hi, i know we're probably covering old ground here, just wanted some advice specific to me. sorry for the heavy text, had these thoughts buzzing around in my head for a month now and only just found the perfect outlet!

i'm currently a product/transportation designer, but am considering moving into retouching. i've been using photoshop for about 5 yrs, mainly to visualise concepts but also for retouching photorealistic CAD images (at work) and photos (just my own ones). i'm pretty skilled at rendering from scratch and believe i've got a good sense of lighting, shadows etc. i'm confident/competent using paths, layers, blending options, curves, brush tools, layer styles and filters.

whilst i enjoy my job, the wages are really low so i need to find something that pays the bills! recently i was commissioned by a car magazine (thanks to a referral from a journo friend who knows my work) to do a retouch/mod job on some press images, and spent a weekend doing these (before (http://www.askaprice.com/images/news/inhouse/2867-03.jpg), before (http://www.askaprice.com/images/news/motortorque/2007/3/2867/04.jpg) and after (http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/2007/05/stories/04/1.html)-which they have made a bit too dark..:sad:)...it involved moving/stretching and cloning, to making bits from scratch (ie front&rear bumpers, wing mirrors) and 'painting' on decals (and subtle reflections on the red parts). also lots of little things, eg de-chroming parts. the clients were very happy with them, and said they would definitely use me again, although as they very rarely publish those sorts of images it's not going to be a regular gig.

anyway, it got me thinking, i love using Photoshop and get a kick out of making pretty images, so am seriously considering a career change.

so my questions are;
i) i think i have what it takes, but very little knowledge of technical stuff (especially print/colour things) and no direct experience in retouching except for this car job. is it hard to learn this stuff? can i get it from a book, or would i need formal re-training, or could i learn 'on-the-job'? would any company be willing to take on someone with good basic skills and teach them that stuff?

ii) i've seen some job ads offering £25-£45k for full-time retouchers, what could i expect to start on bearing in mind questions above? how much experience/credentials would i need to be pulling in the top end of that?

iii) do you think, from the links above, i have what it takes? i guess my areas of expertise would be in the auto and product side (ie hard and shiny rather than fashion), is there a healthy demand for this kind of thing? what i'm asking is where the money/work is? don't want to be in a 'jumping out of the frying pan' situation, are there more opportunities in the fashion side or the product/car advertising side?

iv) would freelance be a more realistic path than a fulltime position? if i could do the car mag job every week (about 2.5 days work) i'd be pulling in enough. is there enough work around, or is expecting to get 2.5 days of work per week optimistic? and would i be looking at working from home or working in-house on longer contracts? i live in sw london, and could commute to anywhere in greater london, so i guess i have that on my side...

v) should i make a portfolio of 'hypothetical' images, or would i stand a chance with the car mag images and photoshop renderings? if i do need a specific retouching one, how many images would i need and what kind of stuff?

well if you even manage to get thru this text i'll be impressed! and if you can offer any advice or suggest options i'd greatly appreciate it. obviously finding this forum is a good start, i'll be reading through these threads for a fair while...but i don't suppose many of these deal with the crossover from product design ;)

thanks a lot,

tim

(feel free to email me if its easier/more appropriate)

well i guess the unabridged version didn't go down too well...:depressed

so here's the short version:

i) could a guy with little/no experience or direct qualifications (but with solid Photoshop skills/eye for aesthetics) stand a chance of getting into this field?

ii) whats the salary/state of the industry like, especially for product/auto retouching?

iii) do the images in the link (http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/2007/05/stories/04/1.html) convince you i could do this for a living, or am i kidding myself?

iv) what would be the best path from here?

thanks,

hopefully,


tim

Tim, Your linked images tell me you have the skills. Very sellable.

thanks swampy, anyone else like to add something?

i'm not fishing for compliments, really, i was just hoping someone who knows the industry could let me know what the state of play is (particularly in london)...

anyone? :depressed

it would be really helpful to me.

tim

wow, nearly 200 views and just 1 reply....

have i taken the wrong approach or is it just that no-one knows the answers? are there any professionals here?

Tim

Lots of "pros" here, but it is the weekned and you've asked some questions that eliminates many possible responders. Not everyone is in England so have no way to tell you what the market will bear.

I don't think your approach has offended anyone, and please don't be offended if folks don't respond. You've asked for a lot of detailed answers and that is also time consuming to answer. Two hundred people have looked, and I'm guessing that either nobody has your answers, or they don't have time to expound.

I know there have been many people asking pretty much the same question.. can I get a job doing this kind of stuff, how much would it pay, how do I get started? Best I can say at this point is scout around the forum threads for answers.

There's much more work in the beauty/fashion world. That will be your bread and butter. If you really want to get into automotive and product work, try to learn CGI 3D software - many of the cars you see in ads these days aren't real - they were created with this new software. I have no idea where to learn it - if you find out, get back to me. I'm guessing that knowledgeble artists in that new field make a nice penny.

Get a job in a good shop that does a lot of different work, and keep your eyes wide open, and be humble with income expectations for a little while. And, if you aren't living in or near NYC, London, Paris, or San Francisco, move to one of them. Sorry, even with broadband and the internet, you're still restricted to a few places to do this on a high level.

Good luck.

thanks benny, thats just the kind of info i was looking for.

guess i'd better begin to get a portfolio together!

there are a lot of studios doing product photography, it is well paid work, and involves extensive retouching. Use of CGI is of course growing...