Demand for retouchers

[inspiredarts]

What is the demand for retouchers? And how much would someone that makes sure they are really good charge on average?

[JoRoFoto]

Well just like anything else in life, the demand is always there.. it's just a matter of getting yourself around the right people and more importantly getting your work in front the right people.. then the work comes in from then on.. all about marketing, networking, and being as unrelenting and ambitious as possible..

As far as rates go.. it's really up to you.. people charge everything under the sun.. sometimes they over charge to seem more in-demand, while others undersell themselves because they don't know any better or simply don't care..

[Nick Saglimbeni]

I actually look at retouching primarily as a value-added service that photographers can offer their clients. No photographer can get a model hooked on his/her work unless you can consistently make that person look flawless—and contrary to what some will tell you, everyone wants to look flawless. Period.

It like how movie theaters make little to no money on the actual movie—they make all their money in concessions (like $6 popcorn). Or Blockbuster makes all their money in late fees, etc. It's very difficult to make money in photography because of the enormous overhead required for lighting, cameras, studio, support staff, etc. But retouching has no overhead other than time.

When I started Slickforce in 2004, I made almost NO money on any of my shoots, and I, in fact, willingly LOST money on the majority of them. But I knew I was making a long-term investment in my career. So, in order to finance the growth of the business, I decided to become a kick-ass retoucher well before anyone knew who I was in photography.

To answer your cost question, rates vary depending on clients, but retouching can cost a customer anywhere from $10 to $1000 per photo (the higher end would also include composites or special-effects work). The bigger the client, the more they will happily pay to insure your standard of quality.

In those first few years of Slickforce, any money we had came from retouching, and to date, it's still our single most profitable service (we currently retouch over 10,000 shots per year).

Hope that answers your question.

[JesseLDavid]

Nick,
Your opinion and insights are very helpful especially when it comes to retouching. Knowing what to charge and knowing where you should expect to make a profit are really important but very difficult to ascertain. It's almost as if this business if like the razor blade industry. Break even or less on the razors (photos) and make big profits on the blades (retouching). I've been focusing on retouching so really looking forward to your DVDs to learn some diff techniques.