I've always believed that the process of working on images in Photoshop can be a way of becoming a better photographer. Taking the time to observe and alter the visual relationships on screen over time informs how we see when we go out to shoot. For a lot of photographers, it can be a virtuous circle. Photoshop classes are about learning techniques to solve aesthetic problems: for example: how do we create the illusion of space in a photograph, how do we identify the subject, how do we use color expressively, how do we keep the viewer's eye engaged within an image? In other words, the decisions made in image processing and manipulation are inseparable from our ideas about structure and meaning.

Photoshop 1: The Basics

Photoshop 1 is about gaining the skills needed to adjust an image and developing an efficient way of working. We will cover Photoshop's relationship to Lightroom and the place of each program in the digital workflow. During the course, we'll go step by step through the various stages of image refinement. Students will leave the class with a clear understanding of layers, color correction, making local adjustments using layer masks, the use of brushes and selection tools, and basic retouching.

  • How to get the best information into Photoshop through the RAW conversion process

  • How to make local adjustments in Photoshop using layer masks

  • Use of both brushes and selection tools to create masks

  • Color balance; how to identify and remove a color cast; how to adjust files for natural looking color

  • Why to make certain adjustments; how image editing supports the content of the image

  • Basic retouching with the Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush and Content Aware-Fill

Photoshop 2: Expanding Possibilities

Photoshop 2 introduces Photoshop’s more powerful and advanced selection tools, nuanced techniques for making adjustments, refined retouching, and steps for providing a finishing touch to your pictures.

  • Making Selections with Color Range, Select Subject and the Object Selection Tool

  • Soft Light Burn and Dodge Layers

  • Channel Masks for Precise Selections and Expansion of the Tonal Range

  • Low Amount High Radius Sharpening

  • Blend Modes and Advanced Brushwork

  • Using Masks for Retouching

Photoshop 3: Applied Photoshop

Just as necessary as learning technique is knowing how to apply it: what are the problems this image presents? what are its possibilities? In the Applied Photoshop class, we emphasize the application of techniques you already know to enhance your images. We’ll identify what each picture needs to become the best version of itself and then use techniques from Photoshop 1 and 2 to achieve that. New technique will include:

  • Luminosity Masks

  • Automation through Actions

  • Naturalistic Representation of Three Dimensional Space

  • Controlled and Expressive Uses of Color

  • Re-Shaping Light and Directing the Viewer’s Eye

  • Focus Stacking for greater depth of field