High End London

High End retoucher's Happy Finish are on the Up and Up as they work on some high impact campaigns with fashion's Elite here in UK on a daily basis . The Retoucher's come from different background's and training.The majority seem to have cut their teeth with Metro Studios in London and worked closely with some of the biggest Photographer's this side of the Pond.

The agency has 2 spaces where they retouch and clients can meet the chosen retoucher and sit in on the job with the retoucher.They have rates for Editorial and testing work so even up and coming young Photographers can get a step up and build a great portfolio of work and have a retoucher that will take the time to nurture and grow with them.

The rates are even available online which is great for a change as you know what your in for from the start . Rates start at around £150 per hour , with editorial starting at £200 per Image . There are 8 Retoucher's covering every field of work from Fashion,Beauty,Automotive & still life .

Way back When - Digital Fusion

I just found what i was after and got it ! This is what im talking about when you read something about some guys pushing the envelope and really progressing on a daily basis and making a transition from film to digital a breeze .

Who Wouldn't want to work or Hire the crew if you new your images were going to be in good hands from the start to finish .

watch this Space i say as they have set up DF Studio which is another Online Editing tool .

This is competition for LiveEdit im sure at the end of the day in the digital league we need reliability and to know our images are safe in storage and can be accessed at any given time

Pixels on Steroids

This in One Company i read about a couple of years ago on the Apple Pro site and was in Awe and i still am .Id Just Die to work with these creative's and get into the groove of what they do on a daily basis .

Digital Hire has to be going through the roof rite now and if its not well ill be so off the 8 Ball ill never make a buck in this game at the end of the day .

The Guys at DF are so swithed onto what we need rite up to the minute for techno advice and can handle anything that is thrown at them in this web 2.0 world.

More later .......

Time for some More techno

This is something that most of us could use on a weekly basis , if not daily .I have just started the treck into websites and also building my own brand for retouch and photography.Along the way im stumbling into unknown territory with LiveEdit for a start so i can work with clients world over without any drama's .No need to rely on my own FTP or a slow bandwidth ever .

The program Seem's pretty slick on first view and im about to get into the nuts and bolts and edit and markup a job online in the next few days so i will post back as to my verdict on how it all works LIVE .



LiveEdit saves time, labor and cost. Impress your clients. Finally a web-based program that can consolidate all your workflow needs. LiveEdit is a premier online presentation tool for today's photographer. Organize your digital files, give yor clients instant access to your shoots, edit and mark-up your pictures, archive, share or sell your images - all in one application.

LiveEdit is secure, easy to use and customizable.

An army for an image

I have just looked for more news online and came across this article for I-D magazine , maybe the past but i think this should put some things in perspective .

I dont know how someone could even go wrong with this lineup of talent for starter's so when it comes to retouch i think it would only take some tweaking to get it even sharper.

The hair was welded into place by Luigi

makeup by Pat McGrath - along with 20 cases of makeup in hand ,and amazing talent with a brush .

Photog Craig McDean - repd by Art+Commerce

It's the fashion pack on Red Bull for sure .

Photography by Craig McDean
Fashion Director Edward Enninful
Hair by Luigi Murenu at Streeters, NY
Make-up by Pat McGrath for Giorgio Armani Cosmetics
Photographic assistance by Tiago Molinos and Guillerme Young
Art & printing by Pascal Dangin for Box Ltd
Special thanks to Ronnie Cooke Newhouse
Model: Amber Valetta at Special Agent Managemen

Photoshop Of Horror's

Yesterday i got sent an article which was a little on the touchy side or shall i say retouching side of life and what is happening with some bad wraps in the press,not like good wraps that you can munch on down the local deli .

Take a read of this article and see what you make of it . Seem's like the Media is digging for dirt running article's,editorial's on retouching as a whole . We need to have a voice and push this in a positive direction as to what we do to enhance an Image and bring out the photographer's best ideas's and concepts .

Presenting Kate chase

Recently i contacted Kate Chase to get an insight as to where she is headed with Artisan & the artist's she represents.

Hi Kate

PP: Im loving what your doing with Artisan, I think this is progressive and its what we need in the world of retouching and where it is headed? Where do you see it all going ?

Kate: I see it all going to become a true magazine actually (slowly I’m sure). I’ve always loved the New York Times Style Guides with their uber-creative use of fonts, the writing and the overall tone and was very clear that is how I communicated it to the designer, Teddy Brown (and someone recently asked if they could advertise – a bit premature but certainly part of the vision).

For now, I am using Artisan to showcase not only what’s going on with the artist’s that I agent for but to also use it as an educational tool for those who want to know more. And, I especially like that I can give voice to what I know and see by using the Letter from the Editor to write down my perspective on the industry at-large.

PP: I'd love to see a curriculum for retouching. How do you think we can drive the industry towards this outcome?

