My name is Pratik Naik, a high end retoucher and owner of Solstice Retouch. 

Over the last multiple years, I've searched and discovered some of the best techniques and methods to be able to deliver outstanding results while spending the absolute least amount of time possible. While working with magazines like Elle, Marie Claire, GQ, Harpers Bazaar, and many more, I've had to develop a workflow that is not only incredibly impressive with the result, but also very fast, to be able to meet the demands of some of the best editors and photographers in the world.

As photographers and retouchers alike, time is valuable. With the vast amount of conflicting information out there, it's difficult to find one which covers everything and conforms and customizes itself to your needs.

To add to the complexity, many college level courses simply do not go into this level of detail in their own retouching classes as expressed by my students. Furthermore, some of the best techniques you know at the moment just take an exorbitant amount of time, most of which you do not have! As working photographers, who really has 8 hours to spend on an image when you have deadlines? You want great result, and you want them much quicker.

Attaining the best results while doing the least amount of work possible. It's not a pipe dream, it is known as optimal efficiency and that is exactly what I offer.

With photographers and other industry colleagues expressing interest in wanting a course like this, I decided to make one to fill the hole in demand and offer a course strictly for retouching effectively.

Over time through trial, error, research, and personal discovery, I've learned and developed techniques and methods that are not only extremely powerful, but surprisingly easy to use. I've accumulated only the best methods out there to use in my workflow. That is what I am sharing with you. Let's face it, retouching can be down right painful at times. However, with my methods it becomes much easier to grasp. Once you see my techniques, you'll wonder why you suffered with your old methods. Mostly through self discovery, and partly through findings, I've developed an entire workflow and curriculum that covers everything you want to know about retouching. After this course, you'll be able to tackle any problem that arises with relative ease.

The course itself is 2 full days and covers a semester's worth of material. I fly to you and teach you everything I know on your own setup.

We first start by analyzing your own workflow and methods to see where the problems are. Like going to the doctor, we first diagnose the root problem. You wouldn't go to the doctor if he was diagnosing 20 people at the same time, would you? It's the same with retouching, you need it to be customized to you to attain a viable retouching solution for the rest of your career. Everyone has different areas they need more work on and this helps in customizing the course to emphasize your own weaknesses. 

We then move forward with the course itself for a complete day. I go over everything I know about retouching in every scenario. I not only demonstrate my techniques and workflow but I also give you alternative methods for the same techniques and problem areas. So you see the best and the most common practices in the industry. After all, there are many ways to get to the same destination. This allows you to implement the method you like the best into your own workflow. This isn't a cookie cutter seminar, this is all about you and your results and efficiency.

The course is designed with repetition in mind. It also starts off easy and builds on itself so you feel confident in the progression. With constant questioning and reinforcement, I make sure each point is driven home. Due to the setup, being a one on one scenario allows you to ask as many questions as possible. In seminars, DVD's, and groups, such a luxury isn't always possible due to the non-personal feel of a group setting. One on one classes really allow the course to be catered to you completely.

Once my techniques and workflow are demonstrated in its entirety and everything is clear, we start working on some of your own personal files. We first begin by pulling up images that you tend to have problems with on a regular basis, and show you methods on how to tackle those distinct problems you would like to get over. During this time, we also get through all the questions you may have for any situation.

Finally, I do my demonstrated workflow on one of your images to make sure the points are driven home. I find that when I demonstrate my workflow on your image, it begins to become far more relatable than seeing me work on someone else's image. That is what no other DVD or seminar offers, and mixed with me being right there to answer everything, you are ensured everything is retained.

Finally, as a final test, I make sure you remember everything by making you retouch a full image in front of me, step by step.

The benefit of a one on one course is vastly apparent as you can see by now from the course description. The course itself is customized to you, not the other way around. If you've ever been in a classroom situation vs a personalized tutor situation in school, that experience is very similar to the benefit you get. With dvds, you can't stop and ask any questions. With seminars, you also cannot as many questions as you like either.

