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Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Lesson 30 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Lesson 30 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

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Lesson Info

30. Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Next Lesson: Sketch Your Ideas

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

19:06
2

Storytelling & Ideas

27:34
3

Universal Symbols in Stories

03:19
4

Create Interactive Characters

02:16
5

The Story is in The Details

04:13
6

Giving Your Audience Feelings

05:49
7

Guided Daydream Exercise

04:20
8

Elements of Imagery

02:19
9

The Death Scenario

01:47
10

Associations with Objects

03:01
11

Three Writing Exercises

06:39
12

Connection Through Art

30:35
13

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

07:40
14

Layering Inspiration

23:13
15

Creating an Original Narrative

07:42
16

Analyze an Image

04:12
17

Translate Emotion into Images

04:31
18

Finding Parts in Images

06:02
19

Finding Your Target Audience

04:05
20

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

12:01
21

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

32:43
22

Formatting Your Work

06:08
23

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

07:24
24

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

04:17
25

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

11:27
26

Circle of Focus

07:55
27

The Pillars of Branding

06:18
28

Planning Your Photoshoot

09:05
29

Choose Every Element for The Series

07:38
30

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

09:37
31

Sketch Your Ideas

17:27
32

Choose Your Gear

02:50
33

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

26:18
34

What Tells a Story in a Series?

13:06
35

Set Design Overview

01:43
36

Color Theory

19:50
37

Lighting for the Scene

12:05
38

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

06:00
39

Locations

04:31
40

Subject Within the Scene

07:26
41

Set Design Arrangement

05:46
42

Fine Art Compositing

03:46
43

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

10:29
44

Checklist for Composite Shooting

18:52
45

Analyze Composite Mistakes

12:11
46

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

10:42
47

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

08:36
48

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

08:17
49

Shoot: Miniature Scene

09:59
50

Editing Workflow Overview

01:57
51

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

08:35
52

Edit Details of Images

08:09
53

Add Smoke & Texture

10:47
54

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

24:58
55

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

17:55
56

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

22:10
57

Self Portrait Test Shoots

22:30
58

Shoot for Edit

04:21
59

Shoot Extra Stock Images

10:01
60

Practice the Shoot

25:07
61

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

03:33
62

Shoot: Vine Image

10:40
63

Shoot: Sand Image

09:50
64

Shoot: End Table Image

04:59
65

Shoot: Bed Image

06:18
66

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

05:54
67

Shoot: Chair Image

08:02
68

Shoot: Mirror Image

06:57
69

Shoot: Moss Image

05:48
70

Shoot: Tree Image

07:33
71

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

04:09
72

Shoot: Feather Image

09:00
73

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

07:35
74

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion

36:55
75

Edit Images with Advanced Compositing

29:33
76

Decide How to Start the Composite

09:35
77

Organize Final Images

21:37
78

Choosing Images for Your Portfolio

08:19
79

Order the Images in Your Portfolio

16:28
80

Why do Some Images Sell More Than Others?

16:03
81

Analyze Student Portfolio Image Order

11:42
82

Framing, Sizing, Editioning & Pricing

02:19
83

Determine Sizes for Prints

16:44
84

How to Choose Paper

13:56
85

How to Choose Editions

07:18
86

Pricing Strategies

18:59
87

How to Present Your Images

13:26
88

Example Pricing Exercise

09:39
89

Print Examples

08:23
90

Licensing, Commissions & Contracts

04:44
91

How to Keep Licensing Organized

06:07
92

How to Prepare Files for Licensing

07:28
93

Pricing Your Licensed Images

12:33
94

Contract Terms for Licensing

12:07
95

Where to Sell Images

04:55
96

Commission Pricing Structure

08:23
97

Contract for Commissions

12:17
98

Questions for a Commission Shoot

08:45
99

Working with Galleries

08:58
100

Benefits of Galleries

07:39
101

Contracts for Galleries

10:32
102

How to Find Galleries

05:22
103

Choose Images to Show

08:53
104

Hanging the Images

03:38
105

Importance of Proofing Prints

08:04
106

Interview with Soren Christensen Gallery

21:59
107

Press Package Overview

04:35
108

Artist Statement for Your Series

18:20
109

Write Your 'About Me' Page

09:04
110

Importance of Your Headshot

03:55
111

Create a Leave Behind & Elevator Pitch

20:19
112

Writing For Fine Art

04:44
113

Define Your Writing Style

14:49
114

Find Your Genre

06:41
115

What Sets You Apart?

