Available on-demand now
Vermont-based photographer Kurt Budliger kicks off the series with a topic we’ve never covered on the NPC stage.
Learn how to:
- Use transform tools to fine-tune compositions
- Rethink framing without traditional cropping
- Discover strong images hidden inside files you may have discarded
This session offers a truly revolutionary way to revisit your archive and see new possibilities in your existing work.
Full Description:
To me there are, and always have been, three elements to truly amazing photographs; Great Light, Dynamic Composition and Emotional Connection or Story. As photographers we can only really control two of these ever important elements; Light and Composition. Much like a lyricist writing and recording a song, after the image is made, we really have zero control over how it resonates with the viewer (or listener) and the meaning they derive from our efforts. And that’s okay, that’s the magical part.
A studio photographer uses strobes, soft-boxes and modifiers with 100 percent control to craft and sculpt the light used to make an image. However, as outdoor photographers we don’t have that luxury. We certainly can do a lot to put ourselves in the right place at the right time to capture interesting and ethereal light and atmosphere that showcases our subjects in the best possible way, whatever we’ve determined that to be. However, once we’re standing in front of our subjects it’s up to us to place the four corners of that rectangle around the world in the best possible way to communicate our intended story and/or evoke an emotional response from the viewer using the visual language of photographic composition and design. I’ve always loved to experience dynamic light and ephemeral events in nature. But if I had to choose a well crafted and dynamic composition or amazing light and atmosphere on the landscape, I’d choose composition every time!
As a self described photographic compositional-ist (yes I made that up) I always strive to get things “right” in camera at the time of capture. Perhaps this comes from having started out shooting film in the early 90s, when that was the only option. However, I’ll also be the first to admit that often times we can improve on our field craft by making modifications to the image framing during post processing, most often done using the crop tool. But there’s a better way…
During this presentation we’ll delve into the powerful, yet underutilized tools found in the Transform tab of Lightroom to refine and perfect our compositions without using the crop tool, which is inherently destructive and limiting. We’ll not only learn what each of these tools does but explore some case studies to demonstrate the how and why these tools can be used to improve the original composition, while also maintaining as much of the original resolution and image quality as possible. The latter being the main benefit to using these techniques.