6 Photo Editing courses in Edinburgh

This course is about learning to use your digital SLR camera with confidence and skill. Explore aperture, shutter speed and megapixels through to white balance, ISO ratings, histograms and much more! With a blend of technical tuition, demonstration, practical assignments and group discussion, you will discover how to unlock your camera’s full potential and take better pictures. If you don’t have a digital SLR we can often provide one for you – please select from dropdown at time of booking. You can also use your interchangeable or fixed lens system, mirrorless or rangefinder camera on this course. Bridge cameras without interchangeable lenses can be used too, but please note that they may not allow the full range of camera controls. Computer experience is beneficial. Day 1: Features of your Digital SLR camera. Areas covered include aperture, shutter speed and megapixels through to white balance, ISO ratings, histograms and all the rest. There will be time to ask questions and demonstrate the advantages of each feature, getting to grips with the “how’s” and “why’s” We will put into practise all the features that have been discussed and demonstrated in session one on a walk around town with your cameras. We will come back to the gallery, learn a little about methods of downloading and viewing photographs, and explore some basic Photoshop tools. Day 2: Exercises, Assignments and Review Question time. There will be a few formal exercises set up to practise on and time to discuss the elements learned in day one. We will also discuss in more detail the more compositional aspects of photography, and prepare for the afternoons’ assignment. You will carry out your assignments outside the gallery and be given a time to return with your completed assignments. Assignment presentations, troubleshooting and review. The last half will involve editing and viewing the photographs, open discussions and asking any final questions.   Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.

Adobe Lightroom Classic helps solve two of the main problems that afflict digital photographers: how to organise all your files, and how to edit them without spending all of your spare time at a computer screen. Lightroom Classic is a convenient and flexible desktop programme that helps you to organise and sift your photographs into collections, and also gives access to a powerful set of tools that edit, enhance and export your pictures. You can use intuitive pre-set tools, you can create your own favourite adjustments, you can edit large numbers of images with one click of a mouse, and you can fine-tune your image-editing by selectively working on parts of a picture. And you can experiment, secure in the knowledge that you are working in a non-destructive environment and that your pictures are safe. This practical short course will introduce you to the principles of file organisation and image-editing, giving you the knowledge and confidence to choose when to work with this convenient and flexible programme, and whether or not you need the full power of Photoshop Creative Suite. Sample picture files will be provided for you to work with, or you can bring a selection of your own. If you work in RAW, please also bring JPEGs on a memory stick, external hard drive or cloud storage such as Dropbox. Please note this course does not cover the new version of LightRoom CC (which is specifically designed for mobile devices) and only uses the most recent version of LightRoom Classic. Morning You will get to know the Lightroom layout and workspace, importing a set of files into the catalogue and starting to organise the files into collections and adding useful file information. You will explore the opportunities for viewing and aids for analysing the pictures. You will start to use the convenient ‘quick develop’ editing tools. We will then explore the digital image-editing workflow. The usual flow is to correct and optimise before we enhance, interpret or exaggerate. The basic areas to consider are cropping, cloning, colour and tone. Taking each in turn, we will correct and clean up the pictures in a measurable and controllable way. We will investigate techniques to control digital noise, colour distortions and lens corrections. We will work on individual files and also start applying corrections to batches. We will create and apply pre-set corrections. Afternoon Having corrected and optimised the picture files, we can start interpreting, enhancing and exaggerating – the fun part of image-editing! We can try colour to black-and-white conversions, using the many pre-sets to guide; we can selectively boost or restrain colours; we can add grain and textures, vignettes and split tones; we can mix and match these effects and create and save our own favourite effects. We can apply adjustment effects to selected picture areas. Image editing is all good fun, but how do we know where to start? Or when to stop? We‚’ll have a look at some photographic styles and techniques from photography’s rich history to give us some ideas and then try to replicate them. We will discuss ways of using the programme and the technology to develop photographic projects. And we will look at how Lightroom can help us to export those projects as books, prints and slideshows. Designed for those who are already familiar with some digital photography processes but who want to pursue a particular aspect and develop skills in a specific genre. This course is the perfect follow-on from our Digital SLR training courses and will support you in building upon your existing knowledge of camera skills and allow you to work confidently on your own projects. Some prior digital SLR photography experience is therefore recommended.   Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.

