Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Lesson Info

The Story is in The Details

We're going to talk about details so many times over the course of this class. And I think that it's really important because we don't put a lot of emphasis on choosing every single one of these things, okay. So details would be things like: the time of day, what's in the space, such as props, colors, wardrobe pose. Can you guys think of any other, I mean there are probably a 100 details that you could possibly see in a photo. So what other details can you think of? Anything at all. Yeah. Light. Light. Where it's coming from. Totally. The shadows, same thing. Yeah, exactly. What your subject is looking at or doing. You're on a roll. Ya. That's great. And part of understanding what details we have to make choices about is part of just studying imagery. You know if we look at this image, we can say, okay, there's light coming from somewhere. Okay she's wearing a certain color. Oh, there's a certain prop in this. Oh, she's in a certain pose. These are all choices that ...

we need to make. But how often do we run through a checklist of every single thing for every single image that you create? Probably not that often. It's really daunting to do. And that's why I keep saying that art is difficult. Yeah, it's hard. Nobody wants to go through every single detail. But in this case, that's what we're trying to do. So if you had to pick out the important details now, in an image, for you they might be different than what they are for me. For me, the prop is important, and the atmosphere of the location is important. And the pose is important. Those are the really big things that I try to pick out when I'm location scouting, when I'm moving in, when I'm trying to find a story. But for you it might be different. You might be all about light, and light is your thing. Well, start with light and then build your details around the light. You know it's so much easier to just focus in on one element in a list, and then build everything to be associated with that one thing, instead of being like, okay, I have to pick a time of day, a wardrobe, a prop, and a color. What am I going to do? Then your brain just goes melty, and probably comes out of your nostrils. So, you've gotta really narrow it down. Think. So we've got a few images that deal with details here. And for this one, I want to point out the fact that there is a sort of color signature happening here. Where underground it's more blue, above ground it's more yellow, for example. So we've got that color thing going on that guides you into the story. We've got color of the dress, which might guide you into a story. And we've got so many things happening here because this is a very detailed image. But so many things that will guide you in this story But it wouldn't work unless each of the details was thoroughly thought out. Now with fine art you can make whatever you want. You can make a scene that did not exist at all, such as this space where the floor was different from the wall, was different from the underneath space, each human was photographed separately. None of this existed. I literally just started with a big white box and photo shop, and then tried to fill it with something. That's super daunting if you are not good at making decisions. So does anyone feel like you're slightly indecisive sometimes? I'm not. I am the most decisive person I've ever met in my life, and that's why I can more easily work from this place of making decisions. But I think it's really beneficial to just train yourself to work from a place of making strong choices in your images. I can not even tell you how many times I have sat with somebody, and we're trying to make an image together, and we finally figured everything out, and then they go and get in position to take the photo and they're wearing jeans and and a T-shirt. And I'm like, wait wait, we've got this cool location and this great light and all this, and you're going to wear your jeans and a T-shirt? And they're like, yeah, I don't have anything else. And I'm like, no, don't do it. Don't do it, unless that's what you want, as a strong choice in your image. So always make that strong choice.

Creating a great photo for a client is one thing - but turning your passion and ideas into a series that is shared, shown, and sold is a whole different business. If you do it right, you’ll be shooting what you love all the time. Learn how to choose which ideas to create, how to turn your concept into a production, and steps to getting your work seen and even sold in Fine Art Photography: A Complete Guide with Award-Winning Photographer, Brooke Shaden.

This is an all-inclusive workshop that provides the tools you need to run a successful and creative business as a fine art photographer. You’ll learn creative exercises to find and develop your ideas, how to create an original narrative, how to produce your own photo series, post production techniques and skills for compositing and retouching, how to write about your work, ways to pitch to galleries and agents, and how to print your pieces so they look like art.

This workshop will take you on location with Brooke as she creates a photo series from scratch. She’ll walk through every step for her photo shoots including set design and location scouting, she’ll cover techniques in the field for capturing your artistic vision, post-production and compositing techniques, as well as printing and framing essentials.

She’ll round out this experience by discussing all of the details that will help make your career a success like licensing, commissions, artists statements, social media plans, gallery prep, and pricing your work.

This comprehensive course is a powerful look into the world of fine art photography led by one of the world’s most talented photographers, Brooke Shaden. Included with purchase is exclusive access to bonus material that gives exercises and downloads for all of the lessons.

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