Overview

Colossal redwoods thrust upward into the coastal fog. The pink blooms of wild rhododendrons take on a translucent glow against the dark greens of the forest. Dramatic seastacks and driftwood accent the wild Pacific coast. One of the world’s most creativity-inspiring and evocative landscapes, Northern California’s Redwood Coast is truly a photographer’s playground, rich with diverse photographic opportunities and a dynamic interplay of sun and fog. Scheduled during the peak rhododendron bloom and mid-week to avoid weekend traffic, we will make the most of our  morning and afternoon field sessions at locations among old-growth redwoods, lupine-covered hillsides, seastacks and cliffs, and the North Coast’s wild beaches. This is the perfect setting for a fun, upbeat, and supportive workshop focused on developing creativity and honing skills. Participants will learn to take control of the finer points of composition, exposure and tonal control, and specialized techniques for approaching this sublime coastal landscape.

This outdoor classroom is a highlight of our Creative Core series, focusing on refining your personal creative vision, composition, and optimization of your images in post-processing, designed and presented by Justin Black and Jerry Dodrill. Your instructors have photographed the Redwood Coast extensively, they know it well, and they continue to draw inspiration from this quiet corner of California.

Creative Vision:

The creation of a truly great finished photograph is part of a process from initial concept and vision through execution in the field to digital workflow and creation of a high-quality, final master file ready for printing or publication. This workshop addresses the two greatest challenges faced by photographers as they advance. The first of these is the tendency for original creative vision to reach a plateau in development, and the second is a digital workflow in need of refinement to make the most of your images.

Justin and Jerry will focus on seeing and ways to unlock creativity in situations that require conceptual and compositional ingenuity on the part of the photographer. In other words, they will answer the questions, “How do I make a great photograph when the subject matter and composition don’t suggest themselves to me, and how do I avoid clichés when the situation offers up  a beautiful composition that is almost too obvious?”

Workflow:

We will teach a logical, effective workflow that ensures the highest quality for your work, as well an image archive that is stable, consistent, and retrievable over the long term, and that ultimately liberates rather than burdens.  We will cover step by step the process from shooting RAW files in the field to optimizing the final image in Lightroom.

Workflow topics to be covered include:

• Exposing for digital
• Processing the raw file
• Color adjustment strategies
• Using the tools in Lightroom’s Develop Module and Adobe Camera Raw
• Creating high-resolution multi-image composites, such as panoramics and focus stacks.
• File formats for shooting and for archiving
• Color spaces for the best results in different media
• Using Photoshop to finalize the image: dodging and burning, adjustment layers and layer masking, controlling luminosity and contrast, sharpening for output
• Color-managed workflow from input to output

The workshop includes eight field sessions, classroom lectures and ample hands-on instruction, critiques, single-occupancy lodging (prorated fee available for double-occupancy or for those who do not require lodging), and all meals and drinks. As always, both instructors will be present to proactively teach, share their thoughts and guidance, answer questions, and assist students throughout the workshop.

Any enthusiastic photographer will feel right at home in this workshop. Justin and Jerry are experienced at successfully accommodating a range of experience levels in photography workshops. The class size is limited to a small group of ten to ensure that everyone gets the time and attention they need, both in the field and the classroom.

This workshop will be operated under a commercial use authorization issued by Redwoods National and State Parks.