Sales & Services




We offer private one-on-one lessons in Germantown, Maryland and practice field sessions in the Washington, DC area to build your knowledge of photography and photography skills, as well as digital post-processing with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. The photography sessions are designed for SLR users, since we will discuss camera operations that may not be available on point-and-shoot cameras. Because the lessons focus on how to use YOUR specific camera, whether Canon, Nikon, or other brand, you will learn in a very practical and hands-on manner.

Lessons can either be structured or used to answer specific questions you already have. Field trips allow practice of the techniques learned and opportunity for practical guidance. Topics may include:


BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY CONCEPT: THE EXPOSURE TRIANGLE

• Using aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to control exposure
• Using aperture to control depth-of-field
• Using shutter speed to freeze/blur movement
• Using the histogram to monitor exposure (for digital SLR users)
• Examining various photos and discussing how the combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO gave the resulting image
• Field practice

CAMERA CONTROLS

• Aperture priority
• Shutter priority
• Manual
• ISO
• Focusing
• Single vs. continuous shooting mode
• Color temperature
• Image quality
• Exposure compensation
• Field practice

EQUIPMENT: CAMERAS, LENSES AND FILTERS

• Camera body options
• Prime lenses
• Zoom lenses
• Wide angle lenses
• Fisheye lenses
• Macro lenses
• Tilt-shift lenses
• Polarizing filters
• Neutral density filters
• UV filters
• Other specialty filters
• Field practice

COMPOSITION

• Discussion of various compositional “rules” and techniques
• Examining various photos and impact of their composition
• Field practice

FLASH

• Fill flash
• Bounce flash
• Flash at night
• Flash diffusers
• Flash exposure compensation
• Field practice

DIGITAL POST-PROCESSING

• Digital Workflow
• Lightroom: Library Module (importing, renaming, cataloguing and keywording files)
• Lightroom: Develop Module (color, tint, exposure, tonality, vibrancy, saturation, healing, etc.)
• Lightroom: Slideshow Module
• Lightroom: Print Module
• Lightroom: Web Module
• Photoshop or Photoshop Elements: Retouching and Advanced Editing Techniques (interface, selections, layers, retouching, color correcting, masks, adding text, etc.)
• High Dynamic Range Imaging
• Editing images from a previous field practice session

FIELD PRACTICE LOCATIONS

Field practice locations can range from photographing in a local park, which can take place anytime, to photographing a once-a-year area event, such as a local fair, parade, fireworks, marathon, or other event. The best location/event and time of day/night will depend on the topics you are interested in learning about and practicing.

COST

Each two-hour “sit-down” lesson in Germantown, Maryland costs $190 for two hours.

Are there two of you at the same level? Share a lesson between two people, and the total cost is only $230, a substantial per person discount.

Field practice sessions may have a higher cost depending on location/distance and entry fees.

GROUP LESSONS AND WORKSHOPS

Are you interested in group lessons and workshops? View information on the series of photography field workshops that Irene is teaching through VisArts in the winter/spring of 2010.