of weird. Not only does it pay very well, but I had access to lots of things that even trusted managers didn't have access to. Not that I would abuse, mind you.

I believe that janitors wield tons of power. How did David Banner keep tabs on Bruce? By being a janitor. How did Mystique escape Lady Deathstrike? By posing as a janitor. How did Jack Teller case the joint? Janitor. And the list goes on.

In between all of that I did a wide variety of free-lancing.

But these past few years I've been a stay-at-home dad. My girlies can be monsters, but I won't give them up for job. Maybe when our youngest is in school I might start snooping around the corporate world. Until then, I'll keep doing the dishes and laundry.

Good on ya, Stroker..an honourable "profession". Most of my life I was involved in corporate purchasing and materials management in Ontario, Canada. I "totally" hated the corporate invironment and after the company closed and moved back to the States, I had a choice of staying in Ontario and getting another job or go for the gusto and and a major "life change".
On the spur of the moment I told my wife that I was taking the weekend flight to Vancouver Island. To cut a short story shorter, there being no industry per se, I got into media sales, first radio then TV. We've been out here now 13 years and would not live "anywhere" else in the world..'cept maybe New Zealand where they shot Lord of the Rings.
But it was the TV sales that got me into creating ads, picture taking, manipulation, that ultimately led me to RetouchPro, a discovery that has been as life altering as anything else.
I love being part of this forum and encourage anyone to express themselves openly and don't let anyone try to shut you down..no matter how off center "we" think your views are.

Cheers

Dave

I graduated with a major in choral music and minor in English so I went into teaching for five years. Mercifully, I didn't stay in the profession because I didn't have the determination and self-discipline needed.

Since then I've been in a lot of clerical type jobs using office skills I absolutely hated in high school. Most of my "occupations" were learned on the job, not something you could get special training for.

During my twelve years in senior services, I gained my computer skills maintaining membership databases, special events accounting, newsletter editing and general bookkeeping. Being self taught, I learned to ask, "What happens if . . .?"

I'm now semi-retired, doing bookkeeping for two veterinary clinics and a small non-profit youth agency. Musicians make good bookkeepers--we can count to four lots of times!

Left school into Merchant Navy to train as a Deck Officer, sat my papers, and qualified. Shortly after got laid off in the massive fleet downsizing of the 1970's.

Went back to college and trained in Electronics and Telecomms, worked for BBC, NEC and Sony in various engineering capacities. Also did some time in PC repair and Alarm Tech Support.

Made redundant about 10 years ago, and now I'm a freelance trucker.

Discovered RetouchPRO, and have really enjoyed learning, amid all the friendly people here. I'm still amazed by the talent and abilities of all who contribute, long may it remain so.

Obtained a BS degree in Elementary Education in 1963 from Florida State University. Minored in graphic arts.

Married right out of college and joined the ranks of "Career Army Officer's Wives" and camp followed my husband through 22 moves and 3 separated tours (he was an Army helicopter pilot during Vietnam). Never really had a "Job". Who's gonna hire when you can't guarentee you'll be there six weeks later?

Full time mom from 1968-1979. Divorced in 1979 and moved back to the "swamps" of south Florida. Worked in a golf pro shop for a couple years then fell into a job selling advertising specialties as an independent contractor. Opened my own ad specialty business in 1988.

Began doing computer grapics in the middle 80's as an added service for my ad specialty customers in order to render their art for imprint on coffee cups, pens, keytags etc. Was working on an Atari ST using a Mac emulator until I purchased my first Mac in 1993. Most all my art at that time required vector format. I won a copy of Adobe Photoshop in a contest on GEnie in the late 80's and never really had need to use it, but after buying a Mac started playing with it. I still mainly used it to scan stuff that I would later run through Adobe Streamline or hand draw in FreeHand for customer art output.

About six years ago, the Chamber of Commerce ask us (my significant other, who owns a print shop, and me) if would would like to do their membership directory and visitor's guide book. Of course we said yes... LOL. I became the "art director" and John became the "editor/Publisher". I sold and created ads for the book as well as all the scans, color corrections and effects for the book. No more "playing" with PhotoShop!! John did all the typeset and layout (using Pagemaker at that time). It was a 54 page full color book 5.5 x 8.5 (manual size). We've since done two more books for the Chamber and this fall will launch into a new edition which will probably be 72 pages.

This book generated business doing brochures and full color ads for businesses and quasi-governmental agencies in the county. I still do ad specialties, but the "ad agency" type work is taking up more and more of my time and effort. Adobe CS is the heart of my work flow.

Some may consider me a "pro" since I make a living with PhotoShop (and many other graphic tools), but I'm still learning every day. Many thanks to the folks here in RetouchPRO who are willing to share tips and techniques and help learn more and more. :-)

swampy

After graduating from high school I started down the tracks to become some sort of engineer, but the math and science finally got too intense and I switched my major to education. After deciding teaching wasn't going to be my thing I took a hiatus from college and accepted a management position with the retail grocery company for whom I'd worked since high school.

