Adobe Camera Raw for Beginners

The big leap for many photography enthusiasts is usually the decision to shoot Raw photos. You probably already know that Raw files contain much better detail, but initially many photographers struggle to get the same quality that they’re getting with Jpegs.

The reason for this is simple. Jpeg files are processed by the camera, sometimes referred to as being ‘baked’. During the baking process your shots have white balance, sharpening, colour settings and contrast applied. This can make it difficult to undo this work later, particularly with White Balance settings. Raw files on the other hand have had nothing done them. In fact the only elements that remain fairly fixed in Raw files are the exposure settings and noise from high ISO numbers, although they can still be modified effectively in Adobe Camera Raw. All the other elements can be changed later, in fact a number of different versions of your shot can be created from the same Raw file.

For many, the main attraction of Raw files is the ability to correct seriously over- or under-exposed shots. In fact Jpegs throw away as much as 75% of the detail in highlight and shadow areas that the camera initially captures. Raw files typically hold a wider exposure range of about 5 stops, making it much easier to get the exposure just right in Adobe Camera Raw. This course will show you how.

Who is this course for?
If you’re looking to squeeze the extra quality out of your pictures that only Raw files can give then this course is for you. The course is aimed at those who are new to processing Raw files and those who have been tricking around it for a while but want to put a coherent structure on their Raw Workflow.

What versions of Photoshop/ Elements/ Lightroom are covered by the course?
The following software, updated to it’s latest version of Adobe Camera Raw, is suitable for this course. In fact this course could even save you having to upgrade your current software
- Photoshop CS5, CS4, CS3
- Photoshop Elements 9, 8, 7 and 6
- Lightroom 3 & 2

An extra large screen LCD is used to show each of the techniques covered. At the start of the course you will receive over 50 pages of detailed, full colour, illustrated handouts along with a CD of all the images used in the course.

For a small extra fee laptops with Photshop Elements installed can be supplied as all of the techniques shown will apply to Elements 9, 8, 7 or 6 as well as Photoshop® CS5, CS4 and CS3. Many techniques learned will also apply to Paintshop Pro®.

COURSE CONTENT

FIRST THINGS FIRST - Updating Adobe Camera Raw to the latest possible version for your copy of Photoshop/Elements - Converting to the Dng format if your Raw files can’t open in Adobe Camera Raw - Making sure your Windows PC lets you see the suffixes for each file type, eg .jpg, .nef, .cr2, .psd etc - Understanding the importance of XML ‘Sidecar’ files - Opening Raw, Jpegs and Tiffs in Adobe Camera Raw

UNDERSTANDING THE PREVIEW AREA THE TOOL BAR - Zoom & Hand Tools - White Balance Tool - Crop & Straighten Tools - Red Eye Tool - Preferences Tool - Rotate Tools - Preview Tick Box - Full Screen Mode

UNDERSTANDING THE COMMIT BUTTONS - Save Image - Bit Depth: 8 or 16 bit - Done - Cancel/Reset - Open Image/Open Copy

UNDERSTANDING THE HISTOGRAM AREA AND HOW HISTOGRAMS WORK - Viewing Key Camera settings - Setting Shadows & Highlights Clipping - Understanding how the Histogram shows under- and over-exposure - Interpreting the 4 colours in the Histogram

VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR USING THE SLIDERS - Using the Scrubby Slider for great control - Using the Scrubby Slider to jump in increments of 10 - Using the Alt Key to see the effects of certain sliders

USING THE BASICS PANEL TO IMPROVE YOUR PHOTOS WHITE BALANCE CORRECTIONS - Understanding and changing White Balance - Changing the Temperature - Changing the Tint TONTAL CORRECTIONS - Auto/Default - Exposure - Recovery - Fill Light - Blacks - Brightness - Contrast COLOUR CORRECTIONS - Clarity - Vibrance - Saturation

USING THE DETAIL PANEL TO REDUCE NOISE AND SHARPEN YOUR IMAGES SHARPENING - Amount - Radius - Detail - Masking NOISE REDUCTION - Luminance - Color

USING THE CAMERA CALIBRATION PANEL FOR QUICK RESULTS - Updating Camera Profiles to the latest version - Choosing a specific Canon or Nikon Picture Style

CREATING GREAT BLACK AND WHITES IN CAMERA RAW

SENDING PHOTOS TO PHOTOSHOP/ELEMENTS - Get 2 different exposures from the one shot (ideal for landscapes) - Bracketing with Adobe Camera Raw for use with HDR software - Using Masks in Photoshop/Elements to blend 2 exposures together - Working with 16 bit images - Choosing the right colour space - Setting the correct resolution for print or web - Saving shots as layered Psd’s or Tiff’s - Saving Jpegs at the highest quality - Sharpening for print or web

SCHEDULE AND BOOKING
Type	Night Course	Weekend Course
Length	2 Weeks (1 night per week)	Half Day
Time	9pm-10.30pm	10am-1pm
Next Course	Monday 5 March	Saturday 14 April
Fee	€100 (€90 for Conns Cameras customers) You can see our refund policy here.	€100 (€90 for Conns Cameras customers) You can see our refund policy here.
Fee Includes	Fee includes over 50 bound pages of specially designed full colour tutorial notes. Also included in the folder is a resource CD with all of the tutorial images on it. If bringing your own laptop the it must have Elements® 10 through 6 or Photoshop® CS5 through CS3 on it. A limited number of Laptops with CS3, Elements® 8, 9 or 10 can be provided a on a first come first served basis.
Venue	Institute of Photography, Lord Edward St, Dublin 2
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Payment	Payment by cheque, bank draft or postal order can be made hereCredit Cards payments can be made below (unfortunately we can't take Laser at the moment) Choose Course Option Night Course €100.00 EUR Night Course (I'm a Conns Cameras Customer) €90.00 EUR Half Day Course €100.00 EUR Half Day Course (I'm a Conns Cameras Customer) €90.00 EUR Your Mobile Number Your Software

If you have any further queries please don't hesitate to contact us at info@instituteofphotography.ie,
or call us on +353 1 633 9089.

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