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Office Space Workflow

Lesson 35 from: The Business of Professional Photo Retouching

Lisa Carney, Simon Peter Raible

Office Space Workflow

Lesson 35 from: The Business of Professional Photo Retouching

Lisa Carney, Simon Peter Raible

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Lesson Info

35. Office Space Workflow

Next Lesson: Build Your Network

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

11:05
2

Who Should Be a Retoucher?

09:18
3

Genres of Retouching

15:25
4

Comp vs Finish

06:34
5

Lisa's Path to Retouching

08:51
6

Simon's Path to Retouching

21:01
7

Establishing a Look

16:54
8

Who is The Client?

11:41

Lesson Info

Office Space Workflow

Let's talk about the home office, shall we? Let's. Life-work balance? So we just wanna share a little bit about our environment and I assure you it is not that clean now at all. So this is our work environment, this is where we work. We work face-to-face, so it's kinda nice, because I can't see him, he can't see me, I can hear him. But if we need to chat, I just scoot over or he scoots over, these move. He gets a view of the chickens, which is nice. The view is not so important to him. For me, I have to tell you, this was a really big deal. I have spent 20 years working in a dark room. I'm not kidding, 20 years. Because, do you remember the suites we talked about? Those suites were closets. Very nice closets, but they were dark and I've had enough. I've absolutely had enough. So when I'm working, I wanna look at the garden. And my back is to the wall, so oh, did I mention how much I touch my monitor? Can you believe that? Look at that. I'm famous for touching the monitor. My finger...

s are all over it and there's proof in the pudding. How embarrassing. Anyway, I'm also facing a back wall, so I don't get reflection on my monitor. And when he's working, he pulls the screen down, so he doesn't get reflection. I like to sit high, so I have a high seat. He likes to sit low and that works for his body. We haven't talked much about body and taking care of yourself, but you definitely, especially if you're working for a really long time. So he likes to sit low and he leans back. I like to sit up. And you wanna take a look, that's a tablet, huh? That's a tablet. What is that little, tiny little thing right there? That's what you need! Come on. That's high and tight. That's the Portia tablet. That's the one that wins races right there. Oh, yeah, we're so, she's in shock. All right, so this is pretty much you. And you can see it there too. Okay, when are your super powers their strongest? This is recognizing when you want to work and when you oughta be working. So I used to, when Lisa and I first started working together, I would work really late. One o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning, and then, come in late. But to me, I didn't really wake up in the morning. And when everyone had left at six and eight o'clock at night, then I could crank up the music, I got the place to myself. No one's checking what you're eating or drinking. And that's when I got good. And I could just blare music and from then, that's when I could get very artistic, very illustrative. And they would come back in the next morning and they're like, wow, nutcase came up with another winner. And I'd come in at 10 or 11 o'clock at night. That was then. These days, I go to sleep at 8.30, 9.30. Lisa's an early morning person. So what would happen is she'll be up, bouncing around at 5.30, 6.30 in the morning and I'd need couple cups of coffee, 7.30 and I'm like, dude, I'm just not up to your speed, just give me a minute. I got tired of that after a while, so I'm like, I'm gonna get up even earlier than her, burn off my early-morning grumpiness. So I get up now, she gets up 5.30, I get up at 4.30. Into my cycling shoes, cycling kit. I got my bike, I got the lights on, because the sun hasn't come up yet, and I go bicycling for just 30, 40 minutes, come back. Kettlebells, stretch out, hit a foam roller, do some pull-ups and just stretch out my back. Cold shower, sit down, and I always have something to do at this point. One little task I wanna get done. So I've gotten up, made the bed, did a ride, showered. I can do that one little task, whatever it is. Write down an invoice or something like that. Then I make my coffee and then, that's, I've already got that accomplished before 5.30 in the morning. And that sets me up great. And this is, you know, this is one of those weird things people don't talk about that I really wanna talk to you guys about this, because we have our rhythms, we have our skill. I'm a morning freak. I am, like, I wake up and I'm like, whoa, let's go. Four o'clock to six, I'm a zombie, I'm horrible. And to know that, so I don't struggle on jobs anymore at that hour. I stop, I literally stop and say, great, it's not gonna happen, let it go. And I know full well that when I'm in my next cycle, which it's like clockwork, I know exactly when I'm gonna feel right, I'll get that job in five minutes, I'll have it handled. And give yourself the freedom to do that. I had a job at a place called Blue Moon. It was a finishing house, all women, it was fantastic. And I had a hair job and I was never really good at hair at especially that stage, it really came rough. I was struggling for an hour and a half. I got up and I said, honey, I can't do this. It was four o'clock in the afternoon. I'll be back in the morning, goodbye, and I left. Never done that in my life. You know, that's pretty ballsy to do. And thank god the owner really trusted me. And the next morning, I came in, I had it done in five minutes. And educate yourself on yourself. Know who you are and when you are. You know, he's a night guy, he can do things. I can get up at three in the morning and do a job. I cannot stay up until three in the morning and do a job. And you wanna know that, so. And a good match between us is we can tag-team a single job in the same office. So it'll come in and we're like, okay, dude, this is gonna be three days' worth of work and they want it super quick. You wanna help me on it? And I'm like, okay, I'll just switch off. So she'll start it, do it in the morning and I'll go off and bicycle and motorcycle, whatever. And I'll pick it up at eight o'clock in the night. Start coffee-ing up, I still got it when I wanna turn it on. And I'll work till three, four o'clock in the morning. All saved up, here's a couple of notes. I hear the alarm clock go off, she gets up, I go to bed. And work continues on, it's a 24-hour shop when it needs to be. And it's your job to-- And if we're getting paid for it, but it's nice to know-- And it's your job to know who you are. That's your responsibility. So let's, we're gonna have to hurry through some of this. Can you do preliminary work in home or office? In the goal of, I want all of you to work at home and be able to take care of your chickens and go take a nap and have a good life, it's my goal in life. So to work towards that, could you consider doing part of the work at home? And that's how I started. When I wanted to transition, I didn't tell them, hey, my goal is to get out of here. I don't wanna be here, but I still want you to pay me. So instead what I did is said, hey, can I do the first half of the job at home? And then I'll bring it in and we'll do the revisions? So this is an alternate theory, work part at home and part in-house. This handles the proofing, because you go in-house. So we still do this. We'll do jobs, we'll get jobs in when they're really, like, no, we need you in-house. We say, great, can we build the job at home? And then we'll bring it finished in-house and sit there and wait for the revisions. So consider that as an option. He's really good about splitting his day two or three segments. This is that idea of, like, look, if you can't do it at four, stop. And work at eight at night, whatever. But find yourself, it's really helpful. Work in and around other family member's schedules. This is kind of the same thing. Keep your life. But people don't wanna ask, do they? They don't wanna say, hey, can I just give this to you tomorrow? Right. And you don't say, can I not do it now? You say, can I have it to you at this destination time? Bingo. So. And that's why you ask, you just give them. Here's the positive spin on it. Make it a yes or no question. Don't let that gloss over. Put a positive spin on it. Don't say, you're not asking for a favor. You're just saying, hey, can I deliver it then. You don't need to give reasons, you don't. Just hey, can you take it there?

