Beginner's Photography Classes: Photography Classes' Notes

While Lightroom and Elements are designed for Photographers. Photoshop opens doors for you to the creative industry.

Digital Photography and Adobe Photoshop today come hand-in-hand. There are no questions about it. When you're getting serious in photography, you will need to get serious about Photoshop. That means you also need a computer that's powerful enough to handle the program in addition to a Wacom tablet. There are other choices, such as Gimp.org and poorly made tablets, but if you plan on getting serious about photography to make a career out of it. Then, you will need to start practicing with Photoshop with a Wacom tablet as these tools are industry gold standard.

Still, sometimes you don't need to an immense program like Photoshop to do simple tasks. Adobe knows this and that Photoshop is a huge application that encompasses almost all the aspects in the creative field - 3D cgi, animation, photography, digital illustrations, storyboard, graphic design, web design, etc. In the interest of creative person, Photoshop have the flexibility to work on projects that require this multi-tier workflow, where the photographs output isn't just to the printer or the web, but onto other mediums like on a film, website, or part of a graphic design. So Adobe created Lightroom 5 and Photoshop Element that designed for their photographer demographic.

Lightroom and Photoshop Elements are excellent if you just want to just focus on your photography. Learning Photoshop and getting better at it will open up more doors to you as a creative person. Neither way, to be a better photographer, these are your tools that you have to master. Just like the photographer in the film era, when they have to master the art of the darkroom. Photoshop is your digital darkroom without the chemicals. And I find that the earlier you are accustomed to the software the better.

Here's a short video of me retouching a photograph on Photoshop at my current level.

Finding the Passion in Photography

How did I get to this point of my ability? For me, it came to me almost by serendipity. It was a series of lucky accidents and opportunities that got me here. That includes just being at the right place and at the right time. It may be mixed for other people. From my own experience, how I got here is almost pure willingness to allow myself to be here.

My photography passion started from a deep intuitions that I want to be an art person at the age of 5. Then my fascination on how my world look through a viewfinder when my dad first gave me a camera at 7 years old. My awkward teenage years of staying home and learning on a computer that included a copy of Photoshop in '95. When I first signed up the student publication in freshmen year in college that have a purple Wacom tablet, and have access take photo assignments. Although, I went to a business school for college. Upon leaving college, I didn't care where I worked, as long as the job demands I carry a camera.

My willingness to be in the arts and I happened to discover photography during the infancy of digital photography era with years of Photoshop. The kind of work I did on Photoshop was child's play, but I had no external pressures like professional have. By the time I came out to pursue a professional photography career, my predecessors are still learning how to incorporated this new medium to their production. Digital photography even out the playing field for me.

This willingness led me to some dead-end jobs in life, but each dead-end I find myself closer to my goal, or rather my center. As the video above demonstrates my current skill level, I never think this is the end. The technology and internet today are tools that have made this learning process even easier, but the driving force is the fire - the passion.

Tools and learning materials you should know about

The same passion when I was at bookstores pouring over books upon books, magazines upon magazines on topics on photography for 12 hours straight. I hope that you have the same passion as I did. You live in a wonderful time, where the technology is primed for you. The tools for learning have been made accessible even easier for you than the time when I started learning photography. All you need is spark your fire and let the passion take you.

I listed out some tools and programs that can further your progress. Remember, I'm still learning... only this time, it's about myself through photography.

E-Learning Solutions

Jared Polin's Photography E-Learning Videos are another resource that similar to this blog. His video are pretty informative and he offers more videos on his YouTube channel.