The Class I Want to Take

[Elliotte Rusty Harold]

(Would have posted this in the Workshops forum but that seems just for announcements.)

A quick note to all the instructors and teachers here. Lately I've been looking for a hands on Photoshop class focusing on intermediate to advanced postprocessing of bird images. Briefly, how do you take a good image out of the camera and make it a great one? My ideal class would:

1) Be one to two days in length.

2) Not cover basic Photoshop or Lightroom. I.e. assume everyone already knows how to import photos and use the color picker. This is not a beginner's class.

3) Focus more on the what and why than the how. For instance, how much to crop in what aspect ratio to get a good composition and why would be an interesting topic. How to use the crop tool would not be.

4) Spend some time working on instructor supplied images, and some time working on student supplied images.

5) Have decent sized monitors and graphics tablets to work from. (Even a 17" laptop is less than ideal for photo work.)

While I might be willing to travel to an interesting location for the right class, it would of course be much more feasible if it happened locally, which for me means New York City. If anyone wants to teach a class like this here, I could probably help you recruit students and perhaps find a location or a local partner. (There are a lot of Photoshop schools and classes here, but none that really know anything about birds.)

If anyone is teaching a class like this anywhere, send me an email. If anyone wants to teach a class like this in NYC, definitely send me an email.

[Rosie Green]

Mirrors my thoughts exactly! Could you also set one up in London UK while you're at it!!!!?

[Arthur Morris]

ERH, Lots to say on your comments :).

1-First of all I am pretty good at Photoshop but I am not positive that I know how to use the Color Picker....
2-You state that you want to learn "how much to crop in what aspect ratio to get a good composition and why..." Just for the record books, that would be out of the realm of a Photoshop course...
3-Working on instructor supplied and student images is a great idea in the right setting.
4-The costs of setting up an array of "decent sized monitors" would be extremely high as would securing a venue.
5-You wrote, "Even a 17" laptop is less than ideal for photo work." I am not sure that I would agree completely with that. For the past ten years I have optimized all of my digital images on laptop computers. Those images have sold consistently and more than a few have been honored in the world's most prestigious nature photography contests including BBC, Nature's Best, and NWF....
6-You wrote, "There are a lot of Photoshop schools and classes here, but none that really know anything about birds." You are 100% correct. But so realize that the course that you are looking for will never exist because of the great expense involved.

You can however, get exactly what you want. How? Hire a private Photoshop tutor. In your area I know that Denise Ippolito offers individual Photoshop tutoring. She is killer-skilled in Photoshop and is about as creative as anyone I have ever met. And she knows how and why to crop an image :) And you know how to contact her.

On a related note Denise and I are running a weekend workshop in Staten Island, NY this December. I e-mailed you the details. We will be making a formal announcement soon. The Sunday portion would likely be very helpful for you. Not to mention my Digital Basics File (https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=252); though it is written so that a fourth grader could follow along it is the rare photographer who I've met who have mastered all the concepts in DB.

[Charles Glatzer]

We host a 2/3 day Advanced Photoshop seminar each year, covering advanced selection and masking, smart filter actions, edge masks and advanced sharpening blend mode techniques, mask modification, blend modes, multiple tool applications, and much more. We try and screen potential participants to make sure they are at a level to make the most of the class. This is not for beginners! Contacts us for future dates, etc. PS instruction in a group environment can provide excellent instruction provided the participants are closein their knowledge base. For many one on one is the most beneficial way to maximize the learning experience, as the instruction can be tailored to the participants level and goals Info@shootthelight.com Chas currently in Iceland.