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

File Naming Convention Sample
Estimate Worksheet Form
Finishing Delivery Example
File Naming Convention Explanation
Worksheet & Billing Checklist
Solar Curves Action

Bonus Materials

Adobe Stock Contributor
Alien Skin Software Discount Code

Ratings and Reviews

Bill Buckley
 

I'm a photographer who wants to be as good at Photoshop as possible. In my field few retouchers get hired, so it's all on me. Plus my creative vision cannot be accomplished by photography alone. Not to mention that in the field, as a photographer I can't always be perfect. Photoshop to the rescue. This is possibly THE best class I've purchased on Creative Live, and they've all been good. Great insight, entertaining, well taught Lisa and Simon were awesome. Bought more LC tutorials based on this course.

Kari A. Youkey
 

This course just opened my world. I started ( back in the Jurassic era) as an illustrator/drafter ( pen and ink), then CAD programmer, then GIS analyst with photoshop just coming onto the scene then...got pregnant and unplugged focusing on parenting and my inner artist. I was gifted an IPad 6 years ago in the mist of my Taxi Mom years. My favorite ‘hobby’ became manipulating images and an addiction to Adobe apps. Now, In my new empty nest status, I have been trying to figure out my next direction in life....and CreativeLive has been a wonderful resource to explore different creative opportunities, feeling somewhere between photography and graphic design, I wanted to ‘paint’ photos with my tool of choice the tablet, not the camera. ...but it wasn’t until this course that I clicked with an Aha! I don’t have to become an photographer? I could get paid to retouch? Other people’s photos?.....and, I have a work history skill set that backs it up! Thank you so much for this course! Loved the instructors and how they shared their experiences and knowledge. You two have just provided a wonderful map and whole new path to explore and inspired a much needed creative spark to get back to work❤️. Thank You!

a Creativelive Student
 

Lisa knocked it out of the ball park again! Amazing work Lisa and Simon! I just can't find the many words that express how much I gain with each and every course she teaches. Once again, a wealth of information that was given in a down to earth manner. I absolutely love her teaching style! Amazing course Lisa and Simon, awesome job!

Student Work

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