Announcing my 4-Week Lightroom CC Photo Editing Workshop!
Hi everyone! I have an exciting announcement for anyone out there who uses Lightroom or is thinking about getting started with Lightroom. Starting April 4th, I’ll be teaching a 4-week, online workshop with CreativeLive called “Lightroom CC Photo Editing: The Complete Guide.” This class is going to be different than the others I’ve taught with CreativeLive in the past. Each weekday we’ll broadcast a new 60-90 minute class, which will loop all day long, so you can tune in and watch each episode at your convenience. Most days will include homework assignments that help you integrate what you’ve learned. Then there’s a Facebook group where you can ask questions, connect with fellow students, etc. and we’ll even have occasional live Q&A sessions.
Gang, I am putting LOADS of time in to prepare for this workshop and have a huge amount of content to cover next month. If you’ve watched my training in the past, you know that I absolutely love Lightroom and I am so excited to be able to give you in-depth training on the program over the course of four weeks. Whether you’ve never worked with Lightroom before or you are a seasoned user, I’m sure that by the end of the four weeks, you will not only be able to organize and optimize your images in the best way possible, but you will love Lightroom just as much as I do!
If you’re not familiar with how CreativeLive works, all of the classes are completely free to watch while they are being broadcast. If you would like access to the video files to watch and re-watch at your leisure as well as all of the bonus material and handbooks that come with the course, you can purchase the class (at a discounted rate while the broadcast is happening).
Here is the complete course description from CreativeLive:
Automate Your Editing. Streamline Your Workflow. Save More Time.
Welcome to CreativeLive’s comprehensive, 4-week Lightroom workshop! Join one of our best software instructors, Ben Willmore, to learn how to process and organize your images more efficiently – and have more time to spend doing the stuff that matters. In this series of lessons, you’ll learn how to import and organize your images; optimize your photos, using all levels of adjustments; make your images searchable within the program; and optimize your workflow, including exporting, printing, and troubleshooting.
Enroll in this course, and you’ll gain access to both an enduring resource to build your skills and a community with which to share the fruits of your work. Ben will provide a workbook that acts as a reference guide, and he’ll be holding Facebook group meetings with students.
Join us on Facebook!
As I mentioned above, we have created a Facebook group for the workshop so that everyone can participate, ask questions and stay connected. Keep in mind that, with a couple weeks to go before the course starts, you can still influence what I cover by posting what’s important to you and what you want to learn. I’m going to take everyone’s suggestions very seriously and make sure I cover exactly what you want to learn!
Join me in the San Francisco Studio!
Finally, why not join me in the San Francisco studio’s audience while we record the workshop? CreativeLive is looking for 10 students to join us from March 31-April 5 (except Sunday 4/3), from 8 am to 4 pm every day. Click here for more information and to sign up. I hope to see you there!
Photoshop Week 2016
Hi gang! I just wanted to remind everyone that Photoshop Week kicks off in just a few hours at CreativeLive.com! Photoshop Week is an online conference taught by some of the best Photoshop and Lightroom experts in the industry. It’s free to watch while it’s live and you can also purchase the classes to watch whenever you want and as often as you want. Here’s the complete description from CreativeLive:
Discover the tools you need to remake the world in your image. Learn from some of the world’s most inspiring photographers and retouchers. Unlock the power of Photoshop and Lightroom to transform the images you have into the images you want.
On February 22nd-27th watch the free live stream of the industry’s biggest week. Learn exciting new ways to enhance your work and remake your post-production workflow. Create images that stand out and inspire. No matter how many years you’ve been in the game, find the tools, techniques and shortcuts you need to bring your unique creative vision to life.
This year, you can chose from 4 unique course tracks to find the skills you need. We now have a Beginner’s track and an Advanced track, so you can master the essentials and then graduate to more complex techniques. Get in the habit of shooting with post-production ideas in mind with our Shoot to Edit classes. After you get your skills locked down, keep up to date on the latest Photoshop techniques and designs with the Trends series.
