Darkroom Dodging and Burning…Getting the Upper Hand
Darkroom Dodging and Burning…Getting the Upper Hand Darkroom dodging and burning is the one thing that seems universally terrifying to many aspiring photographers. Alan honed his skills and artistry working side-by-side with Ansel Adams…transitioning from anxious to confident master. In this 30-minute virtual workshop, Alan will help you be less fearful and more confident by…
Photography Zoom-Ins
Photography Zoom-Ins If you don’t need formal instruction or help on a specific aspect of photography, but would still enjoy hanging out with others who share your passion, then join Alan on the last Sunday of every month (holidays excluded) for one of his FREE monthly “zoom-ins.” He’ll be available to provide informal feedback on…
Black-and-White Film Testing
Intro to Black-and-White Film Testing Ted Orland, Ansel Adams’ assistant before Alan, made the humorous observation that no two light meters seem to agree. Funny, but truer than you might think, and understanding it is crucial to your photographic results. The reality is that the film speed listed on the box is determined by scientific…
Intro to Digital Masking
Intro to Digital Masking Sometimes an image is just a bear to print in the darkroom, even with a solid exposure and strong composition and tonal values. Maybe it needs dodging and burning in multiple areas simultaneously, but you only have two hands. Maybe, despite all the tricks-of-the-trade by a master in the darkroom, the…
Zooming in on the Zone System
Zooming in on the Zone System Some 75 years ago, Ansel Adams and Fred Archer devised a simple (to them, anyway) method for analyzing the various brightness levels of a scene and using that information to anticipate and manage the way those brightness levels would appear in the final print. They called it the Zone…
Exposing Exposure
Exposing Exposure One of the few absolutes in photography is exposure. If you blow out your highlights or lose your shadow detail, you won’t have the raw material necessary to play with and interpret your images in post-processing or in the darkroom. If you take too long to figure your exposure, your scene may have…
Introduction to Selective Masking
Introduction to Selective Masking An effective and compelling silver print is all about tonal quality and nuance. Sometimes the smallest tweak on the smallest element in your image can have an enormous impact on your final result. All too often, though, achieving that small tweak can be difficult or near-impossible with traditional darkroom printing methods,…
Visualization: Where an Expressive Image Begins
Visualization: Where an Expressive Image Begins In April 1927, a 25-year-old Ansel Adams trekked up to the “diving board” on the west shoulder of Half Dome in Yosemite. He made a dramatic image of the monolith using a mild yellow filter to darken the sky a bit..a generally accepted practice in those days. But what…
Post Processing: Small Tweaks for Big Results
Post Processing: Small Tweaks for Big Results Getting the most out of your images doesn’t necessarily means hours in front of the computer. More often than not, a series of small tweaks and adjustments that take 30 minutes or less can make the difference between “ho hum” and “wow.” Using both his own and participant…