Hi!

I'm Sef McCullough - I’ve had a long career as a High-End Commercial Retoucher in the advertising industry, based in the Pacific Northwest.

A lot of people don’t know exactly what the title Commercial Retoucher really means. If you Google up “retoucher”, you’ll be bombarded by an endless sea of women’s faces that have been dutifully polished in Photoshop using decades-old retouching techniques.

But if you look closely, I’m in there too :). Above the fold, but all by my lonesome.

Which is weird. Because my friends & colleagues in the industry are some of the most highly skilled Photoshop Professionals on the planet. It’s a shame they don’t come up in search results. Why is that?

It’s because the best Commercial Retouchers are too busy working. In quiet, dark rooms for some of the most demanding clients in the world.

They are in high demand. And they are paid very well.

Most of what you’ll find on the internet are Photoshop Enthusiasts, Evangelists, and Educators. Many of them are very good at what they do, but it’s important to distinguish them from working Photoshop Professionals. They teach Photoshop, first and foremost.

You might be asking, “I get it Sef, but how do I tell the difference between real retouchers and just Photoshop teachers?”

I get asked that a lot.

My answer, always, is: “Look at the portfolio.”

If you want to work in an industry, you should learn from professionals who are already working in it.

I can’t even count the number of candidates I’ve interviewed over the years who had watched all the wrong YouTube videos.

And I’ve actually hired some of them! Only to have to break all those bad habits and show the right way to do true high-end commercial retouching workflow.

It’s not their fault, many went on to become very skilled Commercial Retouchers. They were learning the best way they knew how, mostly from skin retouchers on YouTube.

Because when you search for retouching, the internet tells you that retouching is 99.9% about skin.

Look around next time you’re walking downtown, at the mall, or even the grocery store. Pay attention to how many commercial images surround you. Every single one of them was retouched by someone.

There’s skin retouching, and then there’s everything-else retouching!

So think about where you’d rather be - competing against the hordes of Model Mayhemmers for notoriously low-budget fashion editorial jobs, or focusing on all the brands and agencies who produce everything else.

The reason I’d take the time to write all this is mainly that it’s so overlooked by many, especially those starting out who haven’t seen the commercial retouching landscape from a high elevation.

You also might be wondering, “OK Sef, if professional retouchers are so busy working instead of teaching, why do you have so much free time?”

There’s an old and offensive saying: “Those who can’t do, teach.”

Here’s my version: “Those who can’t teach, just keep doing over and over, hoarding knowledge, giving nothing back until they finally die empty and forgotten.”

I know, I’m a ray of sunshine :)

I come from a lineage of educators, I love teaching and writing. I really dislike the outmoded tradition in the retouching industry of retouchers who keep their tools and techniques secret, closely guarded to stay ahead. This model of scarcity is totally not how I roll, so that’s why I share as much of the real insider industry stuff as I can.

This ethic has ruffled some feathers in the past. Some in the industry felt like I was giving away trade secrets, harming the retouching industry, “shooting myself in the foot.” I used to care a little about that blowback.

In my opinion, artists who are successful by virtue of hiding their tools, methods, or materials are embracing irrelevance already, because you can’t participate in the conversation if you’re not speaking.

Here are some quotes on the subject by much smarter and articulate people than me:

“The problem with hoarding is you end up living off your reserves. Eventually, you’ll become stale. If you give away everything you have, you are left with nothing. This forces you to look, to be aware, to replenish. . . . Somehow the more you give away, the more comes back to you.” —Paul Arden

“The impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” —Annie Dillard

“Sellout . . . I’m not crazy about that word. We’re all entrepreneurs. To me, I don’t care if you own a furniture store or whatever—the best sign you can put up is sold out.” —Bill Withers

Thanks,

Sef McCullough

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