Online Fine Art Photography & Photoshop Course 2021

The first step is learning the ‘general’ principles that make good photography. Understanding photographs must communicate an idea. Have design qualities to communicate that idea with speed and efficiency. Photographs must grab, captivate and reward the viewer. I teach you how to achieve this.

The second step is learning the ‘underlying’ artistic principles, to make good photography. Artists work using visual languages to communicate artistically. I teach you the artistic principles developed by old master painters. Why they work. Why we must implement their principles in our photography.

Theories must be transformed to usable actionable conclusions. The solution is codify the artistic principles down to a list of fundamental elements. I teach you those artistic elements, benefits they provide, then skills to apply all the artistic elements throughout the fine art photography workflow.

Broadening your knowledge from narrow photographic to the wider artistic knowledge, catches and solves the problem at the fundamental level. Most weaknesses are artistic, not photographic. Painters provide a foundation of historically proven artistic principles to follow, if we learn from them.

Artistic principles are first applied during composition. I teach you how the best composition can be achieved through a simple process of logical deduction. An easy way to understand that perfect composition is only a logical result of idea interpreted through artistic principles. Logic dictates the composition.

Cameras radically alter tones during capture; destroying the shadow quality in the process. We cannot create beautiful shadow detail unless we factor in these alterations first. I teach you how the camera alters the tones and how to counteract these defects to create beautiful, rich shadow detail.

An efficient process increases your chances of success. I explain how I plan a photograph from home, then refine that plan when on location. My sequence of events when setting up, taking the photograph and camera settings. Every aspect that influences the photographs technical quality when shooting.

Capture is also broken down as a logical problem into two main categories. Technical exposures for print quality, artistic exposures for content. Capture must be seen as ‘data collection’. The photograph is a product of Photoshop, not the camera. I teach digital photography from a modern perspective.

The principles are divided into ‘logical’ and ‘artistic’. ‘Logical’ deals with how we perceive the world. Artistic is about ideas and emotion. Creating an underlying realism, means not allowing anything in the image to contradict our perception of reality,. Therefore logical principles are always applied first, artistic second.

First, we collate the captured data into one image. Composite the exposures together to create a perfect single photograph as if captured by the camera. Blending and masking are the two techniques taught. The composite is then further refined in two ways to become the final artistic photograph.

Second, we apply the ‘logical’, artistic principles responsible for creating the illusion of a three-dimensional world. Contrast, texture, 3D form then spatial depth. Artistic principles making the photograph look ‘real’. This serves as the factual foundation for the final ‘unrealistic’ artistic transformations.

Third, we apply the ‘artistic’, artistic principles responsible for creating all the light, mood, drama and atmosphere. The qualities that create the emotional response, transforming the image from literal rendition to artistic statement. Your personal interpretation. Your unique artistic signature and style.

I’ve earnt my living as a professional photographer for forty-years, that’s a lot of experience to pass on that younger tutors who have not done photography as a commercial full-time career, simply don’t have. – Indeed, many tutors have no ‘real-world’ photography experience except for teaching photography!

One to one tuition means learning at your own speed, making learning more relaxed, enjoyable and less stressful. A better financial investment as you will learn far more, in less time. Your time and money is invested in your progress only. One to one tuition is a personal service brought to your home.

The course creates 27-hours of personalized recordings to continue learning after the course. Every step of the workflow is documented in fine detail for your reference later. Zooms video documentation makes the course a great long-term investment for the future, long after the course finishes.

Artistic, photographic and retouching knowledge all on one course makes the course unique and comprehensive. By learning the complete workflow from one tutor, makes the knowledge consistent and flow seamlessly. This means no workflow knowledge gaps or confusions remain afterwards.