[berko1021]

I currently work for a retouching house full-time, which luckily enough pays my bills but I'm looking to get into doing my own freelance work. I have my site finally set up but I'm not sure how to set up my portfolio to try and get work. I'm assuming there is a standard in NYC. I currently have about 35-40 before and after images 8x10 in a book, but I don't know if this is correct or not. Also once I have my book set up properly, how do I market myself to photographers? I think my work can compete with some of the better retouchers out there but you can check it out on my site and let me know. I appreciate your honesty. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

www.twilightartistry.com

[Ant]

Books in NY are 11x14 standardly. Regarding the number of images in your book, that is less important. Everyone you meet with will want to see different things and you should tailor your book according to who might be viewing it. Some people want to see a lot of before and afters, others want to see tears and ads in layout. Showing a bunch of still lifes to a photographer who shoots beauty is pointless. You get the idea. Keep your book concise and arrange the photos according to the type of work involved. Make sure everything is perfect. This is your portfolio, ie. your best of your best. Bad color is a huge tip off to amateur work for instance. Just because skin has some texture, doesn't mean that they can't see the blur. Keep in mind that you are showing people who know what good retouching is, not your friends who just say "Wow!".

I looked at your site and I have a hard time believing you work for a retouching house, much more likely for a lab or prepress shop, maybe even a smaller ad agency in-house. I wouldn't say your work is on par with other ny retouchers and that is who you will be competing against. Also, photographers are much more critical than say a magazine client and know what looks good and what does not. I'm not certain that you do.

There may be work out there for you, but at the lower end. I mean, you are working somewhere now you say.

[berko1021]

Ant,

I appreciate your response as it will only help me get better. Yes I do work in a lab /pre press dept which caters directly to the modeling agencies in NYC. I might have worded it wrong in my original post.

If that's the case, what do you see I'm lacking to get my work to the "next level?" What do you see in the images that I'm missing. I'm referring mostly to the glamour/beauty images on my site, because that's where I would like to head. Any advice would be helpful?

[Ant]

Look at high end retouching and compare your images with them. It should be clear. You consistently blow things out, add unnatural shape, remove shape and are generally too heavy handed with your retouch. You need to know what a good photo looks like first, what shapes humans have, learn color, exposure and light and how it all corresponds to photography. Be more objective. Do less.

If you want to get better, learn about photography. Intern somewhere you can learn something from a business that does good work and strives to do the best work. Really look at things. Have a plan going into a job. Know what to look for and improve. Check your work. Study good work that you'd like to do. Find out what makes a good photo a good photo. Try different things. You might not even see what the potential of something is without 1200 Cmd-Zs a day.

this is for everyone: There is no glamour retouching in NY nor other big cities around the world. It's a small town, soft and normal porn, girl on a car calendar, erotic, your mom at Sears thing. There is no real client for glamour retouching. If it's to be a glamor type shoot (very rare, but this term glamour has such a loose definition it seems) then it is done at the shoot, not all in post. This glowing, smoothing thing with tons of makeup like work just isn't out there. Strike "Glamour" from your vocabulary. It's only real usage would be within the discussion of "Boudoir","Cheesy", "Low rent", "Bad Taste","Pageant" "porn", etc.

[berko1021]

Ant,
For curiousity sake, do you have any of your work online which I can view.

[Ant]

no, not for general consumption. clients only.

[cricket1961]

I have to agree with Ant on this, most especially about the use of the word Glamour in retouching. All the years I worked as a retoucher in NYC I never
was once asked to do a glamour shot and most the higher end retouchers would never mention themselves as a glamour retoucher. It really does have some cheesy connotation to it for some oddball reason because it didn't always used to be like that.

[pixart-india]

Really good and knowelagble

thanks

Originally Posted by Ant

Look at high end retouching and compare your images with them. It should be clear. You consistently blow things out, add unnatural shape, remove shape and are generally too heavy handed with your retouch. You need to know what a good photo looks like first, what shapes humans have, learn color, exposure and light and how it all corresponds to photography. Be more objective. Do less.

If you want to get better, learn about photography. Intern somewhere you can learn something from a business that does good work and strives to do the best work. Really look at things. Have a plan going into a job. Know what to look for and improve. Check your work. Study good work that you'd like to do. Find out what makes a good photo a good photo. Try different things. You might not even see what the potential of something is without 1200 Cmd-Zs a day.

this is for everyone: There is no glamour retouching in NY nor other big cities around the world. It's a small town, soft and normal porn, girl on a car calendar, erotic, your mom at Sears thing. There is no real client for glamour retouching. If it's to be a glamor type shoot (very rare, but this term glamour has such a loose definition it seems) then it is done at the shoot, not all in post. This glowing, smoothing thing with tons of makeup like work just isn't out there. Strike "Glamour" from your vocabulary. It's only real usage would be within the discussion of "Boudoir","Cheesy", "Low rent", "Bad Taste","Pageant" "porn", etc.

[Dionysus]

Originally Posted by Ant

Look at high end retouching and compare your images with them. It should be clear. You consistently blow things out, add unnatural shape, remove shape and are generally too heavy handed with your retouch. You need to know what a good photo looks like first, what shapes humans have, learn color, exposure and light and how it all corresponds to photography. Be more objective. Do less.

If you want to get better, learn about photography. Intern somewhere you can learn something from a business that does good work and strives to do the best work. Really look at things. Have a plan going into a job. Know what to look for and improve. Check your work. Study good work that you'd like to do. Find out what makes a good photo a good photo. Try different things. You might not even see what the potential of something is without 1200 Cmd-Zs a day.

this is for everyone: There is no glamour retouching in NY nor other big cities around the world. It's a small town, soft and normal porn, girl on a car calendar, erotic, your mom at Sears thing. There is no real client for glamour retouching. If it's to be a glamor type shoot (very rare, but this term glamour has such a loose definition it seems) then it is done at the shoot, not all in post. This glowing, smoothing thing with tons of makeup like work just isn't out there. Strike "Glamour" from your vocabulary. It's only real usage would be within the discussion of "Boudoir","Cheesy", "Low rent", "Bad Taste","Pageant" "porn", etc.

Ant - Thanks for the great input.

I'm a little unclear on the "glamour" part of your post however. Glamour photography is easy to identify and a huge industry in itself. Think Maxim. That is quintesential glamour photography and you see it everywhere. I guess I'm not understanding... are you saying that there is specifically no such thing as "glamour retouching"?

Just curious...