making a living

[zganie]

Curious How many of you on retouch pro actually make a FULLTIME living from retouching Which means this is how you support your self
Thanks for any input
Zganie

[0lBaldy]

NOT ME!!

I found these old threads to be very interesting reads as far as your question goes..

Professional, Amateur, Hobbyist?

How to get all the business you can handle doing restorations/retouching?

[.:ace:.]

Im making a living from it.


I work for a packaging company and i retouch day in day out! I was picked up as a college graduate and ive been there ever since!

[KR1156]

i work 10-12 hours a day managing 2 major accounts as the senior retoucher at a studio in nyc.

pay is good, but the hours can add up and get very stressful at times. Sometimes I wonder if going back to freelance would be any easier on my life...but after 10 years of freelancing, i've gotten comfortable with the steady paycheck!

if you're looking to do this as a career, put in the time and do it 120%...don't do anything half-assed.

[zganie]

Thanks Ol Baldy,Ace and KR115,for replying
That said its kind of interesting that this post has been up for 24hrs and only 3 people replied and only 2 of them actually work in it fulltime.
Thanks for the threads,but there 7 years old.I asked this question hoping it would inspire new people just starting out,but it looks bleak out there.Unless people just are not interesyed in answering
Just my opinion
Zganie

[SilvaFox]

I guess I was thinking you meant "a living" as self employed.

I've been retouching and doing color corrections (for various lithographic trade shops, publishers and printers) since 1981.

Today I work for a magazine publisher and, along with 7 others, color correct and retouch images for 48 different magazines. Once or twice a week I get something creative to do on covers or feature openers but the majority is pleasing color on every kind of shot you can imagine. Counting total submits, we worked on 46,000 images last year.

My freelance work is much more creative, and lucrative, but I don't know that I could make it on that alone. It would be tough to "shake the trees" for new work and then actually have the time do it full time.

[DJSoulglo]

I work as an in-house retoucher for an ad agency. Before that I was a prepress guy, but I've been fulltime retouching for a little over a year now. Good fun.

[DavidBickley]

I make my living from photography and retouching...so I guess my answer is "kinda"

:P

[ImBET]

I have been retouching since 75'
As a film "dot etcher", wet and dry. Wet being with liquid chemicals in a tray and a wet rinse and squeegee sink type work station. Masking or staging was done on a light table by brushing lacquer on the film.
Dry etching was done by cutting rubylith masks and film exposures.
Then on a Scitex system.
Now the MAC.

[shadie]

I work for one of the 3rd largest granite manufacturers west of the Mississippi, I retouch 10 hours a day. Once the images are retouched or scenes are created, they are then laser etched onto granite.

I'm in my own department, no one looking over my shoulder, the only one's that I have to make happy are the folks that have ordered the granite. It's a blast, wouldn't have it any other way!

[KatieScanlan]

I seem to be in a similar position to you as well and often wonder the same thing. I work full time as a makeup artist doing fashion/advertising work and have recently decided to get more serious with retouching, as it lends itself very nicely to the experience and contacts I already have. I've noticed it's been tough the last 6 months and am really hoping with some networking and continued hard work on my portfolio, I'll get to a point where makeup and retouching work is 50/50.

[zganie]

Again let me say thanks to anyone with input.
KR1156,No I dont think I would want to do it for a living, I have a feeling that the money/job availabilities are not so great in Canada,(NOT SURE).
The reason For this post is for lesser experienced retouchers to have GO TO people who for advice,people who actually do it.
Katie,theres a guy named Glenn Honiball he works out of Toronto,also has a book out
you might contact him and ask

[zganie]

Just A handful of people HMMM not so good job outlook I would say
Considering the amount of people on this site

[zganie]

Ok So over 600 views on this topic and not much comment.Interesting
I think if I were spending Many Many Hours Learning a Skill I would want to Know people were making a living at it
People seem more interested in how other artists do there work than seeing if there is actually money to be made in a profession they chose to do, kind of scary
Just my opinion

[SilvaFox]

I agree. I thought there would at least be a "show of hands". Could be the real pros are too busy.

[Godmother]

Originally Posted by SilvaFox

I agree. I thought there would at least be a "show of hands". Could be the real pros are too busy.

I didn't see this topic before... I was busy

I don't think nobody is trying to be rude or ignoring the topic but it's like... you already know who makes a living out of this... I mean... If I read Conrad or Chris showing hands I'm just gonna say "duh"

x

[SilvaFox]

So that's 2 more? That makes 8 or 9 pros on RetouchPro.

Hey, we're ALL busy.

Oops, back to work.

Cheers

[SilvaFox]

Originally Posted by Godmother

you already know who makes a living out of this...x

Obviously some of us don't.

