Photo Retouching - - what are you working on right now? - Page 2

Ant · #16 06-12-2007, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KR1156

very close ant, but not her.

Katherine McPhee? I just did her for someone...

shellby · #17 06-12-2007, 09:40 AM

Lets hope you are reaping the benifits Veed!

I have just handed in my resignation and will be going to work at a really high end retouching botique in London. Can't wait.

KR1156 · #18 06-12-2007, 09:44 AM

congrats shelby......must feel good.

i love handing in my resignation! especially when it gets me a few weeks paid vacation!

shellby · #19 06-12-2007, 10:02 AM

note to self - Need to update my website

TheVeed · #20 06-12-2007, 11:26 AM

Awesome, Shelby. I'm not familiar with any specific companies in London, just that London is another really good retouching hub.

KR1156 · #21 06-12-2007, 04:38 PM

Got a quick question for TheVeed, and Ant (since they're in the same arena as I am),

-Do you get more work directly through photographers, or agencies?
and also, what work do you prefer, or go after?

Ant · #22 06-13-2007, 10:18 AM

KR

Primarily agencies vis a vis Art and Creative Directors. I have a couple of photographer clients myself, but it's primarily with agencies or the end client directly. Photographers are often control freaks with no money and don't even get me started on their reps say in the whole matter.. If there is a budget and the story is good, I'll do it, but no freebies or reduced rate unless it's a friend.

Ideally, I'd like to work on high end fashion all day, but it doesn't work that way. A friend of mine who does quite well works primarily with photographers and their reps. She gets the odd ad gig when they shoot it and she gets a lot of headaches..

shellby · #23 06-14-2007, 07:28 AM

There are a lot of photographers wanting editorial fashion stories done for little or no budget. This seems to be an issue in the industry. I cannot help thinking that if people stopped submitting images to the mags for nothing then they would have to pay. I guess it is a supply and demand thing and if there are so many photographers out there dying to get work published then we will all be stuck with this. The photographer, model, make-up artist and so on work on the day. Perhaps a little bit more to prepare. BUT the retoucher has to spend hours per image and at times there are 5 to 8 images in a story. If it leads to Advertising work and rates then good, however it is not always the case. I still feel that most of the photographers would have had to do their own retouching and so the retoucher is still providing a service to them.

BodegaGo · #24 06-14-2007, 07:48 AM

this seems to be the case with our workflow. 5 or 6 crappy editorial stories that pay only enough to cover the material cost and not the labor, and then an advertising or catalogue job that pays the bills, then another set of editorials

god, i hate working on hair. once working on a hair advertising gig i had the idea of having combs and brushes made, with our company name on them, and just hand them out like business cards. or just to include them in the package with their final images and proofs, as a present. and a note saying "this would save me days of mind numbing work, and you hundreds of dollars"

KR1156 · #25 06-14-2007, 08:04 AM

haha, that;s funny, and so true bodega!

-hair just sucks all around. cleanup, masking, etc. but i find when you have to chope major areas of hair and place them somewhere else for reconstruction, it's a little easier than having to clone tons of little cross-over hairs...it's easy to lose the texture if you're not cloning properly. i find myself going in and out of darken & lighten mode to help that.

another thing i hate is really blotchy skin, usually found in close-up shots of legs.
not bumpy skin, but that underlying red tone that looks like camouflage underneath the skin! that's a time consuming pain in the ass to smooth that tone out.

dus7 · #26 06-14-2007, 08:08 AM

Wedding photo retouch.
Hardest part was adding an eye where it was originally covered by hair.
Time consuming.

TheVeed · #27 06-14-2007, 11:02 AM

I've got the same set up as Ant: more agencies than photographers. BUT, we do get a few very high-end photographers that are an absolute joy to work with, especially because their work is just amazing. I'd rather do that than agency work any day, but like everyone else says, it doesn't pay as much for the company.

KR: i know what u mean with the legs! I worked on one well-known model (she's one of the Victoria's Secret girls too, actually) and wow.... blotchy legs is one thing, but please shave next time....

Ant · #28 06-14-2007, 01:44 PM

In regards to little or no budget when it comes to editorial. I just have to say, that a lot of magazines DO have a budget, just not all. Harpers Bazaar, InStyle, Latina Magazine, Allure, Vogue, Elle, V for some random examples. There are some like Italian Glamour of all things (small format and everything) that pay up to $700 an image for retouching ((even though the photog will only get like 100-150 a spread!). Also, I'm inclined to think that often the photographer is trying to pocket what little money there might be for retouching at times. You have to pick and choose. I just don't do any freebies anymore except for a select few friends and even they mostly just do it themselves (Oyster, A4, etc.) For someone starting out, it's a great way to go however as they just don't have the imagery to work with and nobody wants to see pics of your sister and friends all touched up as they aren't models. the photographer isn't a pro and there isn't any hair and makeup.

Worst part about blotchy skin is the photographers crappy lighting. "See those legs that aren't getting any light? We need to brighten them and clean them up" (ugly noise and blotch city, let alone color issues with digital especially). I could kill them.

KR1156 · #29 06-14-2007, 02:11 PM

yea the underlit body parts are the worst, when you open them up, tons of new crap shows up that you didn't see before, like banded, noisy blotches all over the place. tone is all over the place, color as well.

-my friend was showing me the false profiling method to open things up a BIT, then working with selective curves from there. seems to help.

pctalent · #30 06-14-2007, 08:54 PM

I got a job in yesterday to make 5 X 7s out of an old wedding picture; had fun doing it and the client was happy...it was a delightful project. Hope you're all doing well, terrific work and people here. I get busy with stuff and I don't have as much time to check out what's going on. Anyway, here's the latest. Cheers, John
Before:
http://img4.glowfoto.com/images/2007...643119883T.jpg
After:
http://img4.glowfoto.com/images/2007...643137004T.jpg