Camera Raw Beyond the Basics with Scott Kelby

Just as layers are the most powerful feature in Photoshop, curves are the most powerful adjustment. So powerful, in fact, that many adjustments you normally use (such as brightness and contrast, levels, and color balance) are actually simplified versions of curves. With that in mind, if you can master curves, you can master adjustments - and Ben Willmore will show you how.

In his latest class, From Oz to Kansas 2.0, master photographer Vincent Versace takes the student through the various processes and conversion options using both Photoshop and several 3rd party plug-in options. The result is a thorough explanation that yields impressive control over a wide variety of subtle aspects of black and white images converted from color originals. You will learn several conversion techniques and methods for blending various conversions with one another to give you, the artist, a finished image that is the exact image you saw in your mind's eye when you first considered your image. From tradition and theory to practical implementation, From Oz to Kansas 2.0 is exactly the kind of class that has helped Versace develop his loyal following.

Frank Doorhof's unique style has earned him success in the world of fashion and glamor photography. In this course, Frank sits down in our studio and teaches viewers some of the Photoshop techniques he uses when creating his images. The course starts with an in-depth Q and A session in which Frank discusses the importance of light metering, creating a web presence, and some advice for choosing a studio space. From there, the rest of the lessons feature Frank at his computer, taking viewers step by step through his post-production workflow. Frank covers things like skin smoothing, cleaning up backgrounds, working with channels, how he creates images with high tonal contrast, adding noise and color tint, and how he likes working in the raw image formats.

In the second part of this series, Dan Margulis works through a new set of images while demonstrating his methods for color correction. Dan moves images into and out of the LAB color space, he uses his Man from Mars method, employs channels as layer masks, and makes sharpening adjustments using filters. Throughout the course, Dan urges viewers to question what constitutes a bad image and which version of an image is truly the original. Find out how to improve the color quality of your digital images by following along with this course.

Dan Margulis hosts this in-depth session on digital image color correction. Dan shares his expertise as he takes viewers through a series of photographs and reworks the color values using a combination of Photoshop tools and actions.

True mastery of color requires not only knowing how to use the various color tools available to you, but also knowing how to choose between them, when to apply them, and why to apply them to achieve specific color effects. You can combine all of this new knowledge to craft your own unique artistic signature style. Put the unprecedented power and precision of digital color to work for you and your images now.

Learn how to use the color adjustment tools in Adobe Photoshop CS4 to achieve unprecedented control of your images. Learn how to make every adjustment tool more precisely target specific components of color using blend modes and selections / masks that allow you to target specific hues or luminosity values.