Unsolicited Advice II

Unsolicited Advice II

For the Stater Retoucher (The biz side of things)


There are a lot of myths in this industry.

Such as:
You need a full portfolio before you can contact an agency/photographer/brand
You need a classy website with a Gallery
You need to have contacts, “know” people in the industry
You need to be good at everything: retouching/design/3D
You need to know how to use photoshop, illustrator, maya, indesign
You need to charge $20 to stay competitive

In my opinion there’s no “luck” in this biz, luck can only take you so far.



*Practice daily

*Practice some more (I STILL do images that I like just for doing them, those usually take me more than 5 hours)

*Create competitive samples respecting photographers and copyright

* Email photographers you love (directly addressing always to their name and complementing exactly what you like about their work and how you can benefit each other, no “general emails”)

*Be concise and direct

*Offer to TEST for them

don’t use any internet terminology or you’re out immediately

What you do need:

You need an ftp server with your name/company name - yousend /megaupload screams “amateur”

You need 2 or 3 striking samples displayed correctly (hosted html rollover) would do, just link them in your contact email

If you’re good and your prices are competitive, they will call you.

Very Important about Portfolio Material:

Just like the saying goes, “To get the job you want, you have to dress the part.” This applies for retouching as well, to get the type of clients you are looking to work with, you have to present a similar portfolio to the work they have in theirs.

Retouch the images that are going to land you that NEXT job. If you settle for cheap clients, you will always have cheap clients.

If you proudly display 20 minutes retouches in your portfolio you will only get 20 minutes $20 images to work on.

FAQ

How many Samples should I have?
It depends on the kind of retouching you do. Beauty, fashion, Glamour, Product/Still Life?
2 of each is enough to get you going. Always remember your folio or the material you display has to be the best f the best


How much should I charge?
Rates depend on many things to have an estimated. But I can tell you that if you’re charging $20 an image and that image is taking you more than 2 hours, you’re better off working for mc donnals.
But always take into account the amount of hours you need for the project.
Small images such as catalog work take less time than A3 printing for portfolio.


How much time should I spend retouching?

It always depends. Who is the client? How’s gonna be printed? What is it for? What’s the budget?

Catalog for a small company? Spend more than 2 hours on it and you’re wasting everyone’s time and money

Product Advertorials or editorials mixed brands? same as before, always ask for a layout pdf so you can see which images are gonna take on a full page and witch one won’t

Advertising in mags for a good brand - 4 hours, till 6

Bigger than magazines - 1 day + + (depending on budget)