RMSP Weekend
Course Information

Saturday

Session I
Photography Basics
Light and time are the basic essentials of photography. Regardless of whether you choose to use a digital or film camera, this will never change. This beginner class is an introduction to the use of the digital SLR or 35 mm film camera. Topics include understanding shutter speeds, f-stops, focal length and ISO.  Basic equipment needs such as tripods, cable releases and lens shades will also be discussed. If you are serious about moving the dial from program mode to manual mode, this is the class for you.

Understanding Your Digital Camera  
If you want to understand the intricacies of digital cameras, this class is right for you. We show you the strengths of the digital format while covering topics such as reading histograms, setting the ISO, using white balance, understanding the conversion factor and cleaning your camera’s sensor.

Understanding Exposure: Using the Zone System for Color
Introduced by Ansel Adams for use in black and white photography, the theory of the Zone System is used today as an advanced method for metering in color. This method helps you achieve accurate and consistent exposures in difficult lighting. By understanding the skill of pre-visualization, you can create stronger compositions with accurate exposure whether you are a documentary, portrait, still life or landscape photographer. Principles learned in this class apply to digital and film photography.

Session II
Beyond the Basics (Photo Basics II) 
Understanding the difference between how your eye sees light and how the camera captures light helps you portray your subject in a way that mirrors your intentions. This class moves beyond the basics to help you understand important aspects of your digital or film camera.  Topics covered include exposure and metering modes, focus options, reading a histogram, outsmarting your meter and the benefits of bracketing. Learning more about your camera ensures more consistent success as a photographer.

Importing and Organizing Your Images Using Adobe® Lightroom® 
When it comes to storing digital photographs, shoeboxes and filing cabinets are out and computers and hard drives are in. With the ease of producing hundreds of photographs per day, getting these images into your computer and keeping them organized is a crucial step. This class shows you how to use Adobe Lightroom to streamline your workflow. Topics include automating the download process, efficient methods for selecting your best images, as well as adding and using metadata to both organize and quickly find your photographs.

Macro Photography
Getting closer to your subject is a good rule of thumb to follow in photography.  In macro photography, it is both essential and rewarding. This beginning class introduces you to the extraordinary world of macro. You learn about the options for close-up equipment, how to work with and manipulate light for small subjects and the design principles for composing macro images that pop!

Session III
Understanding Light
As a photographer, understanding qualities of light is essential to creating photographs with impact. You learn how your camera, whether digital or film, interprets the color, intensity and contrast of your light, and most importantly, how this differs from how the human eye sees light. Topics include both indoor and outdoor lighting, the basics of on-camera fill flash, camera filters, color temperature and how to choose the right type of lighting for your subject.

Low Light and Night Photography
Just because the sunset is over doesn’t mean it is time to pack up the camera. As a matter of fact, the fun is just beginning. This class is packed with different techniques that make you want to grab your camera and stay up all night experimenting. We introduce you to painting with light, ghosting, capturing fireworks and lightning and working with the moon and star trails in the night sky. Also covered are basic equipment needs for nighttime photography as well as exposure concerns.

Processing Your Images: The First Steps
Whether you are working with Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop or Elements, the latest software allows photographers unprecedented control over both raw and jpg images. The instructor will lead you through the important initial steps of image correction and enhancement. Topics include the advantages of working with the raw file format, correcting a photograph’s color balance and exposure, converting your images to black and white, and enhancing your images through the use of curves and the hue, saturation, and luminance sliders.   

Sunday

Session I
Processing Your Images: Fine Tuning with Layers and Masks  
Since the advent of our art form, photographers have known that the camera alone does not produce perfection. A little lightening here and darkening there always improves the look of a photograph. This class introduces you to the tools that both Photoshop and Elements provide for fine-tuning your images. Topics include creating a step-by-step workflow, the theory of layers and adjustment layers, and using selections and masks to correct and enhance local areas of your photographs.

Composition
In photography, it is true that you only get one chance to make a first impression. The way a photographer uses lines, shapes, colors, point of view and equipment when composing a photograph determines how people react. This class covers the basics of visual design, including the rule of thirds, symmetry, using lines to create perspective, the effect of cropping and more.

Photographing People
Documenting personal moments is one of the joys of being a photographer. However, learning how to interpret moments with a camera, and effectively convey moods and emotions, can be quite a challenge. In this class you learn how to connect with your subject, how to use light to define a face, how to choose the right equipment, composition and the importance of location and backgrounds. The difference between portrait and documentary photography is also discussed. This class is for the photographer looking to make eye-catching portraits in a digital world, saturated with every-day snapshots.

Session II
Sports and Motion
It takes a quick and well-trained eye to be able to capture action that happens in a fraction of a second. Sports photographers have to be able to anticipate a situation using whatever equipment they are carrying and in whatever light (and weather) happens to be available to them. Our instructors share their knowledge of what it takes to properly prepare for shooting sporting events and how to use color, angles, shadows, motion as well as your camera’s settings to ensure that your images turn out as lively as the actual event.

Sunrises, Sunsets & Flowing Water
There is no doubt that sunrises, sunsets and velvet-like waterfalls are among the most visually appealing elements in the natural world. Capturing this beauty, however, requires more than just pointing and shooting. An understanding of the difference between what we see and how the camera renders it is crucial to creating award-winning images. This class teaches you tips and techniques on composition, filters, field techniques, and making the most of the “magic light.”

Photographic Techniques in Photoshop®
The photographic process no longer needs to end when you click the shutter!  There are many Photoshop techniques that can recreate the look or feel of traditional filters and exposure techniques with the added benefit of precision control.  This class shows you how to create never-before-possible photographs in extremely high contrast situations, mimic the look of a split neutral density filter, shoot and process your own panoramic images, and retouch your own portraits.

Session III
Critique Session  
Sunday’s critique session is an opportunity for you to have your work critiqued by professionals. Our instructors will comment on your images and offer practical, constructive tips and suggestions. All critiques are anonymous. If you choose to participate in the critique session, you may bring up to 2 of your images. Time and the number in attendance will dictate how many images will be critiqued. Images should be digital copies submitted in large JPEG format, ideally 5 to 10 MB (we will not be able to accept prints or slides). You will be asked to submit your images at the registration table on Saturday afternoon. Please label your CD or other storage device with your name and be sure to pick it up before you leave. Windows Vista Users: Please click here for special instructions on burning your image(s) to a disc. Please be aware that RMSP cannot be responsible for lost or damaged images.