Arches National Park, Utah

Digital Workflow Workshop Format
Our digital workflow workshops are designed to give you access to the best digital workflow instruction at a location convenient to excellent wildlife and landscape photo opportunities. The instructor(s) join participants in the field at specified shooting locations, and then return to the classroom with half of the day used for extensive hands-on instruction in a comfortable meeting room between the scheduled morning and evening shoots. Participants are responsible for providing their own transportation, meals and lodging arrangements for the workshop.

Location
The curious landscapes of southeastern Utah seem as if they were created for the amusement of the ancient gods. Arches and Canyonlands National Parks are home to one of the world’s largest arrays of colossal stone arches, soaring spires and balanced rocks. The naturally-sculpted Entrada Sandstone is so rich and varied in its landforms that early explorers believed the immense arches and towering monoliths were, like Stonehenge in England, the monuments of a lost culture.

Throughout the region, the effects of wind and water, extreme temperature and underground salt movement can be seen. The geological features of this area provide the framework for five days of stimulating photography that will focus on the spectacular “big picture” scenics of Arches National Park, Mesa Arch in Canyonlands’ Island in the Sky District, plus Dead Horse Point State Park.

In contrast to the dramatic red sandstone terrain, pinyon pines and gnarled junipers add a splash of green to the landscape. A multitude of other photo possibilities present themselves, including Anasazi petroglyphs, desert washes and the distant La Sal Mountains. Although much of this trip can easily be photographed from the road, several short hikes deliver us to areas of extraordinary photo opportunities. Become part of our photographic quest for fiery light on the land and shoot the incredible panoramas in this corner of the Colorado Plateau.

Instruction
This field workshop is designed specifically for the digital photographer. We spend approximately half of each day photographing a variety of subjects in the field, and the other half in a classroom setting, dealing with the digital photography process and working on the images we have just taken. The emphasis throughout the workshop will be on two main topics: streamlining the digital workflow, and optimizing the digital images through the use of Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom software.

Topics to be covered in depth include:

• file formats for shooting and for archiving
• exposing for digital
• downloading for automatic image organization
• proper file naming
• cataloging of images: Lightroom or other software
• keywording and captioning of images
• the many uses of metadata
• processing the raw file
• using the tools in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom’s Develop Module
• the best color space to use for the best results
• the many faces of Bridge
• creating panoramic images
• color adjustment strategies
• using Photoshop to finalize the image: dodging and burning, adjustment layers and layer masking, controlling luminosity and contrast, sharpening for output
• creating a PDF electronic book
• color managed workflow from input to output

John Shaw has been photographing digitally since the Nikon D1X became available in 2001, and has been using Photoshop even longer (since Version 4). He is a beta tester for both Lightroom and Photoshop, and has been part of Epson’s Stylus Pro fine art printmakers group since 2001.

Pam Atkinson was an early adopter of digital photo technology, starting with the first generation Nikon digital cameras. She has been a Photoshop user since Version 4 was introduced years ago, and added Adobe’s Lightroom into her workflow as soon as it was released. Her particular photographic interests are in graphic design and the emotion of color.

Requirements
Participants should have a fundamental working knowledge of their digital camera and basic familiarity with either Photoshop or Lightroom. They should bring a laptop computer with one or both of these programs pre-loaded (30-day free trials of both programs are available from www.adobe.com). Both Mac and Windows machines are welcome!