The Fine Digital Print
Dates – Held all year. Please use contact for information.
Workshop Fee - $900
This 5-day workshop is for those with experience in photography, who want to advance their DSLR capabilities, use these capabilities to photograph in scenic New Mexico, and to create fine prints using Photoshop. The workshop is designed to advance the participant’s capabilities in photography as well as in the creative elements necessary to generate a fine digital print.
The workshop begins with the image itself, working on composition, lighting, perspective, lens and focal length effects, depth of field and shutter speed effects, progressing to some of the more complex problems of panoramas, high contrast scenes, extended depth of field, long exposures and dark scenes, and moving subjects. How the camera operates is explained to provide a basis for better exposure, processing and printing. We will discuss, in non-technical terms, mega pixels, the conversion of the image to a digital image, buffers, and flash cards to clarify what they are and what they do, noise its cause and effects, and the differences and uses of JPEG, TIFF, and RAW formats. Histograms, highlight warning indicators, and over and under exposure controls are covered.
Having this as a basis allows us to then understand the basic controls of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus, and the correction of exposure. This is reinforced by working on techniques for shooting procedures. Several advanced features including exposure priorities, multi-mode metering, multi-mode focusing, continuous shooting and bracketing, mirror lockup, plane of focus, and in-camera processing are fully presented. Though all of this sounds imposing, it is covered in non-technical terms assuring understanding by all participants.
Two field trips will give us the opportunity to use what we have learned and to capture some special and unique images in various locations in New Mexico. Besides the fun of getting out and shooting, these trips provide great images and let us apply, work on, and reinforce the capabilities and techniques learned above through real world situations.
Downloading image files from the camera to the computer is discussed, especially file management including where to file the originals, organizing and naming them. Bridge and the RAW Window, and their purpose and capabilities, are presented and demonstrated. The image is then opened in Photoshop.
It is in Photoshop that the real work of image enhancement and/or modification is made. We demonstrate how layers are used on the overall image to make global adjustments of tonal range, contrast, color balance, saturation and more. Corrections to the image, such as removing spots or unsightly elements, can be made with cloning and healing tools. Perspective can be modified and white balance corrected. The various methods of selecting a part of the image are shown and when to use them. Then layers and masks are again used for that selection to get local improvements such as burning and dodging, local tonal controls, blending this selection in with the rest of the image, and more. Numerous tools and techniques are presented and shown how they can be used. Special capabilities and techniques for image modification that will be presented include: panoramas, high dynamic range images (those that exceed the range of the camera’s sensor), image techniques that increase depth of field, use of the Lab color profile, gradients, photo filters and specialized and customized masks, converting to black and white, adding text, and the basics of compositing. After saving the final image we examine the setup for printing including image sizing, sharpening the image, and the need for color profiles and the effects of and on different types of papers.
There will be some group dinners (price of the dinner is not included in the workshop fee) and evening sessions, to review prints and discuss their processing. Participant’s prints are encouraged for critiquing by all present.
Application