Kate: It’s something I’ve given a lot of thought to on what the program would like look and what would need to be taught to those wanting to learn the trade -and am still thinking about it so keep checking back with me as I think I have some ideas in early development. Those ideas are based on the issues that I saw when I started agenting. Curriculum is definitely the driving idea early idea behind the recruitment capabilities on the site.

PP: I must say you have a great team you’re representing and I love their work .How did you pick your artist and where do you want to direct them next?

I have to say that it’s fate that brought us all together. I’ve been in retouching management for 25 years and 2-years ago, as a result of being a free-agent myself, I looked around and realized that many of the superior artist’s I’d known over the years were recently independent and having many friends as photo agents, the idea cemented to agent for this group became a reality. The early vision still resonates (even more so) that since I was a talker, I could continue to be an advocate but now for the independent artisan as business resource and it’s been a great journey that I think we’ve all enjoyed in learning about ourselves as new business owner’s blending art & commerce. On a side note, our business coach recently commented that he’s never seen an industry where there is no one accountable to an estimate and was further amazed at how many people play a part in the retouching process – we have 2 group post producer’s working on projects to now ensure that run-away hours are the exception rather than the norm. As for where they go next, it’s interesting to chronicle that as Artisan develops, I see quite clearly during the interview process that who wants to do what becomes clearer for each artist – whether it be growing, staying small, what type of work speaks to them and that it’s my job to help make that happen for them. And lastly, we are a cooperative -- independent and also sometimes interdependent and that results in some very sweet project collaborations and shared work. We recently had our 2nd roundtable in February where we just hung out and this year we started with some professional coaching to make sure that we grow and enjoy what we sort of threw ourselves into as it relates to each artist’s own business.

PP: I have noticed that your retoucher's play a major part in the process for the finished product of the image of the photographer's they worked with. Do you think that maybe one day soon we will see credits for the retouch along side the photographer?

That’s a question for the 8-ball but certainly it’s changing here & there every day. A photographer I know called the At-Edge publication last year and asked if they would give credit on his advertising to the retoucher who had collaborated heavily, bring his own style to the piece, and they said no. I called them to get a bit more insight, and they were nice (very old-school) but said that the end-user only wanted to see the photographer’s name -- we will try again next year. However, on a progressive side, I met with an editor at Communication Arts last week for purposes of a portfolio review because the editor is now thinking about how best to shine the light on our industry. I think it’s hard to acknowledge the retoucher for many because, well, because in reality, you have many who play an important role in the making of a picture and it can’t be like the movies and/or the Oscar’s (yet) where everyone who played a role gets a credit – at least not in my lifetime. Photographer’s are becoming like directors though and needing to know who is best at helping find solutions when clients call upon them to solve problems.

PP: When working with your artists do you look out for up and coming photographer's to work with?

I actually don’t look for photographer’s on specific projects for the artists and it’s evolved that the photographers actually comes our way first. We also get calls from agencies when it’s a heavy post projects looking for referrals on photographer’s and that’s always feels good to recommend a photographer that works/preps well for an artist (not all are composite experts yet).




PP: What advice would you give anyone starting out in the field of retouching ?

I would say that what I see is important to being a successful retoucher is someone who is schooled in the arts, well traveled, intuitive, (70% artist and 30% technical are the percentages that I see work best). Oh, and willing to speak their mind about what they are being asked to do or what and why they’ve done something to an image.


PP: What drive's you in the world of business and promotion?

Kate: Me, I love sales, marketing and good design and it was also the idea of getting to do my own marketing that really sealed the deal for taking on the role of agent. I also love the creative mind and am pretty consistently curious about what makes someone tick and then helping them solve problems.

The end.

A week in the news

Last week was a busy for all im sure with summer approaching thank god since last year in london the weather was Dire to say the least .

Last Friday whilst working away in the basement of the studio - think underground but thankfully we have a window to peep out of , but we still suffer from not enough fresh air so i ponder how someone like Pascal Dangan who hit the New Yorker with a major PR blast for himself and his team at Box in new york .The forum junkies were up in arms as per usual having a RANT when they should probably put their energy into marketing their own work for an hour day and make it worth something better than it was last week.
Click the header and you will be directed over to the New Yorker .

Techy talk

I thought i might get onto the not so new Wacom Cintiq 12WX tablet , i tried one out at Focus on imaging .Wacom had a rammed display set up which was set up well but every Tom dick and harry wanted to try it out for themselves .I liked the idea and fantasized about it for afew weeks up until i had the pen in my hand . I found it abit clunky but over all quiet cool .What put me off was in the USA you can pick one up for around $999 but here in the U.K were looking at around £850 for the same device with import duty which kinda of makes us just want to jump a last minute deal and fly to New York for the weekend for some retail therapy .

The reviews are all pretty good but im not to sure if i would trade my trusty Intuos 3 for Cintiq 12WX .