Color Processing Fundamentals

4 sessions online – 2 hours per session

Instructor: Rich Seiling

To share the vision we capture while photographing requires a refined level of processing. Processing is an art unto itself, one that requires skill and vision, and is needed to bring forth the full vision of what you saw in your mind’s eye the moment you pressed the shutter. Expressive processing requires knowing more than where all the sliders are; it takes a vision for what a photograph can be, how light and subject can be expressed to best communicate the elements of a photograph, and how to translate that vision through our screens and in print. For many, processing is a frustrating experiences, a barrier that keeps them from fully expressing, and enjoying their photographs. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Bad results come from trying to fix the wrong problem. That shouldn’t be surprising as it’s the way everything works. If your car is out of gas, putting more air in the tires won’t help you. You need to correctly diagnose the problem and address it with the right tool. By learning to do that with your photographs, you’ll get better results and processing will be easier and more enjoyable.  This workshop will teach you how to look at your processing decisions through five decision points. It will give you a blueprint that can help you solve any problem, develop an awareness of what a photograph can become, how light and subject can be expressed to best communicate the elements of a photograph.  This is not your typical processing workshop that teaches you how to use a tool. It’s about learning the vision that will guide you to better processing decisions that will help solve the problems common to all photographs, and how to fine tune your photograph to elevate it to a work of art. The techniques you’ll learn in this class are applicable to photographers of any skill level. It will equip you to get better results immediately, while laying a foundation for continued growth. It’s a lot easier than you think, and will give you a straightforward and rational workflow that will help you solve your problems.

Rich Seiling’s passion for capturing light and beauty with photography has led him on a series of adventures that have shaped his vision and view of the craft. From a stint at The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite as an assistant curator, to his pioneering work in digital printmaking, founding of a leading fine art printing studio, and 22 years living in and photographing the Yosemite region of the Sierra Nevada, Rich has deeply explored the vision and craft of photography while continuing to express his own vision. He learned photography in the darkroom, seeking to make prints with the rich tonal scale exemplified by the West Coast traditions of photography. But his frustration with color processes lead him to explore digital photography starting in the early 1990s. Combining his darkroom knowledge with digital tools led to a process for making color prints of museum quality that pushed the process to new heights. His reputation for making vibrant yet realistic digital prints allowed him to help photographers like Galen Rowell, Jack Dykinga, Robert Glenn Ketchum, and many others, make the transition to digital fine art printing. With his team at West Coast Imaging, he has helped produce numerous museum shows, supplied prints for leading galleries, and done prepress for art books from publishers like Taschen and Houghton Mifflin. His simple yet powerful Photoshop workflow, tested on tens of thousands of prints at WCI, is in use by many top professionals, and has been taught to countless students across the country through workshops and lectures. Working in both black & white and color, Rich strives to capture the profound beauty of nature and communicate it through vibrant, and sometimes large, prints. He considers himself a student of light, discovering its qualities and how it communicates the inherent realities of a subject, often seeking out fleeting moments of rare light that make the landscape sing its own voice. Driven by the belief that each photographer has a unique story only they can tell, Rich teaches the art of photography through workshops and articles. His goal is to help students unlock their potential to tell their own stories by helping them gain control of the craft, expand their vision, and most of all, to experience the enrichment and joy that photography brings. Rich lives just outside Nashville with his wife and creative partner Susan, and his three children. You can see more of his photography at richseiling.com and read his blog for photographers at craftingphotographs.com