This workshop is really two workshops in one. The morning will be spent discussing and demonstrating practical portrait shooting. We will cover the various lighting options, including natural light, studio lighting, reflectors, and flash. We’ll also go over different types of portraits, from studio to environmental, candid and posed as well as how and when to engage the subject. Models will be available, and during this time you’ll have a hands-on opportunity to take some portraits yourself.

After lunch (provided), We’ll provide a lesson in how to retouch the portraits you’ve just taken. You’ll learn an effective overall approach, as well as some specific techniques for real-world portrait cleanup and enhancement. Several Photoshop tools will be demonstrated, including the healing brush tool, spot healing tool, patch tool, clone stamp tool, and more. You will see how to use separate layers for each enhancement, allowing you to adjust them individually, or discard them if you choose. Some of the layer modes and their practical uses for portraiture will be explored. There will also be some use of layer masks and adjustment layers.

The techniques covered will help you with frequently sought portrait enhancements, including reducing wrinkles, removing skin defects, skin smoothing, removing and adding hair, correcting uneven color and tone, removing visual distractions, fixing teeth, brightening eyes, enhancing lips, sculpting. You’ll also learn when how far to go with enhancements and when not to use them.

Equipment

All participants bring to the session a DSLR camera with manual controls for shutter speed and aperture. This is not a beginners’ course, and you need to be familiar with how your camera works.

All participants must also bring to the session a notebook computer with Photoshop CS2 or higher (Not Limited Edition or Elements) installed. Students must have the Adobe Camera Raw plugin installed and be able to open raw files before the class begins. Photo Gurus cannot provide support for installation of Photoshop, ACR, or other computer issues. If you are having any difficulties with this, Photo Gurus can recommend a local computer support person who can take care of the requirements for a reasonable price.

This workshop will take place at the Newton Library meeting room, located at 13795-70th Avenue Surrey. Attendance is limited to 20 participants.

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