After this company went broke, I went back to community college and learned the basics of computer programming. After about 15 years of working with "mainframe computers" in various positions for government and private industry employers, I landed a job at Microsoft in Redmond, WA. There I worked in various positions, e.g., programmer, operations supervisor, project manager, etc., for nearly eight years.

My current responsibility is playing "Mr. Mom" (aka: "The Taxi Driver") for my two children. Without a doubt it's the best job I've ever had. My wife continues to work most likely because the prospect of spending a lot of time at home with me isn't that appealing, and who could blame her. I'm active in my church working on various projects.

One thing strikes me as I read the bios of all the talented folks here-not a one has taken the "straight path" to their present destination! I have always assumed I was the odd man out when it came to career paths, but now I see that I have very good company indeed.

I have been a police dispatcher/9-1-1 operator working midnights for the past 10+ years. I love the variety, hate the hours. This job is as far away from anything artistic you could possibly find.

I was the office manager for a mental health and drug/alcohol treatment facility for a couple of years before I took this job. I liked the hours, but the job was pretty thankless, to be honest.

My first "real" job was as a Russian Linguist in the US Air Force for 9 years. That gave me the opportunity to see a large part of the world, as I was stationed in Germany, Italy and England during my enlistment. Each of my four kids was born in a different country, so my husband and I joke that we can never leave the country again for fear of having number five.

My interest in Photoshop is purely an accident. Not even sure how it came about except my brother showed me a bit of what I could do and I took it from there. I would love to work in a career field that affords me the opportunity to be a bit more artistic, but sometimes just having a steady job trumps our heart's desires.

Well, I went to college and got a degree in Mass Communications concentrating in video and television production. Did shooting and editing for various companies for a while then along came computer graphics that didn't require a Hollywood budget. I saw a piece of video where someone was using a graphics tablet to rearrange the New York City skyline. I was hooked and needed to know more.

The company I was working for obtained some basic 3D animation software and my graphics career began. Slowly, over the next couple of years, I transitioned my career from field production, to post-production and started designing motion graphics for video and television. Photoshop soon became a staple of my toolset. I use it every day. I still love taking an image and altering it to create a new, believable reality.

In addition to my day job doing motion graphics, I also freelance doing just about anything graphics related. I find retouching and restoring fascinating because of my interest in altering and creating reality. Only with restoration it's kind of in reverse. You take a damaged image and alter its current reality by transforming it into what its reality used to be, or in some cases, what it should, could or might have been.

I've been working with computers since before there even was color, and I've been designing graphics for about 12 or 13 years now.

--Racc

Wow!

After reading through your submissions I feel I've wandered into another world.

I left school at 14 to pursue a career as a Carpenter, but somehow ended up trade qualified as a panel beater, go figure!

Gave panel beating away when I married and was employed as Warehouse manager for Angus & Robertson publishers for 10 years till they joined Collins Publishers in 1991 and moved to a new location leaving over 100 people redundant.

Since then I have divorced, worked in a variety of positions and generally gave my little sister something to worry about. :devil:

For the past few years, and for the foreseeable future, I'm Warehouse manager for a wholesale importer/supplier of adult novelties. :eek: Yes, all those toys and odds and ends that intrude on wholesome internet browsing, we supply to the retail outlets, party planners and web distributors.

Someone has too. :classic:

Paris

Someone has to. :classic:Now I understand the discrete brown-paper bag avatar! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Rô

Too funny, with the brown paper bag. I thought you might be a Tampa Bay Bucs fan... LOL

Paris must get a lot of interesting perks from his company! :dizzy:

Cheers
Dave

Wow so many talented people and varied occupations.
I completed my Dip Tch in 1977, began teaching shop (yes woodwork and metalwork) in 1978. Married, had 2 kids and divorced, and continued in a job that I disliked at best and loathed at worst. Have tried a few other things since then but am also a Marriage Celebrant (since 1995). I stumbled into Retouching and am on my "L" plates but am looking forward to learning here.

Hi Wendy,

Welcome to RetouchPRO. We've got a lot of Aussie contributors here, so you should feel right at home.

Don't worry about being a novice, everyone here's friendly and helpful, and its a great place to learn.

Just one question, what's a Marriage Celebrant, I'm not familiar with the term.

My kids are fed (and hobbies are supported) by my primary job as art director / pre-press director for a large format printing corporation. I've been at this same place for about 10 years. Nothing goes out the door before first coming across my desk.
Most of our clients are international Fortune 500 fleet-owning corporations but we're slowly migrating to P.O.P.
We're the Arthur Andeersen of the graphics world. You see some of our work every day no matter where in the world you are or what you're doing.

