June, 2008: MCP + Workshops
Steve Bye
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Adobe Camera RAW:
How to Get the Best Out of Your Images
Tuesday, June 10, 6 - 9 p.m.
WORKSHOP FULL
Instructor: Steve Bye
Fee: $49.50 MCP members, $55 non-members
Class Limit: 10
Location: MCP digital lab
Please note that due to MCP's transition to a data base oriented registration system, registration can only be done during business hours: M - F, 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. We apologize for any inconvenience.
To sign-up call 612.824.5500. Payment by Visa, Mastercard, check, or cash is required to reserve your spot. Please read MCP's Registration for Classes, Cancellations and Refunds, and Class Fees sections before registering.
Description
This workshop will teach you how to use Adobe Camera Raw, an application that comes free with Adobe Photoshop CS2 and CS3, to adjust Raw files from digital SLRs. Raw files supply the full image quality the camera can provide, something jpg images cannot do. Better yet, Raw images allow you to make critical decisions after the picture is taken. Exposures can be adjusted after the shutter is clicked, and various white balance settings can be tried after the picture is taken. You make these adjustments while seeing them previewed in your computer monitor.
With Photoshop CS3, you can now also adjust tiffs files and jpgs. This allows Camera Raw to work with images from scanned film or from cameras that cannot save raw files. The class will teach the advantages in image quality, ease of use, and productivity. Camera Raw can correct many of your photos in ways that Photoshop cannot. Using it in conjunction with Photoshop can yield fantastic images that you may not be able to achieve with Photoshop alone (or at least not as quickly and easily).
If you have not tried shooting Raw files with your digital SLR because you do not know what they are or how to process them, this workshop will show you that it is often easier and quicker (with much better results) to process Raw files than jpgs. If you are considering upgrading to Photoshop CS3 this workshop will provide useful information about the Raw capabilities of the program.
Topics that will be discussed and demonstrated:
+ recover blown-out highlights using the Exposure tool
+ determine proper white balance using presets, the "Eye-Drop" tool, or by eye
+ apply capture sharpening to overcome softness from your camera's anti-alias filter
+ reduce noise that is common with high ISO settings
+ correct for chromatic aberration which is common in wide angle lenses
+ learn the new Raw functionality only available in CS3 and Lightroom
+ recover blown-out highlights with the new Recovery tool
+ add "Fill Light" to open up plugged shadows
+ adjust color saturation without creating out-of-gamut colors
+ apply sharpening through adjustable masks to prevent exaggerating noise
+ adjust hue, saturation, and lightness in the HSL mode
+ create split-toned black and white images
Since the adjustment capabilities of Camera Raw and Adobe Lightroom are the same, only the interface is different, this class is useful to both Camera Raw and Lightroom users. Only Camera raw will be used in the workshop, but the concepts and tools apply to both programs.
Requirements
Students should have some experience with an image adjustment program like Photoshop CS, Elements, Lightroom, or Aperture.
The class is hands-on, with each student using their own iMac computer. Students will practice each concept during class to make sure they understand it. The class is taught on Apple computers but, once within the Photoshop application, the functionality and user interface are nearly identical to Windows. Windows users will easily learn the few Mac computer functions that are required.
Students are welcome to bring in raw files that they would like to use during the workshop exercises, but it is not required.
Bio
Steve Bye is an Adobe Certified Instructor of Photoshop. He has used it extensively since the release of version 4 over ten years ago.
After shutting down his wet darkroom many years ago, Bye's interest in photography was rekindled when the very first photo inkjet printers became available. Though their quality at the time was poor, digital photography using inkjet printers seemed worth investigating. Now, ten years later, he has worked extensively with over seven models of Epson printers, using Photoshop to optimize images for printing on fine art papers and new media that simulate silver gelatin papers.
Bye's strength as a teacher is in explaining difficult concepts in easily understandable terms, a skill learned while at Hewlett-Packard as a trainer, engineer, and manager.