Make the most out of what you learn this week! Our partners at Adobe are offering 20% off the Creative Cloud Photography plan to new subscribers if you join us for Photoshop Week – get access to Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, and Adobe’s versatile mobile apps to craft amazing images anytime. RSVP now, and we’ll email you a link to this exclusive offer.
The conference begins today (Monday) at 9 am PST. My classes begin on Wednesday and here is a preview of what I’ll be teaching:
Beginner Photoshop Troubleshooting | Wed, Feb. 24, 9:00 am PST
Discover solutions for your everyday Photoshop troubleshooting. You will learn how the misapplication of Photoshop’s workhorse functions – selections, layers, masks, color mode and more – can create problems that cascade throughout the rest of your project. Develop a mental workflow that will help you quickly diagnose and fix these issues in the future.
Advanced Color Correction in Photoshop | Wed, Feb 24, 1:15 pm PST
Master the art of color correction, and learn how to edit images with challenging lighting issues. Make use of the wide variety of features that Photoshop has available for images with mixed light sources, complex highlight and shadow situations, or underwater lighting. Gain the ability to bring images that you believe to be terrible back from the brink of the trashcan, and shoot with greater confidence that you can correct your images in post.
Advanced Photoshop Tops & Tricks | Wed, Feb 24, 3:00 pm PST
Who better to learn advanced editing tips than from Photoshop Hall of Fame inductee Ben Willmore? Ben will help you unlock Photoshop’s hidden features, and draw on his 25 years of advanced editing experience to show you the power of common Photoshop features to produce extraordinary results.
Creating Different Photoshop Filter Looks | Thurs, Feb 25, 1:15 pm PST
Make the most of Photoshop’s diverse color filter menu! In this session, you’ll learn to combine filters with blending modes, smart objects, and blending sliders to produce unique results. Create a workflow for your complex effects, and apply them to your images without having to repeat the many steps needed to duplicate them.
Stupid Moves in Photoshop | Thurs, Feb 25, 3:00 pm PST
Avoid the everyday actions that make your post-production work difficult. Ben will clue you in on common functions and actions that can unknowingly degrade the quality of your images, bloat file sizes, or cause serious problems with your edits when you attempt to print your images. You’ll also learn how to fix or replace these actions with more efficient, effective, and safe methods to make your life easier.
Click here to check out the full schedule and learn more about the online event. I hope you’re able to tune in!
Patagonia & Antarctica: Part 1
Greetings from the Drake Passage! We are currently en route from the Antarctic peninsula to Ushuaia, Argentina, and since I haven’t posted in a while, I thought I’d use this latest adventure as an opportunity to reconnect with everyone and let you know what I’m up to.
With my vintage bus project STILL in the works, we’ve been spending most of our time on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and that’s where we’ll be until the bus is finally ready to be lived in. I always get asked when it will be finished, but I really don’t know. It’s getting close, but so many unanticipated complications have delayed the project.
As I mentioned above, however, we are not currently in Florida. We’re in the middle of the most treacherous waters in the world, on board the beautiful Crystal Symphony cruise ship. I teach the Digital Filmmaking class on board, so we’ve been spending an average of two months per year at sea. It’s a great way to see the world!
We started this international journey in Buenos Aires, and have since traveled down the coast of South America, stopping in Montevideo (Uruguay), Puerto Madryn (Argentina) and the Falkland Islands (UK). From the Falklands, we sailed south to Antarctica, spending a little over two days doing scenic cruising. I checked off my seventh continent in the process!
This latest journey has been an incredible ride so far. In Montevideo, we wandered the picturesque old city, enjoyed some of the local barbecue and tasted local wines from Uruguay. From Puerto Madryn, we traveled to Punta Tombo, home of one of the largest Magellan penguin colonies in the world. In the Falkland Islands, we visited yet another penguin colony at Bluff Cove, home to Gentoo and King penguins. (Karen’s all about the penguins this trip and jumps at every opportunity to see more of them!
