Creativity in the Digital Darkroom

Before you jump into Lightroom and Photoshop, I’d like to show you how I approach the digital darkroom. I find that many photographers feel overwhelmed initially, and lack a clear direction of how to process with intent and vision. There’s a difference between knowing how to process your image technically (i.e. how to remove dust spots or straighten the horizon line) and how to tap into your creative vision that guides your processing.

I’ll show you a “bird’s eye view” of my processing workflow: the order I perform specific steps in, and how to combine your creative vision for what your photo can be with the technical skills needed to express that vision….for sustainable and purposeful image processing.

Here’s what we’ll discuss in the following lesson:

• The benefits of a structure to your processing workflow, and making sure it doesn’t restrain your creativity.
• The three stages to creative processing (identify, minimize, and enhance), and the important difference between “editing” and “processing” techniques.
• Strengthening your creative connection: How to tap into your creative vision and connect your experience in the field with your processing in the darkroom.
• Barriers to your creativity: why you find yourself feeling uninspired…and how to “listen” to your image and use that to be your creative “compass” that guides your processing workflow.