02:25
116

Write to Different Audiences

05:10
117

Write for Blogging

39:57
118

Speak About Your Work

14:21
119

Branding for Video

07:37
120

Clearly Define Video Talking Points

14:27
121

Types of Video Content

31:45
122

Interview Practice

13:22
123

Diversifying Social Media Content

22:32
124

Create an Intentional Social Media Persona

24:48
125

Monetize Your Social Media Presence

18:46
126

Social Media Posting Plan

04:01
127

Choose Networks to Use & Invest

02:57
128

Presentation of Final Images

19:13
129

Printing Your Series

09:16
130

How to Work With a Print Lab

13:39
131

Proofing Your Prints

10:11
132

Bad Vs. Good Prints

03:32
133

Find Confidence to Print

10:50
134

Why Critique?

06:55
135

Critiquing Your Own Portfolio

10:39
136

Critique of Brooke's Series

16:18
137

Critique of Student Series

40:07
138

Yours is a Story Worth Telling

02:09

Lesson Info

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Looking at more images here, this is one that I created earlier this year and I had a lot to think about here because almost none of this image existed, it was just a field that I went out to, and I had to create something in that field. I didn't have to, I chose to, but I needed to put something in it for sure because how weird would it be if you just saw me post a picture of a field? You'd be like, "Hm, what's Brooke up to? "Not much, she just took a picture of a field." So I need to put something in it, so I've got these stars, which, I should say this is not quite the before image, there were no stars in the sky or stars on the ground, there was just a field, but I added stars, I added more stars. Stars and stars, stars in the sky, stars on the ground, and then I built this box tower and then I photographed myself in multiple parts trying to get my body in there. I changed some colors, I changed the lighting, I changed a while bunch of stuff about this image and then I ended up the...