Do you have a growing mountain of negatives and/or prints and wish to have them as digital files? This course will equip you with the skills to digitally archive your collection ready for reprinting and sharing online! It can be intimidating to approach alone, but this class will break the process down into an easy step-by-step tutorial – from scanning, to editing, and exporting. Having completed the course, participants will have a solid understanding of the required processes and can go on to take full control of their negatives and potential outputs. This workshop will take you through the scanning process – turning analogue negatives/prints into digital files – using two different scanners: an Epson flatbed and a Hasselblad virtual drum scanner. Providing an opportunity to look at how best to scan and restore prints as well as negatives, you will learn the benefits of both scanning systems and understand when and why to use them. Once images are scanned, you will then be shown how to take full advantage of all the information you have captured to really get the most out of the files. The course will guide you through the editing process using Adobe Photoshop to bring your photos up to the highest standard, utilizing colour correction, levels, adjustments as well as a walkthrough of the processes used to clean dust and scratches from your images. You will be shown how to export files for digital printing as well as for sharing online. All equipment and software will be provided for you, but in order to get the most out of the course you are encouraged to bring along a varied selection of negatives and/or prints to use during the course. It is estimated that you will have time to scan up to a dozen images during the day, so please do not bring along whole archives at this stage! Having completed the course you will be able to return to Stills to confidently use the scanning facilities here on a session or daily basis. However, much of the information and learning from these systems can be directly applied to your own home scanning setup if required.   Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.

Master the camera and post processing skills required to produce an end result that matches your creative vision and expectations. This practical and fun course enables participants to fully explore the essential camera and Photoshop skills you need to produce stunning digital photographs. Experienced tutor Kat Gollock helps you harness your creative potential in four engaging and empowering sessions. De-mystify the technical jargon and unlock your DSLR camera’s full potential. Learn Photoshop from a photographer’s perspective and the essential skills you need to really make your images shine. If you don’t have a digital SLR we can often provide one for you – please let us know at time of booking to confirm. You can also use your interchangeable or fixed lens system, mirrorless or rangefinder camera on this course. Bridge cameras without interchangeable lenses can be used too, but please note that they may not allow the full range of camera controls. Computer experience is beneficial. Week 1: Camera You will be guided through the manual settings of your Digital SLR camera, fully exploring how to capture light and time in a single image. Learn how to generate accurate exposures through aperture, shutter speed and ISO control and how/when to apply them creatively. We’ll explore some of the other digital settings that are key to understanding and building your confidence with your own camera. Week 2: Creating Put into practice all the camera features discussed and demonstrated in Week 1 on a walk around town. You will then return to the gallery for discussion and troubleshooting session to help further iron out any kinks. Week 3: Composition Will introduce you to photographic composition, history and appreciation and will be accompanied by more time to shoot so as to put these new skills into practice Week 4: Critique This week the full digital workflow will be explored with focus on image selection and post production techniques. An introduction to Adobe programs Bridge and Photoshop will be a key part of this process. On completion, we will have an informal and supportive discussion and feedback session provided by the tutor and peers.   Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.

This Photoshop Course is workshop tailored to your content. If you need to gain Photoshop skills for a new position, learn Photoshop to progress further in your career then this workshop is ideal.

During this two-day workshop, you will learn how to tell a compelling story via photographs. Participants will gain the tools for conceiving of and crafting their own projects, with pointers on how to find ideas, develop your vision, and self-edit. We will cover a broad range of themes, including subject interaction, ethical dimensions, natural light usage and composition. There will also be practical guidance on financing projects, and where to place finished work.Between the two sessions there will be an assignment, intended to provide a practical application of newly acquired skills – this will be reviewed in our second meeting.This workshop is perfect for those with a good understanding of digital photography, seeking to hone their storytelling abilities and push the boundaries of documentary photography.Day 1:– Introduction to photographic storytelling.– Case study of Michael’s work in relation to the practicalities involved with funding, organising and producing a documentary project.– Discussion on the work of inspirational photographers, film makers, and artists.– Consideration of the ethical challenges encountered when producing documentary photography.– Introduction of practical task, and review of images.There will be a practical assignment to be carried out before the 2nd session.Day 2:– Photo story workshop and discussion on style.– Editing: how to select the right pictures to suit narrative objectives.– How to work within time constraints.– Practical task– Portfolio review of work produced during the workshop.– Presentation on opportunities, competitions, and publishing documentary photography projects.   Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.