Photography as Art

Planning and taking the shot is only half the story.  In order to communicate your vision—the reason why you took the shot—it is important to have a thorough understanding of the tools available in the digital Darkroom.

I offer processing instruction for all skill levels either in person (Seattle) or via Skype.  Whether you are just starting to shoot raw files and are overwhelmed by the thought of processing an image from scratch, are looking for techniques to give your images a more polished look, or would like to learn how to prepare your finished image for display, I am able to help. 

During a session

I'll share my screen so that you can see what I'm doing every step of the way, as I take you through my unique workflow, start to finish.  We can use an image of yours or one of mine, whatever you prefer.  I'm happy to give a detailed critique of your images as well.  I'll explain what I'm doing and why, and you'll be free to ask questions along the way.  At the end of the lesson you will receive a copy of the recorded session and the file with layers intact for further review on your own time.

Topics

• Developing an Artistic Philosophy

• Developing an organized, completely nondestructive, and highly adjustable workflow

• Shaping the scene and directing the eye through the frame using nondestructive burning (darkening) and dodging (lightening)

• Using adjustment layers and blend modes

• Luminosity and color channel masks and selections

• Hand blending exposures for dynamic range or focus-stacking

• Light Painting to create a sense of light direction

• Adding light

• Preparing the image for web (sharpening and watermarking)

• Sharpening for print

• Warping

• And much more!

All you need is Adobe Photoshop (CS5, CS6, or CC), Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, and Skype (with microphone for screen sharing).  

Book a Processing Session