So regarding the fact that I am inexperienced in this field, I was wondering to what extent do photographers retouch photos? Do most photographers prefer individuals with perfect skin? Or does the body shape and facial features matter more and the retouching of skin blemishes more trivial? Thanks for your time!

Well, most photographers prefer having to do as little photoshop (touch-up) work as possible.  With that being said, they will not let a blemish(es) get in the way of them getting that shot.

Is that your real question? Or are you just concerned about your own skin?

I like retouching photos. I like doing it "less" rather then "more" but it's still enjoyable. "Perfect" skin doesn't exist, and that fake looking skin is kind of going out of style. I just remove any major blemishes and let the rest be.

I do as much as I can do; I use a MUA and am critical of the poses and lighting in my images.  I remember one time while shooting w/ my mentor we finshed shooting a look and the model did a clothing change before we noticed a couple of single strands of hair over her lips in the images.  He had her change back into the original clothes and we re-shot.  I pointed out that we could fix it in post, but he said "why should we, we shouldn't have to".  The point is that the better you can get things to look in the camera the better your image quality will be. 

Of course, nobody's perfect which is where talented PS professionals come into play.

I retouch as necessary. when casting I look specifically for models with good skin.

Thanks for all the replies! And yes this is my real question because I don't plan on making modeling my career, this is just out of curiosity as someone who has no experience in this field.

I think a part of a models job is to take care of herself and try and keep her skin as best she can and not completely rely on photoshop but no skin is perfect, you can search before/after retouching in google to see the differences if you like or ask here for before/after skin examples =]

You need to perfect the image as much as you can before post production, the lighting and everything must be as spot on as possible. Post production comes in to play after that, then we try to keep everything as real as physically possible while removing any visual obstructions (best way to put it) in the picture to maintain aesthetic symmetry. We aim to keep the vision and enhance upon the vision of the photographer and makeup artist without taking away from it.

+1

everywhere you read, it's about getting the shot right the first time so that way you're not spending as much time behind the monitor trying to fix it. less time photoshop = more time shooting= more business ($$)...at least that's the idea.

it all depends on the model, shot, and retoucher in question. sometimes you have alot of work to do and others not as much.
get yourself a quality photoshop program and experiment.
then get a gallery of your work going and if people like your skill you will become very successful
its not always the models skin
i always say its all about completing the vision