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Ramage Design
PHOTOGRAPHIC RETOUCHER
About Me
Hi! Rod here - I’ve had a long career in image retouching, during which I have worked as an employee for large corperations, for small or fledgling companies, and as a freelancer. I have extensive skills that I have applied and developed throughout my varied experiences in many areas of the commercial, media, and creative publishing industries; from the impeccable precision that is required for art artist’s prints - along with accompanying mass-produced posters, packaging, and merchandise, to high-end glossy magazines, catwalk, fashion, & beauty images ~ to still life, interiors, exterior location shoots, and finally to e-commerce.
My career began in art, painting, & creative / graphic design and it is thanks to this that I have a creative approach and a very strong eye for detail. The transferring of these skills to visual retouching allows me to be creatively versatile, efficient, and fast - due to my not being limited to a mere technical scope. I have understanding through much experience of the effects of tone, depth, and texture, plus the results that can be achieved with a sensitive application of light and shade. It is these degrees of subtlety that are essential elements in creating arresting, believable, and aesthetically pleasing visuals.
Aside from the creative pool I have also worked in various areas of staff management, including account handling and client liaison. I am appreciative of the importance of a reliable communication balance that must be established within the structure of any company or commercial organisation, recognised, and maintained in order for any commercial or creative venture to succeed and to thrive.
Experience
I have worked for a variety of high-end glossy magazines spanning fashion, beauty, weddings, hair, specialist, and lifestyle. These publications demanded pristine quality image retouching as a basic requirement, with reliable consistency, and fast. I have produced numerous fashion features and advertising spreads, general D.P.S’s, singe pages, and on most occasions I put together the front and back covers. It was also my responsibility to ensure that the styles and the images presented were of an optimum standard (from cover to cover) throughout the publication, that each publication maintained it’s own overall signature tone and identity, and that all of the clients’ needs had been met.
I have spent a lot of time in e-commerce. This is where I became familiar with retouching to a high standard whilst simultaneously finding the balance between levels of quality and image turnover per day - ensuring that the colours are exact, that the subject stands out whilst maintaining or recreating the natural shadows, making sure that the cut-out is precise. Collectively, these tasks established the styles and the visual feel that was required to flow as a consistency throughout each individual website.
I have worked alongside world-renowned Fantasy Artists - most notably Christos Achilleos - assisting him in preparing his paintings for mass production and the global commercial market. My printing experience allowed me to ensure that the paintings were reproduced to be as close as possible to the original artwork. We concentrated his style, and established a brand that would appeal to the global market. Together we transferred his vast catalogue of work to create a range of merchandise; A3 posters, gift cards, postcards, mugs, coasters, fridge magnets, plus the packaging design for a range of 3D figurines.
The same level of precision is required for art prints transferring the traditional format to a digital format. The colour, feel, depth, and quality needed to be conveyed within the digital scope, and then carried through to the final art prints with pixel perfection.
When it comes to still-life’s, interiors and location shoots, all the above knowledge applies especially that the same image can be used across multiple formats.
PHOTOGRAPHIC RETOUCHING GALLERIES
The image link below will take you to a selection of images relating to my Model, Fashion, Still Life, Interiors, High-End Prints, e-commerce retouching and a selection of before and afters.
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