Furthermore, the magic of me being there is I get to see your own setup. I get to see how you work and what you may be doing wrong physically. Most of the magic in retouching is not the technique, but how they are executed with your current setup (keyboard settings, tablet settings, your physical input of these devices via brush strokes, monitor settings, so forth). When you see tutorials on screen, you don't get to analyze their physical technique with their hands or what their precise setup is. I get to see yours, and you get to see mine.

You don't see all this when you watch a tutorial on your screen. Do you ever wonder why you see the professionals on your screen perform so well, but when you try to follow along, you seem to be missing that 'something' that prevents you from being able to work like they can when you try the same techniques? I bridge that gap and figure out what it is. The reason is always unique to each person.

Also, teaching you on your own setup is vital to the equation. When you see me work on your own setup, the same setup you work with on a daily basis, due to the familiarity of your surrounding area, the information is retained at a much faster rate. This is why watching someone else perform on their setup doesn't tend to stick with you as well. This is part of the psychology of retaining information.

With a background as a professional photographer, I can communicate with you in ways other retouchers cannot, thus allowing me to communicate techniques explained through the eyes of a photographer, and not just a retoucher. For instance, I can breakdown lighting setups of photographers you like and show you what may differ in your own setup to get where you want to be before the post production begins. I can visibly show you how to manipulate lighting setups in post to reflect what they would have looked like in real life. I can tell you exactly what you need to look for before the post production begins with the rest of your team. We can go over some key aspects of what to look for on set to cut down on the time needed in post. The list goes on. All of that is incorporated into the course itself. Verbage and scenarios that are distinctly unique to my course.

As a personal tutor, we get to analyze the psychology behind retouching as well. We get to figure out what may be causing you problems and we tackle it head on. Building a solid base and customizing the course to your needs allows for complete success in the end.

This course is about you and it's unique because the course morphs to fit your complete needs. You won't find this level of customization, personal care, and openness anywhere in any class, program, dvd, or tutorial.

But don't take my word for it, check out the testimonials below!

The course itself is $750 for two full days plus the cost of flight and lodging. I fly to you and work on your own setup as mentioned above.

I find that two full days is more than enough time to grasp all the information needed at a comfortable pace. If you're a beginner at Photoshop, I recommend an additional day at $150 per any additional day needed.

The course can be taken on any weekday or weekend of your choice. For any questions whatsoever, or if you would like to take the course, get in touch with me at pratik@solsticeretouch.com.

I also have classes suited for a small group of people, for those special rates, please send me a message and we can discuss those details.

Barrie Macleod - http://barriemacleod.com/ [Fashion, Beauty]

I have taken many courses over the years and have gone to many conferences.

There is one “major” difference when taking a course with Pratik and that is that “he truly cares”. He wants you to succeed 100% and he makes sure that happens.

This is not your normal course. Pratik is incredibly patient and he will make sure you understand the process by the time you leave the course and if you have memory problems he will even follow-up with you by email. He doesn’t hide anything either. He’s very generous with his valuable information… 

Bottom line, this is the best course I have ever taken.

Paul Burlingame - http://paulburlingamephoto.com/  [Weddings, Fashion, Art]

Pratik’s 2-day, in person course has changed the way I use Photoshop. Streamlined, simple and much more powerful. It is easy, intuitive, creative and avoids having to memorize long strings of commands with hard-to-find controls. Like a nice clear path through the jungle.

I’ve attended many courses before but this one has made the biggest actual difference, largely due to the personal approach and that fact that Pratik really cares about transferring the information to you. He emphasizes retaining what you’ve learned using just the right amount of repetition and by encouraging & being prompt and helpful answering follow-up questions.

I was impressed by how he tailored the material to address specific topics & challenges I’d encountered in my professional work. He is also a great resource for ideas on marketing your work and optimizing your computer set up and accessories.

