[emarts]

Well I've been a retoucher for about 14 years. Freelancing since 1997. 99.9% of my business comes from commercial work. I've done little to no consumer "restoration" work.

Things have changed though. I do more design work (web) now than retouching. And I can't seem to charge as much anymore. I guess it's because the market is saturated with so-called Photoshop experts. I've had to adapt to survive. And now I've been learning to become a photographer. I have a website, but don't use it much as all my work comes from word-of-mouth.

Lately, it's been real tough and I had to take a part time job in order to get health benefits. I consider myself very fortunate to find a part time job that provides benefits.

But Spring is coming and as always, the warm weather revitalizes me. I'll be doing my usual doorstep marketing and hopefully, things will pick up again.