Meeting Times

• Monday 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Description

Reimagine Your Images: The Art of Photo Editing using ACR
Photoshop, made by Adobe, is probably the most well-known and, arguably, the best digital imaging program on the market today. However, accompanying Photoshop is another very powerful program called Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). It originally was designed for processing RAW images (most SLR cameras save an image either in the JPG or RAW format – a RAW image is a much more robust entity than a JPG image, and it’s the format to use for serious digital editing). There are three reasons Adobe Camera Raw may be preferable to Photoshop for digital editing: 

• As wonderful as Photoshop is, its complexity makes mastering it a long-term challenge. Adobe Camera Raw, though still demanding, is considerably easier to learn and use.
• ACR is a muscular program with an extensive variety of editing tools. It has more than enough resources to meet the requirements of many amateur and professional photographers.
• ACR is designed to edit not only RAW images, but also JPG, TIF, and other image formats.

 
What most people don’t realize is that editing is almost mandatory for making a picture look the same as what the naked eye originally saw. Therefore, all images can benefit from at least some editing. At the very least, dark areas should be lightened and light areas darkened, colors should be improved, sharpness and contrast should be added, and distracting elements removed.
 
Further, editing can be used to transform photographs into something entirely different and unique. That’s usually my goal. I create images in ACR that I think are a vast improvement over what my camera captures (you can view some of my edited pictures at www.peterglass.com/portfolio).
 
A very complete handout will be distributed in class. It contains lots of information and will greatly simplify the process of understanding what’s being taught. In addition, the handout will allow you to spend less time taking notes and more time listening and participating in class. You’ll also find it quite useful for review after you get home.
 
The current version of Photoshop (which includes ACR) is available through Adobe on a subscription basis only. The cost is about $15 - $20 per month, which is very reasonable since Adobe upgrades and fixes issues without you needing to do so. (Please note that owning Photoshop is not a requirement for taking this seminar.) And even if you'd prefer using another editing program instead of ACR, you'll find that what you've learned in this class will most likely apply to that program as well. By the way, ACR is the program I use for almost 90% of my digital editing.

Additional Notes

Please Note: A $5.00 material fee is due to the instructor the first night of class. Please bring cash to cover this expense.

This class will be held in Room 163. Subject to change, if needed.