Absorbing Photoshop World

It’s shortly before the post-lunch session on day 3 of the conference. I have learned a lot, have a book of workshop handouts as bigg as a phone book, and there’s much more to come. Among the important things I’ve learned here: shoot a lot; shoot RAW if possible, thought JPEG isn’t filthy awful rotten if that’s all you have; there are several subtle techniques for sharpening detail and correcting exposure; there several others for processing to black and white; carry your camera all the time (note that I haven’t shot a single frame here, though I have experimented on several from Grand Canyon and Avignon, which I may upload tonight rather than attend evening sessions); print print print; and much more.

My principal conclusion from this is to think like an artist as much as possible rather than thinking like a technician, and to foster that I need to practice technically with the camera rather than at the computer. By that I mean I need to use the computer for evaluating the work rather than endless noodling with Photoshop.

To that end, I’m trying to spend most of my remaining time here listening to photographers as they discuss their work rather than cramming in more adjustment layer tips that are recorded in the handout tome. This session is by Rick Sammon.