Hi. I'm new here so forgive me if i'm asking a question that has been asked before. (I have done a quick search and found nothing under UK.)

Can anyone give me advice on where to find jobs/freelance work as a retoucher or image restoration in the UK? Preferably London?

I consider myself very experienced in this field and although I have a decent job as an Image Studio Manager... I wanna either set up on my own or take a step into a larger, more reputable company.

Any advice is welcome.

hi
maybe check this site http://www.designweek.co.uk/Jobs/Search.aspx?sKeywords=retoucher&keywordRestriction=ALL&sJobFunctions=0&sJobDiscipline=0&sJobLocations=0&sJobSalaryBands=0&bSearch=1&x=0&y=0
http://jobs.brandrepublic.com/jobs/search/phrase/retoucher/
sometimes gumtree /design jobs :D

im search to :D but is litle hard :D


good luck

Its a little hard. London is very protected and extremely competitive in retouching. Its not so much about what you can do, more about who you know. Your hope is to generate GOOD samples, I mean really good. Send them to agencies - try and grab some freelance work, be open, honest.

What do you mean by very 'protected' Markzebra?

An accountant has letters after his name which say "I have jumped through the hoops" - so people in retouching who have spent 5 to 10 years jumping through hoops are understandably protective of their positions being challenged by someone who has honestly spent about six months learning Photoshop and is trying to blag their way in. Unfortunately because the sofware is superficially quite easy to learn at a basic level, every year there are many of these.

My experience is that there are people making it quite difficult for beginners to break in. I don't even think they are conscious of what they are doing but seen people with quite a lot of talent either not given a chance to learn a few quite basic tricks quickly enough , or let go of altogether. They probably just go away with their tail between their legs thinking "Ok not for me then". Smaller Boutique retouching places you might stand a chance, if they are willing to give you try, and honestly if they can pay you bad enough.

ahhh... not painting the most pretty picture of the industry Markzebra. but that's what i need to hear... the truth.

i've 9 years experience in Photoshop, but self taught, so i realise that can mean nothing. i'm sure even though i've been working with no complaints from employers or clients, there's tons of stuff i do not know and need to learn.

however i know i'm good at what i do so will initially see if i can make some cash restoring old photos etc.

...people in retouching who have spent 5 to 10 years jumping through hoops are understandably protective of their positions being challenged by someone...

Hi Markzebra,

how they can protect the position, if customer/company can get the same quality, faster or cheaper?

saby

ahhh... not painting the most pretty picture of the industry Markzebra. but that's what i need to hear... the truth.

i've 9 years experience in Photoshop, but self taught, so i realise that can mean nothing. i'm sure even though i've been working with no complaints from employers or clients, there's tons of stuff i do not know and need to learn.

however i know i'm good at what i do so will initially see if i can make some cash restoring old photos etc.

Lee restoration work is fine if you want to earn some extra cash, but if you want to get into a Ad agency or production house as a retoucher, then your going to need some hi quality samples for your portfolio, so the starting images you work on need to be top quality. I would suggest trying to link up with some up and coming photographers and test for free with them to build up your folio. Try to find photographers who work in the field you want to retouch in ie. Automotive, fashion or whatever

"how they can protect the position, if customer/company can get the same quality, faster or cheaper?" unfortunately the answer is this .. faster, cheaper are not necessarily much respected. What is respected is a proven track record, whether thats justified or not. Faster is useful, but doesn't inspire confidence, the history of retouching is that Photographers historically had to wait a week or so. There's a house in London with "Retouching takes time" as a catchline on its website.

Hi Markzebra,

I've just wanted to talk about: how trade works, so may be, the best of retouchers are in London, they best is the protection of carieer, but still there are lots of retouchers out of London, good enought to London. Anyway, I can agree with U about "retouching takes time", the matter is "how mutch time?", an accountant allways cares, it could be the same in London, as in Hungary. The cheaper is allways respected in quality(IMHO).

saby

"but still there are lots of retouchers out of London, good enought to London" - never said otherwise saby, in fact I'm sure of it.

Its a little hard. London is very protected and extremely competitive in retouching. Its not so much about what you can do, more about who you know. Your hope is to generate GOOD samples, I mean really good. Send them to agencies - try and grab some freelance work, be open, honest.



Yes! What do you mean by very 'protected' Markzebra.
Sorry if I sound a little defensive here but I am from the UK and I am a retoucher. I now live and work in NYC still retouching. And quite frankly I have found the NYC retouching scene more about bs, image, your *skin color, the clothes you wear and who you know etc etc etc not what you know.
But hey.......... what's it's worth here's my 2 cents worth :)

Salaries in the UK generally suck that's why I am here.
The retouchers i worked with in the UK were all generally very good retouchers. But then again I did work primarily for a prestigious company.

I worked specifically for one company there (Time Atlantic) and was hired completely on my merits as a retoucher but,, yes I was introduced to the company by a friend who already worked there. But believe me if I didn't know what I was doing I'd have been fired (or quit) shortly after. Consequently I stayed there for 3 glorious years.

So ................ for getting work in the UK a contact in the business may help you get an interview but can rarely get you the job or help you keep the job if your work is under par.
Hope all this helps.

So basically if you are ok with a low salary, but love great health medical benefits for free! the UK could be a great place for you to work.

I wish you all the best.

Rich
* that's another post for later.

Rich Carter
digitalretouching@gmail.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/DigitalRetouching/DigitalRetouchingSamples/