Most recently, we spent a few days enjoying some scenic cruising around the Antarctic peninsula. And scenic it was! It was hard to stay inside the ship because we were constantly drawn outside to see and photograph the stunning scenery and ample wildlife.
After crossing the Drake Passage, the first stop will be Ushuaia, Argentina: The southernmost city in the world! More to come! For now, here are some images from the journey:
I’ll talk about this more in a future post, but we created an Instagram account for our yoga image series. You can find it at TheWorldIsMyYogaMat.
Finished Image: Before & After
Hi gang! I’ve been bouncing around between different events and projects lately, but I have also been trying to create time for working on some images. A couple months ago, I took a little road trip to photograph a bunch of service stations in the mid-west. I have a huge list of stations that I’ve researched and want to shoot, and I’ve slowly been checking them off over the years.
In order for a station to make it onto my list, it has to have the building, the pumps and the sign. After shooting, I do a lot of work on each image in order to give it a timeless feel. I just wanted to share the most recent image with you, and you’ll see that there is a little slider over the image that will allow you to view the before and after versions.
Two new training courses
On a different note, I’ve got two new training courses up in the CreativeLive library. The classes went live a few weeks ago, and if you missed the live broadcasts, you can snag them now to download or stream at your convenience. Click on the links to learn more and purchase the classes:
Recent & Future Events
Hi gang! I just wanted to post a mini update on where I’ve been, and what’s coming up. The annual Photoshop World Conference & Expo just wrapped up in Las Vegas. As usual, it was a great event, loaded with lectures, workshops, demos and other fun stuff related to photography, Photoshop and other photo-related software. I was really excited to be able to teach two classes on Adobe Lightroom this time around. I just love Lightroom! It’s so powerful and is where I spend most of my photo-processing time, by far. The classes I taught were “Up to Speed with Lightroom 6/CC” and “Organizing Photos with Lightroom.”
If you love photography and have never been to Photoshop World, I highly recommend it. It’s not only full of educational events but the KelbyOne team really puts together a fun learning environment, hosting parties and other after-hours shenanigans.
The entrance to the conference & expo at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
My image, featured in the Epson booth at the trade show.
Upcoming training events
I’ve got two classes coming up at the end of the month, and the great news is that they are both online classes, and they are free to watch during the live broadcast! As with all CreativeLive classes, they are free to watch during the live event, and then you can purchase the course to download or stream at your leisure and get access to the class handbooks and other bonus materials. The two classes are one-day each and cover photo restoration and the latest Creative Cloud updates to Photoshop and Lightroom.
Here are the details:
Photoshop Mastery: Retouch & Restore | Aug. 27, 9 am-4pm PST
Class Description:
Photographs are among our most treasured possessions, but not every photo was shot under optimal conditions or preserved in an ideal way – making photo restoration a big business opportunity for skilled photographers and retouchers.
If you want to answer every, “can you fix it?” with a resounding “yes,” Photoshop Mastery: Retouch and Restore with Ben Willmore is the class for you. You’ll learn:
- Advanced color correction and enhancement techniques
- Retouching and scratch removal strategies
- Detail enhancements
- Folds, scratch, mildew, ink and water stain repairs
- Reconstruction of missing pieces such as torn corners and rips
- How to make fix faded images and make skin tones more lifelike
Photoshop & Lightroom Creative Cloud Additions in 2015 | Aug. 28, 9 am – 4 pm PST
Technology is always evolving – make sure you keep pace with it. Join Ben Willmore for Photoshop and Lightroom Creative Cloud Additions and get up to speed on 2015 updates from Adobe.
