Do you remember when you mastered your camera enough to get off auto mode? Do you remember that feeling of freedom? All the sudden you felt in control and not so limited by the environment around you. Metaphorically, it was like getting your photographic wings. You found out what you were capable of creating and what your camera was capable of capturing. You’ve been soaring on those wings ever since!
Pushing your creative freedoms further…
A large part of achieving creative freedom is mastering the tools available to you. This blog series is about one of those tools. Photoshop Foundations, is about learning techniques to achieve even more creative freedom. Photoshop is a powerful program and my goal is to teach you just how powerful it is. A huge part of what I do creatively, comes from knowing what my camera and my software programs are capable of. Right now, I know you feel boxed in and tethered to the ground. When you are just getting into conceptual portrait there are so many things to learn and so many tools you can use. Learning Photoshop alone, can feel like your falling into a bottomless pit. You almost want to turn around and run. I have been creating in Photoshop for 20 years. My background is graphic design. I learned to manipulate images long before I learned to properly use a DSLR. To this day, I still haven’t hit the bottom of what Photoshop is capable of and I tell you that to encourage you. Literally, if you can dream it, Photoshop can handle it. It’s just a matter of persistence. To me, its not enough to know the tool exists and what is was generally created to do. Part of the power of learning Photoshop is knowing how to use a tool in unconventional ways. Personally, I want to see all the different things a tool can be used for, not just what the settings mean. True creative freedom comes when what you dream of, you know immediately you can create. You may not know how exactly, but you know the tools are there and it’s just a matter of application.
I want you to to think of each tool as a new way to fly…
I use Photoshop to create my conceptual portraiture for two reasons… 1. I’m broke. What I dream up would literally be huge, expensive, theatrical performances. 2. I’m free. Free to create things that can’t be created any other way. Free to share the things that exist only in my mind. With Photoshop I can literally fly. After this series, you will be able to fly too!
Keep learning, stay inspired and keep #SharingItForward, Caroline
Want to join the “Sharing It Forward” community? Register to receive all the stock, blog posts, tutorials, tips and tricks delivered right to your in box so you don’t miss a thing! All community members will receive a free stock pack of Butterflies you can use freely in your conceptual portraits. No restrictions.
Want to contribute? Shoot me an email! rutland.caroline@gmail.com – I’m always looking for like-minded artists who are willing to share what they have learned. If it is something we have not covered before I will share it on this blog, with a link back to your portfolio, website and social media!
Up-Coming Workshops & Speaking Engagements:
Join me for a FREE Conceptual Portrait Mini-Clinic on SKYPE! March 7th @ 6PM EST! Guest Speaker | Nashville State Community College | February 23rd @ 6:00 PM Conceptual Portraiture Workshop | Nashville, TN | June 20-21, 2015
