The Digital Darkroom: Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary
© Byll Williams
Every wonder how it’s done? From concept to execution, turn average snapshots into beautiful photographs with a step-by-step workshop for Photoshop users. In this six-week course, we will address shooting and masking techniques, grain, lighting and everything else that makes multiple photos work seamlessly as one. Students will learn how to “think” like a digital photographer. We will discuss how to shoot photos for optimal use in Photoshop, which photos work best, and how to shoot and use “Background Plates.” We will also discover the very important difference between Camera RAW and JPG in addition to the basic math of “light matching” and “matching perspective” with multiple photos. In addition, Byll’s “Laws of Photographic Physics” will be revealed, including what looks real and why, and what doesn’t look real and why. Finally, we will learn how to match color, contrast, white and black levels, noise, grain, depth of field, and all other factors that add to the believable end results.
Each week brings a different lecture/discussion with an assignment. Starting week two, student assignments will be critiqued in class with close attention to how each student is progressing. A very basic knowledge of Photoshop is required.
Byll Williams (www.byllwilliams.com) is a commercial and advertisement photographer with more than 15 years of experience. He has close to 100 large-scale national advertising campaigns to his credit including Dell, Compaq, Sony, Playstation, Xbox, Toyota, Nissan, Disney and many others. He has lectured at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and has a self-proclaimed semi-maniacal eye for attention to realistic lighting, sets, and the implementation of Photoshop. Byll currently resides in Santa Monica with his wife and their two dogs, Betty and Bob.