- Raw high dynamic range
- HDR + raw panoramas
- Dehaze Adjustments
- Retouching tool changes
- Face Detection and Recognition
- Blur Gallery changes
- Rendering trees and flames
- Local adjustment additions
- Radial and gradient brushes
- Hidden and hard to find additions
Road trip between speaking events
Hi gang! I’ve been zipping all over between different events lately, and I even managed to get some shooting in. As you may know, I have an ongoing photography project that involves shooting a bunch of vintage service stations all over the United States. When we’re living in the bus (our RV), this is a lot easier because we’re constantly on the road. Lately, since we’ve been temporarily staying in one place, the project hasn’t seen much progress. However, I had a few speaking events in the midwest this month, and instead of flying between them, I decided to rent a car and check off some of the service stations that were on my list. In just a few days, I shot nearly a dozen stations and put about 1,000 miles on my rental car!
In total, I’ve found over 200 service stations that I want to photograph. My criteria is that they have to be vintage and that they must still have the building, pumps and sign. Many people ask me whether the stations are ever still in service and 99% of the time, the answer is no. Some of them have been preserved, some have been restored and converted into something else (office, pizza parlor, etc.) and some are in various stages of deterioration.
When I photograph the stations, I always take an iPhone shot first and then spend more time creating an image with my “big boy camera.” It’s nice to have the iPhone shots so that I can share them immediately, whereas it takes me a very long time to edit all of the raw files.
Here is a visual recap of my road trip and the service stations I photographed. These are all iPhone shots. More to come!
This is the route I drove to capture the stations between events.
The first station was in Madison, Kansas.
Second service station in Kansas.
This was a bonus station right around the corner from another one I shot in Wetmore, Kansas. I didn’t have this one in my database.
I captured this one, in Wetmore, Kansas, in the evening and then returned for the morning light, which is what you’re seeing here.
Captured this little beauty, which is hidden on private land that you have to hike to, in New Cambria, Missouri.
This one, in Macon, Missouri, had too new of pumps and wasn’t in the best shape, so I disguised it with a heavy texture treatment here.
This one, in Centerville, Iowa, took a while to capture since there was a pick up truck parked out front and it took almost an hour to find the owner and get them to move it.
This one has too much junk covering up the essence of the station so it also gets a heavy texture treatment. This one is a barbecue joint these days, in Lees Summit, Missouri.
After presenting a seminar all day in Kansas City, I hit the road to capture more stations. Here’s the first capture, in Clinton, Missouri.
Got to this location after dark and had to wait until morning to capture it. It’s a cute little station, but it felt odd spending an entire night in a town where my cell phone indicated “no signal”. (Stover, Missouri)
I was happy to get to this nice little Texaco station right before the rain hit. I was able to get my shot and the moment I started to drive away the rain started to fall! This is in De Soto, Missouri.
I was big-time bummed that the sign was missing here! It’s located inside the building, but is not currently hung. I’ve shot this station before, but didn’t have an ideal shot. I returned with my tilt/shift lens hoping to get something better, but that will have to happen another day. This one is on RT66, in Mount Olive, Illinois.
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New Travel Photography class coming your way in July
Hi gang! I wanted to give you all a heads up on a new class we just announced. I’ll be teaching a 2-day course called “Travel Photography: The Complete Guide” on July 6-7 at CreativeLive. This is an online class that will go live from 9 am to 4 pm PST and it’s completely free to watch while it’s live! If you want to watch and re-watch the class videos at your leisure, you can purchase the course to stream or download the files.
This class will cover a subject that is near and dear to my heart: travel photography! After all, my lifestyle is such that I travel full time, whether on the road in my motor coach or at sea on a ship that I teach on. I chose this lifestyle so that I could photograph all over the country and all over the world. My photo library contains images from all 50 states and dozens of countries and I would love to teach you everything I’ve learned along the way!
Here I am shooting at the Big Buddha Temple in Ko Samui, Thailand.
Here is the class description at CreativeLive:
It takes the perfect combination of gear, exposure, and creative thinking to produce travel images that stand out from the rest. Learn the how to bring the critical ingredients together in Travel Photography: The Complete Guide with Ben Willmore.