I know some folks are on here all day and that's cool. I'm not. The pros are probably bustin their collective butts. But the OP asked a valid question trying to get a feel for the job market and heard...crickets.

You can probably understand his concern.

[zganie]

Basically Just Curious
I used to give lectures on the photo job market
so I am always Curious how Different venues are
Since there are a large group of people here I thought it would be a good place to ask
I realize people get busy But I also see that over 600 views have been on this post
So the answer to viewing ratio is really off

[eraanexact]

I retouch for a living, and have been doing so for ten years now. I just moved to NYC in August last year and it took me about six weeks to land a full-time gig at a studio in SoHo (after freelancing for them for several weeks).

Doing fashion and beauty work is way more fun than automotive retouching! Very glad I moved.

[Flashtones]

600 views is not the same as 600 individuals. Some people view the thread many times over.

In addition to professional retouchers you also have professional photographers who do their own retouching. Not sure if you'd count that, but if so, chalk up a few more.

[dcm100]

I am a professional freelance retoucher for motion picture studios and record labels here in Los Angeles. I will say that I am now at about 50% capacity with jobs. It is either feast or famine as of now for me. So for me it is not a full time job, but it really is all about selling yourself on a daily basis to keep new clients coming in.

I worked in Hollywood as a senior retoucher at a major Motion Picture Publicty lab until 2 years ago when everything here went crazy, and our Lab closed down. I was there for 19 years as a photo printer, color and B&W, and also a film processor, then we opened a digital dept. 12 years ago and I became the main retoucher learning as I went along. It was major on the job training to transition from traditional photo finishing to the digital realm. I had to learn very quickly and with the amount of work our lab received I was learning new things day and night! When I look at my old work, I cringe...I can't believe we were even able to sell that work.

But now, fortunately after the lab closed, I was able to inherit several major clients. I actually now, can make more money working freelance that I did working for an established lab that had salesmen, not working 50 plus hours a week!

Anyway that is my current situation.

[toan thai]

until two weeks ago, i was a full-time retoucher at a stock photo studio. economy is bad so i got laid off. now i am trying to freelance but having a hard time landing any gigs. it's real tough when no one knows you

[dcm100]

Great work toan thia! I love your skin work,very nice! Sorry to here that you got laid off.

It is a shame that "real" talent like yourself has to get laid off, while soooooo many photoshop "hacks" can keep their jobs with very little skill other than being able to blur a photo! Drives me crazy! Oh Well...enough ranting.

Some people advertising $10.00 an image to retouch.....give me a break. You would have to do 20 or 30 images a day to survive.....how is that possible?

[toan thai]

thanks, dcm100. i wasn't doing high-end retouching for my old job. i just do minimal retouching and submit images to getty, blend, superstock etc for a stock photographer. while i was working for him, i work on the side with high-end stuff. i think i started a little too late to be fully on my feet. only time will tell

[zganie]

Addressing issues
Flashtones that may be truethat over 800 views is not the same as 800 people but still a poor showing
DCM100 How do people charge $10 an image
1) they only spend 5 or 10 minutes on it so that works out roughly to 6-12 images hr x $10
2) they do it for a hobby or spare cash which hurts everyone else trying to make a living

3)they live at home and have no expenses

I have seen people willing to do it for free

The bottom line is if you can market your self really well (which is not as easy as it sounds) you can make some great money even though your skills might not be so great
This is a fact not an opinion check it out for yourself

[Caesium]

K, so I am one of the ones who have read this thread a few times now and have been adding to the view count so I figure I would post what I have...

I am a full time photographer who is stating to offer some retouching services on the side. I in no way make a living of retouching alone, however, I do make my living off the collection of creative services I offer.

As for the $10 retouch...

1. 5 min is about the limit per image.
2. This is quick and dirty work, not D&B perfection.
3. Knowing how to write scripts/plugins (NOT Actions) is a big help.

[Flashtones]

There are a whole bunch of pros who simply aren't participating in this thread. Cricket, godmother, benny profane, markzebra, etc, to name just a few. Then there are many more pro photographers who do their own retouching.

Best way to see who's who is to read threads and click signature links. A "show of hands" is in no way accurate of anything.

[zganie]

Again The idea behind tis was tp see who was doing this Pro fulltime making money
WHY,Because for people new to this or anyother business it is Extremely IMPORTANT,for them to be able to SEE and ASK people actually working in the business
Again Why because the information is real world what clients actually want from you,NOT an opinion(Which is ok and everybody has one)

Flashtones Reading through the threads is great but Does not really tell you whos doing it fulltime

[N_Rob]

I only just saw this thread and Im new to this forum, but Im also a fulltime photographer and retoucher at an ad agency in SA. Most agencies if not all agencies require retouchers full time these days!!