POST-Processing Intensive in the Catskills
You’ve spent a lot of time building your camera skills and honing your photographic vision. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. Post-processing has become an integral part of nearly every discipline of photography. Just as the black and white photographers of the 20th century were able to creatively interpret their work in the darkroom, we can now use modern technology to enhance our photos, and even to create images that were impossible only a few short years ago.
Workshop Gallery
Workshop Details
January 20-25, 2019 — Completed
This is a 5-night, 6-day workshop. Your experience begins at 10 a.m. on January 20 and ends after a final slideshow in late afternoon on January 25.
$1,750 + applicable taxes. Register below.
Workshop Leaders
Tim Cooper
Chris Nicholson
Skill level
Open to all who have an understanding of the basic principles of photography and and are eager to master the computer!
Class size
12, with 2 instructors — 6:1 ratio
Register Now
THIS EVENT HAS PASSED. THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST!
Deposit of $500 is required to reserve your spot at the workshop.
Balance of $1,250 due on October 22, 2019.
You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once.
Last day for a cancellation request is October 21 (see cancellation and refund policy).
The workshop fee does not include transportation to and from the park, lodging, food or the park admission fee.
The Workshop Experience
Former beta tester for Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop and author of four books on photography and three on Photoshop, Tim brings a vast knowledge of post-processing to this workshop. His enthusiasm for teaching is infectious. If you are finally ready to take control of the entire creative process, this workshop is for you.
This classroom intensive will be based at the National Parks at Night headquarters in the town of Catskill, New York. We’ll spend six days in the learning studio studying and practicing ins and outs of Lightroom and Photoshop.
Don’t worry, though—all work and no play make … well, you get the idea. We’ll also get you out in the field to make some images. The village of Catskill offers plenty of quirky and quaint small-town vignettes and meandering views of the Hudson River. And nearby are (likely a frozen) Katterskill Falls, North/South Lake and, of course, the northen end of the Catskill Mountains in and around Hunter and Windam.
Our newly renovated classroom will have a minimum of two color-profiled BenQ HD monitors for post-processing. And there’s some room to shoot if you want to practice light-painting indoors during the sunny hours. (There’s also a bevy of light painting tools on site.)
Lunar Eclipse
For our first night shoot, we will venture out into the New York winter to photograph the full lunar eclipse! See the moon roll into Earth’s shadow and turn a cold, blood red.
As long as the weather cooperates, we will have the chance to shoot the early phases of the eclipse, right up to totality at around 12:30 a.m.
What You Should KNow
We want you to get the most out of your workshop experience. Struggling with computer skills while you are trying to learn two new software programs is no fun. Please be sure you have the following skills before arriving:
basic computer navigation
downloading your images from your camera and storing them in folders on your computer
viewing your images after downloading them on your computer
selecting images and transferring them to a flash drive
A laptop loaded with the latest versions of Lightroom Classic CC (not the mobile version, Lightroom CC) and Photoshop are mandatory for the class. If you are currently using Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC, you are all set. If not, click here to purchase and download the latest versions from Adobe. You’ll want the Photography Plan. Currently the cost for both programs is $9.99 per month.
What You WILL Learn
The goal of this workshop is to teach you the necessary skills to take complete control of your post-processing. From searching, organizing and editing your images in Adobe Lightroom to stacking, blending and fine-tuning your images in Photoshop
Areas of focus:
understanding the Lightroom Catalog
making full use of the Library module in Lightroom
understanding how and why we adjust our images
gaining a complete understanding of Lightroom’s Develop module
the connection between Lightroom and Photoshop
layers and masks in Photoshop
star stacking
layering different exposures of the same scene to bring out the foreground in night photography
and much, much more …
Night Conditions & Opportunities
On this workshop you can expect the following night-sky conditions and nocturnal photography opportunities:
full moon
lunar eclipse
light painting
Travel
You are responsible for your airfare and car rental. If you are interested in sharing a car rental, let us know and we will try to connect you with someone in the group.
Nearby Airports:
Albany International Airport (ALB) — 45 minutes
Stewart International Airport (SWF) — 1 hour, 15 minutes
Newark (EWR), LaGuardia (LGA) and JFK — 2 to 3 hours
You can also travel by train via Amtrak to Hudson, New York, and take a cab 12 miles to Catskill Village. Or there are bus lines from Port Authority in New York City to Catskill.
Food & Lodging
The workshop will be based in the village of Catskill, New York. There is no official workshop hotel, but there are many options for bed-and-breakfasts, hotels and AirBnB’s, and we will send a comprehensive list of suggestions upon registration.
You are responsible for your own meals, but we will have coffee and water by the gallon available at the National Parks at Night studio. Catskill village is a five-minute walk away, with lots of great dining options, as well as two large supermarkets and a health food store a one-mile drive away.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own accommodations. If you are interested in sharing a room with another participant, let us know and we will try to connect you with someone like-minded in the group.
Weather
The weather of Catskill, New York, in January is, well, winter. In recent years it’s been either surprisingly mild, or snowy. Both have advantages. Average high is 33 F and average low is 18 F (just before dawn). But the studio has great heat, and bad weather makes for great photography, right?
Considerations
The majority of this workshop will be spent in the classroom. Several evening shoots are planned in the local Catskills region.
Please read our FAQs section for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
Discovering Digital ...
“So much has changed since those early days of digital imaging, but the one thing that has not is my continuous search for the highest-quality imagery possible.”
I’ll never forget my first time seeing fine digital prints.
I was teaching an advanced darkroom techniques workshop when another instructor came and said, “Tim you have to got to see George DeWolfe’s work.” On my next break I took a walk over to the adjoining lab and witnessed what were the most beautiful and glowing black and white prints I had ever seen.
They were not silver prints—they were way better. George had been scanning his negatives (no digital cameras to speak of yet) and using Photoshop to print them. I was floored. I was also an instant convert.
So much has changed since those early days of digital imaging, but the one thing that has not is my continuous search for the highest-quality imagery possible. Today that involves our digital cameras, Lightroom and Photoshop.
It’s curious how you can sometimes point to a single moment in time that completely changes your path forever. Thank you, George DeWolfe!