Pratik is genuinely curious and interested in every aspect of the photographic process. 

Dan Lydiard - http://danlydiard.com/ [Fashion, Beauty]

The two days I spent with Pratik were an incredible experience. The techniques were easy to understand and yielded superb results. Most importantly he makes sure that you understand everything that is taught by telling you how and why a technique works. Further, he’ll have you demonstrate the techniques and help you feel comfortable with them.

Yaneck Wasiek - http://wasiophotography.com/ [Wedding/Fashion]

Last weekend I had a pleasure to be taught advanced high end retouching techniques by Solstice Retouch. 

So it was surprising that I was beyond excited when I was able to bring Solstice to Chicago for him to pass along some of his amazing knowledge and skills on a one-on-one workshop at my studio. Solstice is usually fully booked way ahead of time so I booked our weekend workshop as soon as he was available. I knew it would be a fantastic way to learn some advanced techniques but Solstice exceeded all my expectations. This guy is truly passionate about retouching, extremely friendly, easy going, and an extremely patient teacher.

The workshop was two days, Saturday and Sunday. The first day Solstice spent analyzing my portfolio, sharing some overall recommendations, watching me retouch, and then showing me his workflow and techniques. We started with proper workflow because without proper organization it’s very easy to create Photoshop anarchy of layers. I often end up with that anarchy so I knew this will help me a lot already. Surprisingly Solstice techniques are not extremely complex. 

The second day we spent Solstice watching me applying all the techniques we learned the previous day. I thought it would a be a boring day me sitting in front of my computer for endless hours. I was so wrong! This was fun! I was totally shocked how after couple of hours of Solstice sitting next to me and correcting me, my tablet painting skills got so much better. I definitely retouch now with a lot more confidence having the final look in mind vs experimenting with different techniques and seeing what I am going to end up with.

Ah… I forgot to mentioned that both my and Solstice passion for photography made us work Saturday from 10am till 2am and on Sunday from 10am till 11pm! 

Mark Kern - http://red5studios.com/ [Game Developer and CEO]

After I saw the iPhoto shoot on fstoppers.com, I knew I had to check out the retoucher on the project, Pratik Naik, founder and owner of Solstice Retouch.

When I went to his website, I saw a stunning portfolio of exquisitely retouched images. They had no tool marks, no over smoothing, no odd color casts…just perfect hair, skin and “naturalness” over a wide range of work ranging from avant garde fashion to sexy glamour shots.

I had to know more…

I called Pratik and asked if he could pass just a glimmer of his skill to me in a few days of teaching. He was more than obliging. After asking me about my photography preferences and current level of ability (rank amateur), he put together an entire program of study for me and agreed to fly down to Southern California to show me his magic.

I’m not a professional photographer, my background being video games like working on World of Warcraft and my latest project, Firefall. But I knew the basics of photoshop and was a serious amateur photographer experimenting with beauty and glamour photography. I knew Pratik had his work cut out for him!

Meeting Pratik, I could not imagine a friendlier, eager and patient teacher! He held nothing back, was open with all his techniques, and discussed the other approaches used by retouchers and their strengths and weaknesses. All training was hands on using my 27” iMac and Photoshop CS5.  

Pratik’s teaching style is a combination of demonstration and hands on learning. He would cover theory and then demonstration application, quickly turning the Wacom over to the student to see how much he had absorbed. It was intensive, and there was a lot of information, but Pratik always paced his lessons to my skill and was very patient answering questions and re-explaining things to me when I didn’t get them.

After just a couple days, I felt I not only had a solid foundation in retouching, but that I was doing so with an eye and attention for detail that I never imagined before. Pratik doesn’t just teach you technique, he teaches you to see, which is the most important part of the process.

I highly recommend Pratik for retouching and as an expert and excellent teacher!

Mark Kern
CEO, Red 5 Studios
www.firefallthegame.com 

For further information, please contact me directly at pratik@solsticeretouch.com