Fresh off a seven-country, two-month international trip, Ben will share everything it takes to create exciting and memorable travel images. You’ll learn how to:
- Deal with everyday tourists in your shots
- Select the best lens for each situation
- Organize the chaos of a scene into a compelling image
Ben will cover everything you want to know about selecting, packing, and protecting gear. You’ll also develop an efficient digital workflow that fits the fast-paced lifestyle of travel shooting.
Don’t go on your next travel adventure without the insights and skills you need to capture high-quality images, fast processing – join Ben Willmore for Travel Photography: The Complete Guide.
I hope you’ll join me online (or in the studio audience in Seattle) on July 6th and 7th! You can learn more about the class and register for free HERE.
Kicking off summer with new seminar & more shooting
Hi everyone! Here is a little update on what has been going on here in Ben land. We’ve been working on getting caught up and back into the swing of things after our long international trip, and we’re enjoying being land-based again. On May 29, I presented my first event of the new seminar tour, the Lightroom & Photoshop Creative Integration Tour, in San Francisco. There was a little scare with delayed flights, but I got there on time and the event went really well! We’ve got several more cities lined up, and you can see those HERE. Next up is Seattle on June 19th.
Here is the seminar description:
Ben Willmore is back with a brand new tour for 2015 that shows how best to integrate Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. He’ll show you how to take best advantage of the new features in Lightroom 6 as well as how to move beyond its limitations by taking advantage of Photoshop’s advanced image processing features. You’ll learn how to get the most out of Lightroom by utilizing many hidden features that require the intimate knowledge that only an expert can provide. He’ll share the best methods for organizing your images, show you how to push your image optimization abilities beyond what you thought was possible and then show how to best integrate Photoshop into your workflow. Ben has been using both programs since they were introduced and is known for pushing them beyond what they were originally designed for to get more out of them than what anyone else can teach you. Don’t miss your chance to learn from a digital imaging legend… you’ll be amazed at what you can learn in just one day!
The welcoming crowd at my San Francisco event on May 29.
Back in Florida, where we’ve been hanging out these days, we’ve been doing a little exploring and shooting some more images in my yoga photography series. After seeing how popular the images have become, I’m constantly keeping my eyes open for new and unique locations to shoot more photos. One of the locations we visited was the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. This place is more that just a museum, and you could easily spend an entire day there. The grounds alone are beautiful and expansive. We really enjoyed the museum and the house tour, but the architecture was where it was at, photographically. I found lots of great locations to place Karen and ended up with seven or eight strong images from here. Here are a couple (The header image for this post was also shot there.):
We also drove out to Bok Tower and Gardens in Lake Wales, FL. This is a historic landmark featuring a large and ornate tower that houses a set of carillon bells. The grounds are also very extensive and include gardens, trails, a beautiful estate, cafe and visitor center. We took a tour of the estate and spent a good amount of time wandering the grounds. It’s a nice place to visit if you’re ever in the area. We shot the following yoga image here:
Finally, we did a little shooting at the beach. The sunsets over Florida’s gulf coast are especially spectacular this time of year, and lend themselves to some nice silhouette images. Here is one I shot at Indian Rocks Beach:
I’ve been posting all the images in this yoga series in an album on my Facebook page, and you can see those HERE. More to come!
Recent travels spark a yoga photo series
This pose is called Upward Facing Dog, and we took a taxi to this museum because we knew this sculpture was there. This is the art museum in Aomori, Japan.
Here is an instance where we WANTED the crowds! This is the busiest intersection in Tokyo, Japan. We found the spot for her to stand and as soon as the traffic lights turned red, she would get out there and hold this. I had to use a really slow shutter in order to blur out the people, and she had to hold very still. We stayed here for several traffic light cycles, taking lots of shots in order to get different variations on the blurred crowd.