Is this DVD set right for me?

[ivejustbegunhavingmyfun]

Hi... I am a senior in high school and am applying to art schools in New York City (where I'm from) with hopes that I can become a graphic designer with a specilty in photo retouching/manipulation. I love Photoshop and have learned enough to be welcome at school for it but I would like to take advantage by purchasing a program I can use until then. I guess what I would like to know is how this program compares to other retouching programs and what makes the price worth the product's value? I also would like to know how long it would probably take as I would like to sustaining using the program for a few months rather than learn everything in one day. Thanks!

[Corey Jenkins]

Hey man, I'm a junior in highschool looking to apply to colleges in NYC too! Tf I can get some scholarship money haha I checked out SVA a few months ago, its pretty awesome. I got to run now, but I'll get back to you with my thoughts about the series.

[ivejustbegunhavingmyfun]

Thanks :) Yeah I'm applying to Parsons, FIT, and SVA.

[Nick Saglimbeni]

If you're planning on practicing the techniques taught in this series repeatedly for a few months (I assume to become an expert), then you definitely have the right attitude. While Mastering Retouching will teach you everything I know about retouching in a matter of hours, a student must remember that the speed with which I can retouch and the quality of the final product comes with practice and repetition. In my experience, there are no quick and easy solutions to complicated retouching scenarios, but like with language learning, a process can become second nature over time.

Also, I made a point to divide the series into six distinct chapters, for two reasons: 1) so you can digest as much or as little as you feel comfortable based on your progress and previous knowledge, and 2) I ordered the chapters in a way that I believe maximizes your learning curve and creates maximum efficiency for your workflow.

Hope this answers your question.

[ivejustbegunhavingmyfun]

Thanks so much for writing, I appreciate it.. if I do the pre-order I'll probably be beginning using it in late March and then continue into late May. I guess part of maximine longevity with the program will also be to find photos I can use.

Also, 1) do these techniques work with other photos that are not photoshoots and 2) would it be possible to see more Before/After shots?

[Corey Jenkins]

I'm pretty sure you can use the techniques to work on many different types of photos, not just photos that come from big photo shoots. I think learning the mastering retouching series would be great, the results are nice (look at Nicks work) and it doesnt sound like it takes that long. I've taken a few class's with some of the big time retouchers and they spend up to 5 hours just fixing the skin and another 2-3 fixing color. Nick says he can pull off a full body retouch in about 10 minutes, although it would take longer for most of us its still better than 7+ hours. Although the end product looks different between the two, its not like one looks better or worse than the other they are just for different purposes. I'm pretty sure any girl would want to look like one of the girls Nick has retouched so I'd say go for it and ask any questions you might have on here!