About the Course

A revolution has happened in digital imaging, and the name of that revolution is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Lightroom has re-written the rules of the game with its ability to perform non-destructive image editing on RAW, JPEG, TIFF and PSD files.

Digital Workflow using Photoshop Lightroom is a five-day intensive course that offers instruction on digital workflow, digital asset management, and printing. You will learn to optimize each image efficiently and interactively in our digital darkroom lab, gaining a full understanding of the basic workflow for digital photography using Photoshop Lightroom.

The first day of the course will begin with a casual breakfast meeting near the Lepp Institute. After breakfast you will be given a facilities orientation and an overview of the course. Participants will then jump in with both feet to the digital workflow with a lecture on mastering the in camera histogram using different exposure controls available on today’s DSLR cameras. Following lunch there will be an afternoon photographic excursion to one of the many beautiful locations near the Lepp Institute to apply your new knowledge of mastering the in camera histogram. The instructor will be available during the field trip for questions. Upon returning to the institute in the late afternoon, there will be a lecture on proper downloading etiquette and the concept of digital asset management using Lightroom.

Day two will cover the Lightroom library workflow that includes organizing, sorting, editing, and finding your images in the library module of Photoshop Lightroom. Special attention will be paid to advanced digital asset management using the various filters built into Lightroom to sort and find your images.

Day three will begin with a photographic field trip. Upon returning to the Lepp Institute after lunch participants will be introduced to the Develop Workflow in Lightroom. Here participants will learn the best workflow for nondestructive image editing and optimization in the digital darkroom.

Day Four will begin with a continuation of the Develop workflow. After lunch participants will be introduced to the print workflow in Lightroom. Participants will be able to produce prints of their optimized images with the latest archival photo inkjet printers.

Day Five will spend the morning introducing participants to the slideshow workflow and web workflow in Lightroom. After lunch participants will be able to continue printing their images on the latest archival photo inkjet pigment printers. The afternoon session is reserved for printing and question and answer time. Participants will finish the course with a solid grounding in efficient digital workflow and several prints of their own images suitable for framing.

What you’ll learn  

• An explanation of the Histogram and how to gain control over it in your camera
• JPEG vs. RAW for image capture
• Fine tuning Color Settings and Preferences to maximize performance
• The need for monitor calibration and suggested calibration utilities
• A in depth discussion of digital asset management
• The editing workflow, including:
• Downloading
• Batch renaming
• Tagging
• Comparing
• Building collections of images
• Finding your images
• The develop workflow, including:
• Cropping and Straightening images
• Basic retouching and spot removal
• Color and tone corrections
• Curves
• Advanced color adjustments using Hue, Saturation & Luminance
• Converting a color image to B&W
• Split toning a B&W image
• Sharpening your images
• Removing color noise and grain from your images
• Correcting lens aberrations
• Making virtual copies of your images and having multiple versions of one image (eg. Color version, B&W version, Sepia version etc) without using up any extra space on your hard drive
• The print workflow, including:
• Choosing the correct profile for your printer/ink/paper combination
• Resizing and sharpening the image for print
• Gain control over the size of boarders you have on your prints, and where your image prints on the piece of paper
• Other topics covered during class include a brief overview of how to present your images to clients and friends using the Slide show and Web modules in Lightroom as well as instruction on preparing your images to be emailed.

Who should attend?

This course is designed for photographers who have started working with digital tools but aren't getting the best results. If you open an image to optimize and don't know where to begin, this is the course for you. If you are overwhelmed by the thousands of images living on your hard drive and don’t know how to edit or find them, this course is for you. The full workflow from capture to print will be covered. Course participants should have a solid understanding of the Windows operating system and be able to download their images to the computer using a card reader and the Windows explorer. Participants should also have a solid understanding of how to move files and folders around in the Windows operating system. Prior knowledge of Photoshop Lightroom is not required.

What should I bring with me?

  We recommend that you come prepared with the following items for this course:

• Yourself, ready to learn and work in a digital darkroom!
• Your digital SLR camera, lenses and a tripod. The Lepp Institute is located on California’s beautiful central coast and there are two planned photographic excursions as well as time before and after class to create images.
• A good pair of sturdy walking shoes of hiking boots. The photographic excursions will involve hiking on dirt trails and uneven ground.
• About ten to twenty of you’re own images (Digital files required - make sure CD's, flash drives or portable hard drives can be read by Windows machines) to work with during the course.
• If you need them, a good pair of both reading & regular glasses. There will be a lot of time spent looking at a computer screen – you will want to be able to read the type! The classroom is also set up with two front projection screens, so you will need to be able to focus clearly at a distance as well.

Schedule-At-A-Glance

Here is an outline of the topics to be covered so you'll have an idea of what to expect:

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