Prior to that I travelled the country for about a year as a professional decal installer with a crew of 5. We were the ones who changed out the majority of FedEx trucks from Federal Express to 'FedEx'

Prior to that I worked at a large sign company in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We made the big signs with embossed faces, internally illuminated, neon, panaflex, etc.

---

My 2nd job is a professional decal installer. I've installed graphics on about 12,000 vehicles, boats, windows, etc.

My 2nd and a half job is as a prosumer photographer and videographer.

My 3rd job (and one I will ultimately retire from) is a semi-professional landscaper. I do subcontract work for my dad's sod farm and landscaping business. His failing health dictates that I will leave my profession to take over that business to support both our families.

My hobby is writing music of all genres in my humble home studio.

I am Humbled by the wonderful diversity among all you fellow members.

I left home and went into the Navy where I spent 6 years running a reactor on Polaris subs, got out, went to college as a bio major- never finished that last semester though.

Got my self a job as a journeyman electrician, later founded my own construction electrical company and ran that until I turned 50- 8 years ago. Found my then 50+ employees other jobs and quit.

These last 8 years have been good. I've actually learned enough Photoshop to know that I don't know much so I have to get up tomorrow. I find things that I want to learn and set out for that knowledge. Right now, I'm trying to learn how to take panographs and stich them and get up to speed with CS2 and to find the perfect brine for baby back ribs...

My career in short:

Apprenticeship with social insurance facility, finished exam, then immediately quit. Stamping is not something for me to spend eight hours a day with :)

Strolled around some years, working as a DJ, carpenter, salesman, whatever came across. Then after DJing as fulltime did not bring enough money due to bad conditions in this business started parttime in a call-center, made it fulltime, was somehow pushed into an IT-Helpdesk, became network-administrator.

Then a boosting career from admin to technical director, went down when the big IT crash occured in 2001/2002. Jobless for a year, then started up again in helpdesk stuff until January this year.

Then I swore to never work in a basement office without any daylight and stupid bosses around me. Situation here is disastrous and being employed means being afraid of losing your income every single day, so...

Now working fulltime as a retoucher, photo-shooting-coordinator, model-scout and whatever comes around in this business :)

Patrick

This is an interesting thread. We "see" each other here in the forum but never really know anything about one another. I have a BA in literature (yeah, that's a real money maker! :classic: ) and an MA in psychology. I taught high school English for 6 years, then decided helping kids w/ problems was more rewarding than making them diagram sentences, got my LPC, and became a school counselor. I also had a small private counseling practice. Then I met my true love, married him, and quit work. He tells people I only counsel him now.

His job transferred us to Louisiana, and I used to go with him when he had week-long business meetings in N'Awlins; while he was meeting, I explored the French Quarter, and I used to stand and watch the street artists painting. One day I said, "I think I can do that." Whatever I do, I do it with all my might, and within 2 years, I was a member of an artist's gallery, actually selling a few paintings. Then I discovered digital art, and the real brushes are collecting dust.

Hi,
I'm a graphic artisit working at a printshop. Been doing graphic arts since I was a kid, it is still very interesting to me. Along the way I have gone from strictly typography to 1/2 tones, veloxes, then to color and process color and process plus 2 colors drum scanning, digital printing, labels and more. At home I have more technology than my old typesetting family business. If anyone told me 20, no 15 no 10 years ago that in 2005 I would have a drum scanner, software for image manipulation and typesetting, I would have looked at them like they were from mars.

Sincerely,
Rodi

Photoshop to Robert
" and to find the perfect brine for baby back ribs..."
A Cookshack Smoker really does the trick!

Over the past twenty-odd years, I have been a gardener, a bus driver, a warehouseman and a lorry driver. At present I am a senior officer for my local council, but looking at setting myself up as a property dealer. Alas, my retouching skills would not make me much money, despite being a wonderful outlet for my artistic tendencies.

Boy, oh boy! Such variety. I love it.

May as well throw my hat in the ring...

I went to school at McGill university to get my Bachelor of Music and have been a professional bass trombone player ever since: 15 or so years. I have had to have various jobs in order to pay bills and so forth as my freelance career developed. I have also been a janitor, parking lot attendent, managed a small concert all and also managed an arts retreat each summer for several years. I "retired" (at age 31, mind you) from the military 5 years ago after spending 10 years in. That also helped to pay the bills and enable me to continue playing bass trombone.

For the last five years I have lived in Cambridge, Ontario and been either a freelance bass trombonist or stay at home dad depending on which day of the week you talk to me. I really enjoy both lives but do find that if I do too much of one or the other I feel rather unbalanced.

