Masters Academy Lesson Content
Below is an outline of the current lessons available to Masters Academy members. This list will be updated at least once a month with the current content.:
Lesson 1: Deep Dive: Lightroom/Photoshop Integration
Table of contents:
0HR:00:00-Introduction
0HR:01:01-Quick-Start Workflow
0HR:14:20-Workflow In-depth
0HR:43:33-Open as Layers in Photoshop
0HR:46:20-Working with Smart Objects
1HR:08:06-Potential Problems & Troubleshooting
1HR:19:21-Advanced Ideas
Lesson 2: Channels
This 1-hour long video is the first in a series of what I call Photoshop Fundamentals. It’s where I’m not trying to teach you a specific technique, but instead attempting to inform you about a fundamental feature that is essential to understanding Photoshop at a deep level. We’ll have to cover 4-5 of these fundamentals before we can start to combine the ideas together to get into deeper concepts in Photoshop.
Table of Contents:
- Introduction: 0:40
- QuickMask: 5:50
- Color and Composite Channels: 9:00
- Layer Masks: 11:22
- Alpha Channels: 18:00
- Add & Subtract: 25:22
- Color Channels: 34:50
- Composite Channel: 35:40
- Color to Alpha Channel: 38:00
- Channel Mixer: 45:22
- Real-World Example: 52:00
Lesson 3: Lightroom Organizational System Update
In this lesson, I provide information about how I organize my images in Lightroom and cover it in more detail than I have in the past. The general idea is to be able to quickly find any memorable image and to be able to instantly tell if an image still needs work or if it is ready to show the public. You can use many of these ideas even if you choose not to use Lightroom to organize your photographs.
Table of Contents:
- 00:00 Introduction
- 02:17 Overview of System
- 04:39 Subfolder Setup
- 08:15 Number next to folder
- 09:30 Additional Subfolders
- 18:00 Adding keyboard shortcut for Show Subfolders
- 20:45 Keywording System Update
- 30:20 Avoiding unnecessary keywords cluttering your keyword list
Lesson 4: Transformation Tips
This is a shorter video that covers bunch of tips and tricks that I hope will help you master scaling and rotating layers (also known as transformations). Please comment on this post to let me know if you enjoy this type of lesson in contrast to the more deep-dive style lessons, or if those more in-depth lessons are your favorites.
Table of Contents:
- 00:00 Introduction
- 03:15 Changing Rotation Pivot Point
- 05:30 Transform Again
- 08:35 Quick Transformations
- 12:15 Preventing Snapping
- 15:50 Keyboard Shortcuts
- 19:05 Tips & Ticks
- 26:00 Scaling Layer Effects
Lesson 5: Photography: Flash Sync Speed & Fast Exposure Distortion
This lessons covers the importance of Flash Sync Speed and how extremely short exposures can produce noticeable distortion in fast moving subjects.
Table of Contents:
- 00:00 Introduction
- 01:10 Flash Sync Speed Concept
- 05:00 High Speed Sync Flash
- 07:00 Fast Shutter Speeds can Cause Distortion
- 08:57 Medium Format Cameras with Leaf Shutters
Lesson 6: Real-World Challenge Image: Gray Sky Blue
In this 53+ minute lesson I cover how I went about fixing many problems with a particular image, including: 1) changing a semi-blown out sky to blue, 2) minimizing a lens flare, 3) removing edge artifacts caused by excessive adjustments in ACR or LR.
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Intro & Overview
- 0HR:02:27 Open As Smart Object or Not?
- 0HR:05:48 Turn gray sky blue
- 0HR:26:26 Fix lens flare
- 0HR:36:50 Remove Edge Artifacts
- 0HR:44:50 Refine Results
- 0HR:49:09 Summarize Project Steps
Lesson 7: ACR/Lightroom Changes and Adjustment Tips
In this lesson, I cover some new features that were recently added to Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom (guided transformations and smart preview defaults). I then talk about tips related to applying adjustments to isolated areas of an image using the adjustment brush, graduated filter or radial filter. I finish with an advanced tip on how to try to extract the mask that you might create in Lightroom and use it within Photoshop.
Table of Contents:
- 00:00 Introduction
- 02:00 Guided Transformations in ACR & LR
- 43:10 Isolated Adjustments in ACR & LR
- 45:40 Isolated Adjustment Tips
- 49:55 Moving Mask from LR to PSD
Lesson 8: PS Frustration Fixes & Tips
In this lesson I cover how to overcome some common frustrations with using Photoshop and also share some related tips and tricks.
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Introduction
- 0HR:01:04 Opening Large Images
- 0HR:07:32 Basic Frustration Fixes
- 0HR:11:33 Working with Multiple Images
- 0HR:25:13 Tool Fixes
- 0HR:46:52 Content-Aware to Empty Layer
- 0HR:53:00 Misc. Fixes and Tips
- 0HR:59:40 Mac Tip-Using Full Retina Resolution
Lesson 9: Cropping
I originally planned to cover PS workflow this week, but found information about cropping was taking up too much time in the video, so I decided to do an entire video on cropping. I know that sounds like a very basic feature, but you’ll be amazed at all the options you have, especially if you happen to use PS and LR together. If you think you have a good knowledge on the basics and just want to get into the more advanced ideas, then skip to 0HR:13:42 to save some time.
