Greg Apodaca
Located in the
San Francisco Bay Area
Phone number available upon request
Email:
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mailto:REMOVE_THIS_PHRASE_BEFORE_SENDING_EMAILgapodaca@mac.com
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(This address has been disguised to prevent automated programs from getting it off my website. It should end up looking like the animation provided above)
Thank-you for visiting the site. It started out as a simple digital portfolio for job interviews. It seems that someone sent the link to their friends, and then their friends sent the link to their friends, and then... well, let's just say that I receive a dozen emails a day from people that have seen the site. Most of them ask about how it was done, what filters were used, what books to buy... Some of them offer advice, which I do appreciate, thanks. Some of them ask about specific images, where they came from, what were their final purpose. Since I don't have time to answer everyone, I thought that I would post some answers to the more common questions here.
Can I Download Or Link To You're Site?
What Applications Were Used?
What Filters Were Used?
Original Images?
Image Purpose?
How did I fix the shoe?
How did I smooth the skin?
Where did I learn?
Book Recommendations?
Training Tutorials?
Do I Chat Online?
Do I Retouch For Money?
Job Market?
Can I Download Or Link To You're Site?
Links are always welcome, but please do not download any images or clone any pages without my permission, especially the images in my Digital Retouching Portfolio. I am not the original photographer, nor do I have any way to easily track down the original photographer. These images were supplied by clients for retouching and compositing. They are only on display for portfolio purposes. Thank you.
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What Applications Were Used?
Mostly Photoshop, versions 6 and up, but I also use Illustrator, InDesign and Quark.
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What Filters Were Used?
I mostly use the existing filters that are included in Photoshop. By using different combinations of these filters, I can create almost any filter effect I want. I currently don't use any 3rd party filters except for the occasional KPT3 Planer tiler (which only runs in Photoshop version 6). For what I do, I don't need a lot of fancy filters.
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Original Images?
The images in my Digital Portfolio are not my photography. They were supplied to me for retouching only. Typically, clients hire and work with photographers at the beginning of the creative process. My profession deals more with the end of the creative process and the beginning of the production process.
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Image Purpose?
Most of the displayed work made its way into newspaper ads, magazines, posters, billboards... I will be going through each page in my portfolio to write brief paragraphs under each image.
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How did I fix the shoe?
I show the layer structure in this image. Using simple filters, I have created techniques that easily separate the details of an image into different frequencies. In this example, the unwanted middle frequencies were deleted.
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How did I smooth the skin?
It involves cloning at low opacities to a new layer, then using blurred noise on the layer to match the surrounding areas. Duplicating the layer, running a median filter and setting the layer to 50%, can be substituted for the cloning.
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Where did I learn?
Mostly self taught. When your job is doing Photoshop all day, you learn a lot through trial and error.
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Book Recommendations?
Not many good books out there for high end work. But a good start would the Photoshop Bible, Photoshop Power Shortcuts, and of course, the book that really started me off thinking on the right track, Channel Chops. I have started working on my own book...
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Training/Tutorials?
I spill all my secrets into CD tutorials. I am currently redoing a most of them and will probably release them with a book. I am available for on-sight training and consulting as well. Occasionally, I lecture at DVGarage, a multimedia training center in San Francisco, CA.
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Do I Chat Online?
I don't really chat. You know how it goes. You sign up for instant messaging, get busy for a few months, then you forget your password. But I do answer questions when I can on various forums: Double-dome, RetouchPro.com...
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Do I Retouch For Money?
Yes I do. Thanks for asking. Everything from headshots to illustrations to...
Follow this link please.
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Job Market?
Digital PrePress used to be an excellent niche. It paid well and was less competitive than design. In my opinion, PrePress, as an industry, is already dying. It will probably take quite a few years for it to disappear, but as technology gets better, the need for PrePress services decrease. Many PrePress companies are already changing with the times. Some are trying to bring photography in-house, others are focusing on design services.
Already, advertising agencies and design studios are absorbing the complex production aspects of PrePress. This is a competitive field to break into. Agencies are always winning and losing accounts, making job security unstable. Freelance has always been a good way to go with them. Put together a good portfolio book, duplicate it a couple of times, (because you will have to circulate it), and start forging contacts. You could also try to get representation. This would free you up to focus on the work, while reps do the leg work to get you the jobs.
Printing shops are starting to offer more services as well. As ICC profiling and digital printing becomes more of a standard, the need for color correction and proofing becomes easier. Jobs are few and far between in that industry, but they are still out there, and they are probably looking for experienced Photoshop professionals to expand their services. Many of of these jobs are union jobs, but you can always negotiate above and beyond union standards.
We will always need experts in the PrePress industry, but they will have to adapt to the changing technology. It isn't like it used to be, when $500,000 Scitex workstations with trained, high paid operators were needed to trap files and create drop shadows. There are three things that I try to always follow: knowledge, diversity and adaptability. You have to know your tools, learn them inside out. Spend time on forums, learn from other user's experiences. You need diversity, a stockpile of tools, concepts, tricks... You can't build a house with a swiss army knife. Then there's adaptability, the frustrating component. Why spend time learning and buying tools when they're doomed to become obsolete. New versions come out every year, applications completely rewrite themselves. For all we know, PC Paint may someday grow to put Photoshop out of business. Why should we put so much energy into exploiting every single control in front of us? It's because we have to, or we get left behind in the dust. But don't worry, I have found that skills are transferable and will save you when you least expect it.
Good luck, and thanks again for visiting.
Greg Apodaca aka Floyd
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