I discovered photography about 2 years ago when I got my first SLR for my birthday. I read and photographed and learned all I could and am still learning everything I can. It is definitely a hobby and a real joy for me to take pictures. I recently inherited my grandfather's Kodak Pocket Jr. 1A camera and have taken my first steps with medium format photography today.

My interest in retouching and restoration basically started about a year ago shortly after I purchased my iMac. Realizing what kind of results I could get with basic editing of my own photos I moved on to family photos and progressed from there learning everything I could about Photoshop and restoration and retouching in general. That learning never stops.

As of the end of August I have registered my photo retouching and restoration business, Wesmore Digital. I am continuing to play bass trombone but hoping that the business will grow to fill the gaps in my freelance schedule. Grow to fill the months between freelance seasons. And grow to when both kids are in school full time. We shall wait and see.

A big thanks to all the folks at retouchpro for the continued learning and, although you may not be totally aware of it, the incredible support in starting my new business. Kudos to you all!

Hi there. I've done a few things since leaving college with a Business degree. I've worked in an amusement arcade by the sea, mending slot machines, painted a chicken processing factory floor in Wigan, England, worked in IT in a brewery, as an IT consultant in the City of London financial district working for banks and stock brokers, spent a year in DIYland renovating a house, couldn't get a job afterwards, so helped put fences up around fields, and eventually went into computers again in Yorkshire. The next plan is to *hopefully* move to Canada and open up a B&B in the Rockies.

In amongst all of that, I've just found this website and think that it's fantastic!

Hi there, Jason. Welcome to RetouchPRO :bigthmb:

Painted a chicken a chicken processing factory floor in Wigan :rainbow: AND worked as an IT :square: in a brewery!

Yippee!! Another geek artist on the threads!
Nice to have you around.

Rô

I grew up by playing, going to school, going to more school. Eventually deciding that I'd had enough school, :) I entered the real world and the work force.

I graduated college with a degree in Family Economics and Consumer Education and a minor in weaving and Educational Technology. The weaving was supposed to have been my textiles credits; but when I transfered colleged midway through my schooling, all of those credits transfered to the art department and voila' a minor in weaving.

Over the years, I've worked as a secretary/office manager, a stay-at-home mom, a librarian (a job I hated and would never do again), a cook, and a part time teacher. One job that has been consistent and rewarding is a lot of volunteer and service work through our church and its organizations.

My children are both grown and gone. Now I'm just beginning to make a name for myself as a retoucher and digital artist. I've done a few jobs for others in the past; and the jobs are beginning to come with more regularity now.

That's it in a nutshell.

Janet

Nutshell for me, I am an IT person, self employed and moved into the retail sector (my way) roughly 9 years ago, as IT was an industry with a shocking rep. and I felt I could make a difference giving personal service, prior to that was consulting in IT and evaluating 'fitness for purpose', prior to that I was a law clerk with a fascination for computers and haunted the techies (pre pc), launched into programming. I got into photoshopping for a mental outlet and started a 'fame' board of my closest clients, to whom I did terrible things to their photos and much to my disbelief, when I disassembled the board some 3 years later, everyone wanted to keep their photos. I still strongly advise and help to implement strategies, and on this basis need to know the abilities and learn the same with various software packages. Video and photography are the next most demanding applications only superceded by games which are always pushing limits to new highs. My passion is hardware however, I have never understood that hardware gurus and software gurus don't crossover, as I cannot appreciate how a software guru can do his stuff competently without hardware knowledge and vice versa. Got into IT in late 70's pre pc.

Started life as a hardware engineer right out of college in the 70's, developing "microcomputers" (pre-PC) for businesses, mainly for electronic forms processing. Anybody remember the Zilog Z-80A? Anyways, these ran the CP/M operating system, with 'MBasic' from a little startup company called "Microsoft". I think they're still around today.

Joined a startup computer company in late 1981 and took up software. Worked there as the software manager until this past June, developing graphical Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and machine control products for factory automation. Those of you in the industry might know of ScreenWare, Interact, and InteractX.

The wife has been doing part-time genealogy consulting for many years, which got me involved in photo restorations. Since June I've just been eeking out what I can with the photo work, while I figure out what I want to do next.

Cassidy, I agree with you on the hardware/software crossover deal. Seems there aren't as many of us 'lumpyware' folks as one might think. :square:

- Kurt

I graduated from university with a Bsc Hons in Interactive Systems in Video Games Design but decided the video games industry wasnt for me - long hours, lousy pay and too much gender prejudice.
Bumed around on the dole and started messing with photo retouching, got in touch with some local photographers and did some pro bono work to build up a portfolio.
I then wrote a php gallery to showcase my work but still jobless so moved into web development. So now I'm a full time web developer, part time photo retoucher/restorer, part time freelance web developer & designer and more.... so in the end I'm working longer hours than I would as a games programmer and still have no money after paying the bills... oh well heh