Fine Art Conceptual Photography from Shoot through Post-Processing with Bella Kotak, Pratik Naik

Brilliant course, well worth your time. I have spent a lot of time on Bella's website and the beauty of her images and the work she and the team put into the images is awe inspiring.

Of many different courses I have done, this is the best and complete version. I know There are still more compositing technique out there but overall , this course opens my eyes and make me love photoshop again. I love the "non destructive way" that Bella and Pratik do in the editing workflow . I suggest anyone who follow this tutorial don't skip any section as there are tips and trick there. Thank you. and I am pretty surprised that Bella and Pratik are actually a marriage couple. :D

Bella and Pratik are such an incredible teaching team! Bella shows you how to approach fine art photography from an artists perspective and Pratik shows you the technical side. They have very different teaching techniques and, although Pratik does get very technical sometimes, I found them both easy to follow along with. By the end of this class I was so inspired, I decided to step away from the photography I've been doing for years and take up fine art portraiture instead.

Pratik and Bella are fantastic instructors. Very thorough and clear instructions for fine tuning the tools and creating subtle refinements. They are a great team and teach really well together. I am learning a lot and can't wait to try out all the new things I learned. I look forward to more from them! Thank-you Pratik and Bella! Well done!

Disclaimer: I did not watch the whole thing - after 6 hrs. I had seen enough. Now for the review. There is some value to this course, and I did take some notes. Sure, it's inspirational. I admit it was interesting seeing how she set up some of these shots, and there was some good information about working with a creative team. But there are so many other creators on Creative Live who cover a lot more ground. And a lot more variety than photographing nothing but girls + flowers. The Photoshop instruction, at least what I saw, was also a bit basic, such as blending adjacent photos by aligning frames by eye, sort of, and then masking in, instead of using say, Puppet Warp, to improve the alignment, or even just Auto-align Layers. What they showed worked well enough for the small flowers they were working with, but try that with a line of tree trunks, and yeah, it's not going to work. Even one of her finished works had an obvious dupe error in some hanging vines that looked like someone just copied the exact same vines again right next to each other, which was a pity since it was otherwise a great photo, and it would have been so easy to fix. So, a cautious thumbs up, but you can find better.

This class was truly an eye-opener for me! I felt so much more confident using Photoshop and it allowed me to develop the tools needed to create my own little self portraits during the lockdown here in the UK. Pratik and Bella were absolutely fantastic teachers, sharing their insights clearly and providing truly inspirational content and concepts to help demonstrate the principles of fine art conceptual photography. Totally brilliant course.

I think this course is so useful for those that don't know much Photoshop and how to use it to match artist vision. I've learned a lot of things also about things to care about on photoshoot. Color toning was a stranger to me too! So thank you so much Bella and Pratik! Is always amazing to learn things from people that inspire you a lot. Top course for me!

Thanks so much for an inspiring course. I got so much out of this from planning and conducting the shoot through to editing.

This course was just what I needed to take my Photoshop skills up a notch, and Pratik helped to clarify so many things I was unsure about in editing. And Bella's work is so inspiring!

Great Course!

It was interesting to see how Bella approaches her work from an artistic perspective compared with Pratik's more technical approach. I learned a lot from how Bella thought about the overall concept of the shoots and her approach to colour toning. I think there was quite a lot of repetition in the early part of the course about Bella's inspiration etc which could have been tightened to make for a more focussed course.

THIS CHANGE ME, NOW I HAVE TOTAL SENSE OF ART DIRECTION AND MODEL DIRECTION, AND MOREEEE, RETOUCH TOO, PHOTOGRAPHY! LOVEEEE THISSSS! BEST CLASSES EVER!

This course taught me a huge amount about retouching in a sophisticated way, while creating beautiful images with simple elements. Bella and Pratik presented in a clear, enjoyable way and I loved watching and studying this course. You guys make a great team. Thank you!!!

I have really enjoyed going through the course and learning a few techniques.

Great class! The best part for me was the editing process, really a game changer.

One of the best online classes. I have learned so much and have been inspired to use the techniques taught and apply them to my own style and work.

One of the best classes I've watched, too many tutorials don't show you the process from start to finish, this takes you through everything. I learned a lot of exceptionally useful tips and tricks. Patik's attention to detail is exactly what I want out of a tutor. Unfortunately, a chunk of this was plugging Phase One products. Capture One is a brilliant piece of software but it's worth mentioning it doesn't support other Medium Format Cameras. Which is something I found out the hard way after purchasing Capture One due to how impressed I was with this class. Just a heads up for anyone wanting to get this software to process their MF images, it only works with the Phase One MF camera.

SO GOOD

I am so in love with this class. This team is amazing and I cant get enough!! I didn't realize how much I enjoyed conceptual art until I saw this course during the free showing. I cant wait until I can create stunning images like these.

I've gained sooooo much from this I can't even contain my appreciation and excitement! So much inspiration and so much generous advice and tips to help me! Thank you so much Bella and Pratik and Creative Live!

I loved this class so much that I purchased it! Bella & Pratik are such great teachers! I love how soft Bella voice is. Pratik, you are awesome. You guys should do more of these videos! I can't wait to put these suggestions and new learning advice to practice. You guys rock! Oh, how happy was I went I realized you were an actual couple!! I highly recommend this course. You will not be disappointed!

I watched this course on a whim during the free streaming period. I didn't realize I had an interest in composites until I watched it. I also did not realize how much I would learn from this course until I started practicing in Photoshop along with the video. I ended up purchasing the class so I could start the class over and practice everything right along with Bella and Pratik. Both Bella and Pratik explain things in an easy to understand way, on a difficult and involved process, to complement the visual instruction they give. I've spent 2 years trying to learn to do things in Photoshop and most of the time, I'd end up frustrated. Since purchasing this video a few days ago, I've done 3 great compsites and 2 head swaps! Great investment for me. Also, I love Bella's voice and accent so I could listen to her all day long.

By far, the best class ever of CL. This duo are in total sync ! Always learning...thanks CL!

This course is amazing. I learned so many new techniques. And I really like how they would point out the things that they would change on the photo. Gives me an idea what to look for and retouch on my photos.

I was a member of the live audience and just being in the same room with Bella and Pratik was both an honor and a thrill. They are the nicest duo I have ever met. I enjoyed Bella and Pratik's approach to teaching, it was informative, thoughtful, insightful, and most importantly to me down to earth. I've watched and owned a lot of tutorials/workshops on photography and hands-down, for me, this was THE BEST one that I've had the privilege of watching.