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Introduction
- 0HR:01:29 Cropping JPEGs in PS
- 0HR:03:19 Delete Cropped Pixels Checkbox
- 0HR:06:02 Content-Aware Checkbox
- 0HR:08:21 Other Crop Tool Options
- 0HR:13:42 Cropping in ACR
- 0HR:15:50 Cropping Raw Smart Objects
- 0HR:19:20 Previewing Multiple Crop Possibilities in PS
- 0HR:28:25 Image>Crop Command
- 0HR:29:01 Cropping from LR
- 0HR:29:40 Using Virtual Copies for Multiple Crop Options
- 0HR:34:40 Stacking Multiple Crop Options
- 0HR:36:06 Syncing Adjustments Between Virtual Copies
- 0HR:38:40 Auto Sync with Virtual Copies
- 0HR:40:30 Previewing Multiple LR Crops in PS
- 0HR:53:00 Moving Crop from raw file to layered TIF
- 0HR:59:10 Changing Layered TIF and having it automatically update each crop option
- 1HR:03:00 Fixing LR Update Problems
Lesson 10: Workflow
This lesson covers why some operations should almost always be done before other things. It does not cover how to do any specific technique link retouching or color correction. It’s more about how you structure your documents and why it is important to consider the order you do things in.
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Introduction
- 0HR:00:57 ACR vs PS Adjustments
- 0HR:10:30 Chromatic Abberations
- 0HR:12:43 Lens Correction before Perspective Correction
- 0HR:15:50 Brightness before Noise Reduction
- 0HR:19:49 Dust before Masking
- 0HR:22:18 PS Retouching and Adjustments
- 0HR:37:55 Lock Position of Retouching Layer
- 0HR:41:18 Dual Retouching Layers
- 0HR:45:19 Inspect Every Pixel
- 0HR:49:00 Inspect Every Mask
- 0HR:55:52 Layer Organization
- 1HR:03:40 Tracking Needed Changes
- 1HR:10:05 Preventing Odd Display on Mac
- 1HR:15:38 Creating Delivery Images
- 1HR:23:10 Forcing ACR to Process Layered Images
- 1HR:30:47 Tip 1: Making Layer Visibility Undoable
- 1HR:34:10 Tip 2: Linked Smart Objects
Lesson 11: Real-World Challenge Image 02: Fixing Haze Three Ways
This lesson shows how to tackle haze that is commonly caused by shooting into the sun using three different methods in Lightroom/ACR.
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Intro & Overview
- 0HR:02:26 Blacks Slider
- 0HR:04:50 Isolated Blacks Adjustments
- 0HR:09:57 Face Adjustments
- 0HR:26:49 Dehaze Slider
- 0HR:34:02 Tone Curve
- 0HR:39:50 Reducing Light Rays
- 0HR:49:39 Vignetting
- 0HR:52:00 Summary
Lesson 12: Empty Adjustment Layers & Knockout
This lesson covers the concept of Empty Adjustment Layers, Knockout Deep and Shallow and Fill Opacity. Below is a table of contents that lets you know how far you’d have to fast forward to find particular topics within the lesson:
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Intro & Overview
- 0HR:00:28 Empty Adjustment Layers
- 0HR:13:09 Knockout Introduction
- 0HR:28:03 Knockout Shallow vs Deep
- 0HR:42:05 Review of Empty Adjustment Layers
- 0HR:44:15 Graphic Design Example of Knockout
- 0HR:47:19 Fill Opacity
Lesson 13: Paint Job Simulations
This lesson covers how to simulate different paint jobs on a vehicle. I know not everyone needs to accomplish that, but in the process of showing you how I do that, you’ll learn about all sorts of techniques that I hope you can use on a regular basis.
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Intro & Overview
- 0HR:00:58 Multiply Mode with Groups
- 0HR:14:35 Changing a car to a solid color
- 0HR:27:15 Changing to white
- 0HR:33:51 Chroming Bumpers
- 0HR:37:00 Linked Smart Objects
- 0HR:45:15 Layer Comps & InDesign
- 0HR:55:32 Summary
Lesson 14: Selection & Masking Techniques
This lesson covers how to combine basic selection tools into more complex selections as well as how to do a basic luminosity mask to remove the background on glass and a shadow.
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Intro & Overview
- 0HR:01:29 Combining Selection Tools
- 0HR:21:00 Layer Masks
- 0HR:23:40 Simple Luminosity Mask
- 0HR:31:10 Solid Color Layer to Replace Shadow
- 0HR:35:40 Moving Between Documents
- 0HR:38:12 Enlarge Subject
- 0HR:41:21 Moving Masked Layers
- 0HR:46:00 Distort Subject
- 0HR:48:39 Summary
Lesson 15: Removing Glows & Matching Colors
In this lesson, I show how to remove bright or dark glows around objects that can often happen due to processing in LR or ACR. I also so how the same technique can be used to match the color or two areas.
Table of Contents:
- 0HR:00:00 Intro & Overview
- 0HR:06:20 Curves Technique
- 0HR:14:16 Masking End Result
- 0HR:26:20 De-glowing a Second Area
- 0HR:35:00 Evening Out Sky
- 0HR:46:05 Summary