Welcome!

Welcome to Digital Photography, Photoshop, and Digital Printmaking! Over the next 10 weeks my goal is to help you take, edit and print better pictures. We'll start with the basics of how to use manual settings on your digital cameras, then move into editing your images in Photoshop. The end goal of this course is to make a series of beautiful digital prints or a bound photo book portfolio.

A bit about me: My background is in food photography, shooting for newspapers, magazines and cookbooks. I am currently working on my first solo cookbook based on my blog, The Forest Feast which comes out next year. I shoot with a Nikon and use Photoshop daily!

Here's a basic overview of what this course will entail. (This may change depending on the pace of the class and student interests).

Week 1:             Intro

• Introducing the group: Looking at each other’s work.
• Learning from the masters: What makes a good photo?
• Digital Camera Basics: F-Stop/Aperture, Shutter Speed, priority settings on camera, Flash, White Balance, ISO, lens length, motion control, light meter in camera.
• Shooting in RAW (RAW vs JPG)
• File type and size basics (jpg/tiff/psd/png/pdf, etc…).
• Thinking ahead: creating a cohesive series

           

Week 2:              Camera Raw

• Intro to Camera RAW in Photoshop (processing images)
• Setting up proper color management on your computer
• Landscape Photography
• Night Photography: understanding ISO and long shutter speeds
• Natural light:  paying attention to shadows
• Composition, color temperature, cropping
• Loading images onto your computer, back-up, storage, file sharing, labeling.

Week 3:            Intro to Photoshop: Tools Overview

• Review of Camera Raw processing, exporting as Hi-Res Jpgs.
• Intro to Photoshop (tools and basic adjustments)
• Lighting Demo: Using Flash and shooting indoors (on and off the hotshoe)
• Portraiture with a small studio set-up

Week 4:            Portrait Retouching + Masks

• Portrait retouching: Cloning, healing, patch tool, content aware fill
• Intro to layer masks and adjustment layers
• Sharpening

Week 5:            Digital Workflow/Critique

• Improving your digital workflow: shortcuts and organization.
• Bridge (renaming and rating)
• Scripts and Actions
• Wacom Tablets
• Group Critique of student work- choosing a direction for your final portfolio

Week 6:            Preparing for Print

• Preparing your images for print
• Large scale printing
• Output sharpening
• Different types of print processes
• Choosing the right paper type for your image
• RGB vs. CMYK
• ICC profiles
• Lab suggestions
• Monitor calibration

Week 7:             Compositing/Selection Tools

• Creating collages with selection tools (pen, lasso, magic wand)
• Combining images (compositing)
• Double Processing Raw files for Exposure
• Preparing for the final project: Photo editing for a strong series

Week 8:            Creative Effects in Photoshop

• Creative Photoshop Effects (collage making, blending modes, actions, etc)
• Black/white, sepia, vintage filters
• Photoshop + Design (scanning and manipulating images)
• Photomerge (for panaorama views)

Week 9:            Web Presentation

• Saving images for web (scripts, color profiles)
• showcasing your images online
• embedding copyright + watermarking
• options for creating your own blog or website

Week 10:            Final Portfolio Review

• The broader photography community: photo clubs/organizations, selling prints, juried exhibitions, contests etc.
• Final Class review and group critique of student portfolios and final (book) projects