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Hi everyone, I'm new to this site and also I'm a "new" retoucher. I just wanted to say "Hi" to you all and hopefully get some thoughts from you concerning becoming self-employed as a retoucher.
I've been using Photoshop just for my own images for a couple of years and have developed some pretty good retouching skills that I think are now at the stage where I could charge for retouching work. I wouldn't call myself "high-end" but nor am I "bargain bucket basic". I'm especially strong in terms of my skin smoothing, blemish removal and colour correction.
I've been unemployed for a few months and was thinking that retouching on a self-employed basis could be a great new way to earn my living - after all I already have all of the kit I need and I've no mortgage to pay so my overheads are minimal but from some of the comments in the forums talking about being paid a couple of dollars per image I'm wondering if my dream is really possible. Ideally I would like to retouch wedding photos for clients directly or on behalf of a professional wedding photographer but I'm open to other possible markets anyone could suggest.
I was shocked to read of USD2 an hour in one post - it's exploitative and really devalues the skill involved in retouching images well. I am proud of having attention to detail and dedicating the time to each image to make it look great. I was thinking of charging in the range of GBP20-25 per hour (USD30 - 38) or perhaps GBP8 - 25 per image (USD12 - 38) depending on the level of retouch needed. I know that starting out it will take time to gain clients and I am prepared for that. I'm happy to do TFP to develop a portfolio. But I need to feel like it's going to be worth it in the end. Is it reasonable to expect to be able to pull in say 16 hours of work a week on these sort of rates? That would be enough to keep me afloat. I really love retouching but can you guys share your thoughts/experiences of earning a living from it on a self-employed basis. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Danny
I've been using Photoshop just for my own images for a couple of years and have developed some pretty good retouching skills that I think are now at the stage where I could charge for retouching work. I wouldn't call myself "high-end" but nor am I "bargain bucket basic". I'm especially strong in terms of my skin smoothing, blemish removal and colour correction.
I've been unemployed for a few months and was thinking that retouching on a self-employed basis could be a great new way to earn my living - after all I already have all of the kit I need and I've no mortgage to pay so my overheads are minimal but from some of the comments in the forums talking about being paid a couple of dollars per image I'm wondering if my dream is really possible. Ideally I would like to retouch wedding photos for clients directly or on behalf of a professional wedding photographer but I'm open to other possible markets anyone could suggest.
I was shocked to read of USD2 an hour in one post - it's exploitative and really devalues the skill involved in retouching images well. I am proud of having attention to detail and dedicating the time to each image to make it look great. I was thinking of charging in the range of GBP20-25 per hour (USD30 - 38) or perhaps GBP8 - 25 per image (USD12 - 38) depending on the level of retouch needed. I know that starting out it will take time to gain clients and I am prepared for that. I'm happy to do TFP to develop a portfolio. But I need to feel like it's going to be worth it in the end. Is it reasonable to expect to be able to pull in say 16 hours of work a week on these sort of rates? That would be enough to keep me afloat. I really love retouching but can you guys share your thoughts/experiences of earning a living from it on a self-employed basis. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Danny
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