Advice in Starting a career in retouching...

[lukeyg81]

Hi all

Firstly I would like to say how grateful I am to have found a forum like this.
Hopefully some people out there can give me some assistance.

I live in London, UK.
I have been considering a part time career in retouching alongside my full time job for a long while and have decided finally be proactive.
I envisage going freelance to fit this around my full time job (I work on a 4 day on 4 day off system so I have plently of time free to study and work).

I previously worked in a medical library where i used Photoshop and Illustrator extensively to retouch scanned negatives/photos.
It has been 8 years since then but I am sure with many many hours I can get my Photoshop skills up to date.
I plan to build myself a portfolio of old restowed photos and a few other projects and incorporate this into a website.

Does anyone recommend any courses/workshops to help build the skills/techniques required?
Whilst studying/practising I think a Mac, latest Photoshop and maybe printer/scanner are the only equipment needed - any points on this?
How open is the industry to work experience placements? Studying is fine but there is nothing like real world experience.
If needed I would be willing to work for free on my days off to learn the trade.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lucas