re, but what I really wanna talk about with this image is not how it was created but why. And I think that what's important to do is to write about your images, and you might be very resistant to that, you might think, oh I really hate writing, and that's okay. I'm not saying become a writer, write a poem about the picture you're gonna make or anything like that, but if you can answer how, what and why for the images that you're creating: what is it, how did I do it, and why am I compelled to do it? Then you're much more likely to be able to speak more meaningfully about your work, and I think that's very important to be able to speak about your work and we're actually gonna talk about that later on in the class, but to me, if you can answer how and why before you even start the picture, aren't you much more likely to create something meaningful that actually ends up working out if you think it through how you're going to do it and why you're doing it ahead of time. I think that you should do this both for new pictures as well as old pictures. So I love going back through my portfolio and choosing a random image and writing down why I created that picture. I think that it's really fun to do, it just gets your mind thinking about, oh, what was I thinking on that day, why did I wanna do this, how could I put that into words? But especially doing it before you create something new is, in my opinion, one of the best things that we can do to start training ourselves to think more deeply about our images. Okay, so I've got a wall of text for you here. I'm going to read it to you though. And this is my description of this image, what I would write and what I did write before I created this image. I put it into nicer terms, cuz I did a lot of bullet points, but you get the idea, so I wrote, too often we face gray sky days and wish for something better. What if we could pull the curtain over those clouds and create our own blue shy day? I will achieve this by standing on crates that allow me to reach higher into the sky. I will photograph a blue sheet so that I can impose light clouds on to create a blue sky look. I will blend gray clouds into the being so that they are being covered. I want to create my own reality, one that I can control and define as I wish. This image represents that power that we have as artists and creators. So that was my how and why for this picture. I went through, I said exactly what I wanna do, how I plan on doing it, and then further, why it's important to me, what is the concept here, what am I trying to communicate with this image. And I find that when I go through this process and I show people my images, they're much more likely to say, "Oh I get it, I get what that concept is, "I get what you're trying to say." But when I don't think about it enough and I send someone an image and then I say, "What do you think?" They're like, "Uh, what are you trying to do here?" You know? So the point I'm saying this is that I think that the more you can do this, the more that you can talk about why you're creating and how you're creating then someone is much more likely to understand that thing, the how and the why, they're likely to say, "Oh it works, it flows, I understand not necessarily "how you created it but I get that this looks like "a picture that was created well." And that is the worst thing when someone says, "It looks photoshopped." I don't wanna hear that from anybody, ever. But then more importantly, they're going to look at it and say, "I understand why you did this." And I think that if we can write that out ahead of time, perfect. All right, so I just thought that I would show you how this image was built since we just talked about it. But first, let me tell you what, how and why. So if we can break it down. If you don't feel like writing a paragraph, you like, "Eh, I don't wanna write a paragraph about "every single picture," fine, don't write a paragraph. That's okay. All I want you to do is write what, how and why which is a part of our guide for this class, so we've got our little work book and it's going to ask you some of these questions like, what, how and why, and how you can try to work that into when you plan your photo shoot, so what for this image is literally what, what is happening? I mean we can all answer this, it's just a girl pulling a blue sky down over a gray sky, that's what the image is. And then we have how, so how did I do it? I used a blue bed sheet, that was how I did it, I used a blue bed sheet to be tugging on to pull it down over the sky, and then why. To show the power that we have as individuals to create our reality. Great, simple, simple, simple. Now if I know these things in three easy sentences, then I can communicate that so fast to people. I have been in gallery shows where someone comes in and they'll say, "Why did you do this?" Like really easy question, right, except not an easy question for a lot of people. You have to be able to say, "Boom, that's why I did it. "I know exactly why I did this picture." If you can't say that, I mean, just think about if you're the client, you're going into buy someone's print and the artist is there and you say, "Why did you make this?" And they're like, "I don't know." Or, "I can't think of anything." Then aren't you gonna be like, oh, I don't really wanna buy that print after all, there was no thought put into this, it just sorta muddies it up a little bit. So this was how this picture started, with a field. As apparently so many do with just a field, and I ended up using various compositing magic, just kidding, to put this together. So this was my really awful next stage where I've got like random colors put in here, cuz I thought it'd be covered later, like right now, and I have this, I'm not gonna say bad habit, I'm gonna say really effective but potentially what other people would call bad habit of just painting over things with my brush in Photoshop, it's my favorite thing to do. So I just painted over the sky, cuz I didn't need it, I knew I'd be putting my own in. See if I had kept this image, it would have been okay, those are stormy clouds, it would have been okay, but it wasn't quite the right field, it was still a little too bright in the background. You can see how some of the whites, some of the highlights are being really blown out back there. So I'm just covering that up so that I have a blank canvas to create my own version here, whatever I want. There are my crates. There are my legs. There's my body. There's some hair. I don't know why, I'm always photographing myself in multiple parts and I really don't even have a reason for you, but it just happens. Then I've got my clouds that I chose because they were nice and dark at the horizon line which is where they're going to be showing most. Okay. Now we got the sheet, so there's my sheet. That's my blue sheet that i was clearly not holding to begin with, so I was posing with just my arms in the air pretending like I was holding onto something, because I'm working totally by myself, so I wanna make this clear. Had I had a crew with me, had I had just one person with me, then I might have had them try to hold the sheet up or I might have tried to fix the sheet somewhere, but I'm just one little girl, and I did it like this because one, I'm very impatient. I don't have a lot of patience when I'm shooting so I don't wanna take the time to clamp things in places, but also, I was by myself and it was just easier to photograph the sheet separately instead of while I was posing, so I did that. Then we've got the sky blended into that sheet, just a totally different picture of clouds that I blended into that shy. And now we have some overall adjustments, which in my opinion make it mine at that point. It's like there's the compositing and there's the making it your portion, which is the lighting and the colors and how you choose to go about finishing the image, and so there we have it. It was a very cold day where I was. So that was me photographing the crates, and I knew that I wanted the crates to look a little bit bigger in the final picture, so I knew that I would be cutting them out anyways, so I didn't bother going into the space to do it, not to mention, this field was from New Zealand and I don't live there. So that's how this came together, New Zealand field and sky from California and crates from my house and a sheet from Goodwill, and there we have it.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)
Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)
Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)
Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)
Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)
Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)
Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)
Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)
Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)
Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)
Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)
Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)
Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)
Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)
Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)
Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)
Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)
Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)
Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)
Bonus Materials Guide
Syllabus
Image Edit Videos

Ratings and Reviews

April S.
 

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Ron Landis
 

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

Angel Ricci
 

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

Student Work

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