making a living

[Quantum3]

Originally Posted by creativeretouch

Mart,

one thing is ask one photographer for a good picture and second is to make an add for free ...

I am sorry, I must go and I will be back in 24 h

Don't get it... It's about working for free or about making an add for free...

[creativeretouch]

If a lot of people will advertise they will work for free it will destroy the market. And in same time I do not see a problem to ask a photographer for a good picture to retouch for your portfolio. Perhaps you can buy one from a microstock agency for very cheap price and you do not have to ask and work for free anyway? I am sorry I do not like the word "FREE" but I like "FREEDOM"

[Quantum3]

Originally Posted by creativeretouch

If a lot of people will advertise they will work for free it will destroy the market. And in same time I do not see a problem to ask a photographer for a good picture to retouch for your portfolio. Perhaps you can buy one from a microstock agency for very cheap price and you do not have to ask and work for free anyway? I am sorry I do not like the word "FREE" but I like "FREEDOM"

Impossible to destroy the market. There is always people working for free at the beginning who work for money later as there are always people who needs that kind of free job at the beginning and then they need the quality of a paid job as well. It's a constant flow between A and B. Your point of view doesn't include the natural movements of the Universe (flow of Vital Energy). I say Universe because every aspect inside It respects that flow of the relation between antagonist elements. Now we're talking about "Free" and "Paid", but we could be talking about: Emptiness & Fullness; Zero & One; Life & Death; Calmness & Movements; Childhood & Oldness; Chaos & Harmony; etc. We cannot detach one from its opposite, it's a cycle of antagonist forces which keep the Universe in movement, just like gears of a clock. That's called "Flow" and its inner energy is called Vital Energy. Explained more straight forward, while some die, others born, infinitely.

[creativeretouch]

Yes, I would be with you - if I would not have my life experience. I did grow up in the Czech Republic during the "socialism era" and I was 19 during our "Velvet Revolution" - When I was 24 I started to work as a freelance photographer. As all of us we did not understand new "rules of a real capitalism" and we use to learn day by day. I use to work for free as well - for fashion designers ...
Finally I have reached the point when I worked for most famous fashion designers and I use to work with most famous models in the Czech Republic.

All the time I use to hear "we are famous" and "work for us free of charge"

Unfortunately I see this is happening everywhere in the world right now.

[pixelzombie]

yes, full time retoucher here..not high end by any means and the past several years i have been in a position with more of a focus on color management then actual retouching...

[boynamedsue]

This has been quite a learning experience for me since i've moved to new york, after 4 years of retouching, assisting and digi tech full time/freelance for photographers in the south. I moved up here to further explore my options in the photographic community and found myself looking for something in retouching. With so many people out there trying to do the same thing within the area of NYC its a tough thing to get a foot in the door. So i have been able to retouch for a living before, but in NYC its a struggle.

[csuebele]

I'm a full time photographer mainly industrial, so don't really work retouching faces - just other stuff. I do all corrections myself. Thread looked interesting, as it's also neat seeing what others do and where they've been.