My journey as a photographer began when we still had dark rooms to process images and film to capture images and this has really helped this old school photographer in a new school world in all sorts of ways!
In this new brave world of Photoshop, my mantra to my students is always, get it right in camera first…if you have to rely on Photoshop to fix an image or get it popping, then really what you are is a graphic designer. We had to get it right in camera during the analog days and this practice still sits with me in this digital age. I like to think outside the box to create visual effects that most will only attempt to do in Photoshop.
Why? Why do I do this? Three reasons.
First, by creating my own visual effects, I make sure that the image I produce is unique and not easy to replicate.
Second, as a commercial shooter, I am required to hand over RAW images at the conclusion of a shoot with no room for Photoshop editing or cleanups. This forces me to get whatever I need to get done in camera, right the first time!
And third, this process keeps my creative juices flowing. It forces me to rely on me to produce works of art!
Below, is a wintry image I created using bits of paper napkins to produce a falling snow effect.
How to create snow VIDEO