Today we’d like to introduce you to Yolanda Coquereau.
Yolanda, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have been retouching photographs as far as I can remember. My father, Victor Avila, was a portrait photographer on 7th Ave, Downtown San Diego for over 40 years. I would go work in his studio after school and eventually ran the studio until his passing. I learned the art of retouching BEFORE Adobe Photoshop. Working on every single photo using dyes, art pencils and sprays. I was so happy when Photoshop came into my life!
I have been doing Photoshop retouching for professional photographers for many years. With the technological capacity of the software, it gave me a platform to bring a more creative artistic avenue in my work. I started to create “dream art” when I saw people (friends) posting cute photos of their children on Facebook, and I would surprise them with an artistic, dream photo!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest struggle is deciding what to make! I sometimes have people say, just make your magic, but there is more to it than that. Sometimes the photos tell me a story right away with what the person is wearing or the expression on their face, and other times its someones only picture that they have and need me to fix it.
When it comes to creating, its a customized process. If its a child, what is the child’s interest, favorite colors, or the color of their special room in which the photo will be hung? Its all about a story. Your story. A challenge I am facing is if I should learn photography! I truly enjoy working on my computer and I do like working as a team with a photographer and client.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Yos Retouch story. Tell us more about the business.
My business is retouching portraits, headshots, event photos, products, restoring old photos. Dream art is making composites, putting over 2 images into one. Fairies, mermaids, animals, its all about imagination! I work with professional photographers, hobby photographers as well as the phone photographers.
In dream art, I custom design each photo to the client. One of my favorite projects was a Fairy Poetry book. 10 pages of the child as a fairy, on different colored flowers with a fairy poem on each page. Photos are bound in an heirloom book that I am sure will be cherished for years.
Dream Art has opened my creativity and I especially love the joy it brings children and adults when they see the final magic. Today, photographs are stuck in phones and computers. Special images should be hanging on a wall in your house so it brings joy, happy memories and realizing sometimes dreams do come true.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck is working with wonderful people and what I do makes people happy! Bad luck, technical problems!
Pricing:
- Dream Edits start at $95-$300
- Restoration starts at $45
- Basic Retouching starts at $25
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yosphotoart.com
- Phone: 619.925.0789
- Email: yosretouch@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yosretouch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YosRetouch/
Image Credit:
Robin Carby Photographer, Parent photographers
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