Creative Spotlight: Mark Cornellison Retoucher

Posted August 23rd, 2011 by Lou

It is appropriate that in the land of hobbits, and elves and wizards that Mark Cornellison found his calling to becoming a retoucher. He loves using his talent along with his computer to create realistic, other worldly environments to frame people and products and, especially, cars. But how did this Washington state native end up moving to New Zealand to be inspired by the land where director Peter Jackson recreated JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy? I sat down with photography retoucher Cornellison to get the story and ask if hobbits are really as small as they seem in the movies.

Influenced by his father’s passion for cars and pictures, Cornellison has been a car enthusiast and a fan of photography since he was a kid. Deep in the back of his mind he knew there was a job out there in which he could indulge both interests. He just didn’t quite know the path to that end when he was working in print production at Seattle-based advertising agency Radarworks (formerly BBFM).

As he gained an expert, hands-on knowledge of the print world on mega accounts like Microsoft and T-Mobile, Cornellison was often asked to step in and help with Photoshop retouching duties as well. His coworkers took note of Cornellison’s creative proclivities and assumed Photoshop was in his skill set. Not one to back away from a challenge, or tell anyone that he wasn’t a Photoshop expert, Cornellison picked up the mouse and started teaching himself how navigate the imaging software.

The results earned him a fantastic reputation in print production circles. A reputation that opened doors and got him offers at other agencies, such as Wong Doody. However, moving around the Seattle area lacked the adventure that Cornellison and his wife, Charisa, needed. So they looked to the other side of the planet. One trip to New Zealand was all it took. They found a new place to dwell.

Packing up and leaving a successful career in your home city to start a new adventure in a foreign country is not for the faint of heart. But as Cornellison puts it, he was the right age, with the right attitude and he was married to a woman with the same passion for bold adventure. When Mark and Charisa landed in Christchurch, New Zealand it was an exciting and scary time.

After a few weeks of taking in their new country, meeting new people and learning to drive on the left side of the road, Cornellison set out to get some work. He started, as we all have, with a list of phone numbers and telephone to start the dreaded cold calling process. Almost immediately he noticed a significant difference between New Zealand the the United States.

“Hello my name is Mark Cornellison and I’d like to talk to someone about getting some work in the print production department of your agency.”

“Oh that sounds great, let me get the owner for you.”

“Hello this is … how can I help.”

Unlike the US, the owner of the ad agencies are part of the crew in New Zealand. Cornellison was astounded at the ease that he was connecting to high level people. Unfortunately there were no immediate job opportunities, but Cornellison felt like he had made a genuine connection to the decision makers.

While Cornellison was connecting with the ad agencies in Christchurch, he also reached out to a photographer named Diederik Van Heyningen who took Cornellison on as an interim retoucher assistant. Van Heyningen shoots cars and people, Cornellison’s favorites. Working with Van Heyningen in the exotic locations found in the outlying hinterlands of New Zealand, Cornellison had found his sweet spot.

During this time he had the opportunity to add to his photographic post-production techniques and apply them to the images that Van Heyningen was shooting. It was the ultimate school of experience and a taste of what he hoped to do much more often.

Eventually a position opened up at one of the design/ad agencies in Christchurch and Cornellison decided to accept the position and the steady work. The laid back corporate style at the New Zealand agencies afforded Cornellison the opportunity to switch between several roles at the agency. Along with his print production duties he was consistently called upon to do retouching and photographic post production work for the agency’s clients.

In April 2010, Cornellison decided to go freelance with his post production skills. Things were moving along for Cornellison and his family until September 4, 2010. The Canterbury earthquake shook the region and as natural disasters do, alter things considerably.

Cornellison and his family thankfully did not sustain any damage or injury. And just as things were starting to fall into a post-quake recovery phase, Christchurch was struck with a significant aftershock in February 2011 which devastated the city. With the economy heavily affected and some family concerns back in the US, Cornellison and his family decided to move back to Washington state. It wasn’t an easy decision. He and his wife had been in Christchurch for nearly five years. They owned a house and had their first child there; it was home.

Cornellison’s wife was the first to return to Washington. Welcomed by family and friends who were thankful for that she was safe, she settled down in the southern part of Washington. After tying up some loose ends, Cornellison soon joined his wife, son and soon-to-be-born second child.

The adventure that started with a trip to Jackson’s Middle Earth had returned to where it had started. But there was one significant difference. Cornellison found what he was looking for when he left to go live in New Zealand. And he was awesome at it. His two passions combined to provide him with his new career.

And yes, I did ask Cornellison about the hobbits. He told me that if I gave him picture of a landscape that he could return it to me with as many hobbits as I wanted. It is after all what he does for a living.

Bentley before