Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom: Mastering Lightroom

• Instructor: Michael Frye
• January 9-13, 2017 (five days)
• Yosemite Valley, California
• Focus: Digital Darkroom, with some field sessions
• Level: Advanced Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced
• Maximum 8 Participants
• Tuition: $950

This workshop is run by The Ansel Adams Gallery. Please see their website for more information.

This workshop is full! Please contact The Ansel Adams Gallery to get on the waiting list.

Lightroom has rapidly become the software tool of choice for many photographers because it’s simple, yet powerful – easy to use, but sophisticated enough to get great results with almost any image. In this class I’ll introduce you to the essentials of Lightroom, then help you dive into this program’s most sophisticated features. You’ll learn how to process images from beginning to end, using Lightroom to amplify and express your original vision for the photograph. You’ll learn how to use Lightroom’s tools, from the simplest to the most sophisticated, in easy-to-understand, hands-on lessons.

Although the primary focus of this workshop is on Lightroom, we’ll also go into the field most mornings and evenings to capture Yosemite’s beautiful winter landscape – including the opportunity to photograph the rising full moon on two, or perhaps even three evenings (weather permitting). To help you make the most of these field sessions, we’ll cover the fundamentals of exposure, depth of field, and composition. This workshop is designed to help you master the entire photographic process, from before pressing the shutter to processing your images, in order to make photographs that better express your vision.

Here’s a partial list of the topics covered:

The Digital Workflow
– Importing images into Lightroom, and avoiding common pitfalls
– Editing and keywording
– Raw image workflow
– Finding the perfect white balance
– Balancing contrast with Lightroom’s Highlights and Shadows tools
– Mastering curves
– Dodging and burning with the Adjustment Brush
– Sharpening and noise reduction – making large prints from small cameras
– Converting to black and white
– Automation – syncing adjustments across multiple images
– Blending exposures with Lightroom’s HDR Merge and Panorama Merge

In the Field
– Reading histograms and getting perfect exposures
– Creating simple, strong compositions
– Understanding the photographer’s most essential tool – light

This class is designed for photographers of all levels except real beginners. Participants should have some photography experience and be familiar with the operation of their camera. A digital SLR or mirrorless camera is recommended, but an advanced compact camera (with complete manual operation and Raw mode) is okay. Some prior experience with Lightroom is required. You’ll need to bring your own laptop for this class.