Craig is just one of 11 professional instructors at the Niagara School of Imaging. REGISTER NOW!
Creating the Dynamic Image
My personal philosophy is that nothing should get in the way of capturing the perfect image...
As much as the digital process can seem to be very technical, getting all that "stuff' out of the way (and out of your head) leaves you completely free to enjoy the precious moments that exist between you and your subject, and to fully explore your creative potential.
During my workshop, you'll discover what I like to call " little disciplines" that will be the building blocks for you to enhance your personal style - freeing you from the burden and fear that can come with a digital workload.
Here are a few tips to get you started...
Behind the Camera:
- I always have my camera set to Tone Low and Sharpness Off. That provides me with the maximum set of options in working with my images, and avoids many exposure problems requiring retouching afterwards.
- I like to work in Aperture Priority Mode as this gives me the control over the look of the image, and allows the camera to select the shutter speed if it varies while shooting.
I then make use of the exposure compensation dial to deal with the subject specific metering conditions e.g.; setting the Exp Comp to - 2/3 will effectively prevent highlights being blown out on a brides dress under bright sunlight. It's surprising how little adjustment is ever needed once those are set!
- That same setup allows me to very easily to add strobes to my lighting. As I am already working with a fixed aperture, the camera and strobes naturally have an easily balanced exposure, as the shutter speed will influence ONLY the ambient light.
You can count on a lot of hands-on time with those lighting and exposure setups during our sessions.
Raw Processing
Working to the tune of a RAW workflow provides wonderful advantages - if you have full control over aspects of processing time and storage space. Be careful of following advice that promises that RAW has the ability to fix " all that ails you digitally...", as you can easily find yourself completely buried in image conversions before you can even manage any image selections, editing, or necessary backup.
Shooting RAW solely for the ability to potentially tweak an image, should be a carefully thought out decision as you will find it comes at a huge price of storage, transfer times and possibly buffer limits that could cause you to miss that "perfect shot" anyway...
You will become very familiar with the RAW format options, whether you actually need them, and how to make the decisions that work best for you!
Renaming your Image Files
By having a system of renaming, you can look at only the file name and be able to tell what that image is, its stage of production, its resolution, and its readiness for delivery. Having such a system in place can avoid the need to open images constantly either to figure out what it is, or in order to locate a specific image somewhere... Here is my system:
Clients names are handy & easily remembered enough for initial search e.g.:
DSC_6538.jpg becomes SUSIEBlue-6538.jpg = Susie in Blue outfit
Common derivatives during post-production:
SUSIEBlue-6538.jpg – Original File *
SUSIEBlue-6538.PSD – original file saved as Photoshop document
SUSIEBlue-6538a.PSD – Initial retouching stage – discarded after approvals
SUSIEBlue-6538b.PSD – subsequent RT stage, prior to final
SUSIEBlue-6538F.PSD – “F” Final PSD - Becomes Source file for future production*
SUSIEBlue-6538F.TIFF - TIFF document usually a final RGB Print file sent to Lab
SUSIEBlue-6538Fweb.JPG – Final File sized and prepped for web display*
Only files with * are archived on project completion
Our Niagara School program will be a fun-filled week of shooting, working with our images, understanding all the steps and options involved, and developing a custom workflow that works BEST for YOU - in short looking at the whole process and taking the fear out of the technical stuff while putting excitement back into your lifestyle!
Sunday, August 20,2006 through
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Designed by Professionals
for Professionals
REGISTER NOW ONLINE!
Join Craig and eleven (11) other instructors at their 5-day, hands-on workshops in August at the Niagara School of Imaging from Sunday August 20 to Thursday August 24, 2006 at Brock University in Niagara Falls, Canada.
