The Creative Thesis
The Creative Thesis
Note: You can adjust the video quality and playback speed via the gear icon in the bottom-right corner of the playbar.
| 0:00 | Introduction and Overview |
| 2:15 | Why it Can Seem Difficult to be “Creative” in the Darkroom |
| 5:20 | The Darkroom is for Enhancing the Quality of your IDEAS |
| 7:15 | Three Main Concepts to Discuss |
| 8:58 | Change your Mindset, then your Workflow |
| 12:50 | Introduction to the IMA Method |
| 16:37 | How “Identifying” Works |
Lesson Downloads
About this Course
Welcome to Creativity in the Digital Darkroom! This is my brand-new photography course designed to help you create stronger, more fulfilling photographs in Lightroom and Photoshop.
And here’s the best part: it’s completely free to email subscribers like yourself 🙂
Here’s why I created this course…
When it comes to processing your images in Lightroom or Photoshop, most photographers tend to focus on the WRONG things first.
And that is ADDING more to your workflow prematurely, without context or intent.
- More tutorials.
- More workshops.
- More podcasts.
- More presets.
- More tips and tricks.
However…
When you process an image without first knowing what it is you want to express…you’re putting the cart way before the horse because you lack the context to QUALIFY those new tools and skills.
In your first lesson, you will discover:
- Why it can APPEAR difficult to create a photograph that you’re truly happy with.
- The biggest struggle that photographers face once they enter the darkroom, and how this can completely derail your workflow.
- The key difference between processing an image based on what you SEE, and creating an image based on how you FEEL.
- The 3-step method I use to create images that wholly convey my unique vision and successfully tell the story that I want them to.
…and much more.
I hope you enjoy the lesson and it inspires you to dig a bit deeper about your own motivations for photography, and use that to influence your image processing.
Keep an eye out for the next lesson coming your way in a few days…
Because we will discuss a VERY important, but often overlooked topic about the darkroom that I think you will find interesting and helpful!
PS – Have a question about these videos? Just leave a comment below or message me privately by clicking the orange button in the bottom-right corner.
Can’t wait for lesson 2 !
Thanks Nick, glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you Chris! While learning the Ps tools and how to use them is important, Identifying how you want the outcome to be of your image from its raw state, is very important. Thanks for the great reminder of planning and having an ultimate outcome for an image.
Hi Lisa – Yes, exactly! The more clearly you can narrow down the kind of image you want to create, the tools and tactics make much more sense. Thanks for the feedback and glad this helped a bit 🙂
Thanks Chris, a much needed breath of fresh autumnal air through my creative process. Now that I am back to my old 40D, courtesy of the thief who stole my other stuff, I think I am ready to begin afresh. Why do I take photographs in nature at all? I don’t think I have ever asked myself that question. Let’s see how we go. I’m sticking with Lightroom as I am familiar with it. I will be trying to see if I can approach a walk with camera in a different way, more about capturing the mood of the walk and how I experienced it than “Oh, there’s a swan on the canal, that’s a good shot”, if you know what I mean.
Thanks again.
John
Hi John! Great to hear from you, and sorry about your stolen gear…it’s an unfortunate rite of passage for most of us.
You may end up with more questions than answers right now, but eventually, the “why” behind your photographs will make itself known 🙂 The fun part is the creative fuel behind our photographs can always change, depending on your perspective at the moment!
Please let me know how you got on the next time you take your camera out. Thanks for the feedback as always. Chris
Thanks very much for this, Chris. I think you are right on in what you say about spending time identifying what it is in the image that speaks to you. I’ve been photographing a long time, and I teach photography (oh, and I’m just retiring from being a professional portrait photographer) and I have never found a way to express this concept (your IMA concept) so clearly. So, really, I do appreciate this.
I am really looking forward to the next lesson. -Mary Jensen
I appreciate the great feedback Mary! In the fourth and last video, I go over the IMA method in greater detail with examples…but the big goal here is to just encourage you to think about your photography a bit differently…because that will inspire new creative ideas that you may not have thought of.
Brilliant perspective. Thank you.
Thanks John!
Thank you so much, this is like thinking while painting, the artist way of going through the process, tanking steps back, time away from the work often before proceeding with more add-ons…for the sake of a deep connection with the piece…
Thank you for sharing and thank you for your time!
Looking forward to lesson 2…
That is an excellent analogy Soumaya! Yes, painting and photography have much in common…especially the fluid workflow. I actually touch on this a bit in a later lesson. Glad you’re looking forward to the next video!
Just what I need, to refocus on my digital world
Excellent Jenny, glad you found this helpful 🙂
Thanks for that intro Chris. I’m getting a lot out of the LR course and feel that this course might work really well alongside what I’m learning there. I look forward to reading photos better… even before I take the shot!
Thanks Gary, and I love the way you worded that….to “read” photos better. Such a great analogy.
Unfortunately I am not a landscape photographer, I am more interested in portraits although I am still learning about gear and how to photograph every day. I first heard of you through the 5day deal and if I were a landscape photographer I would have joined a long time ago. I learned a lot in this video and I am looking forward to the next one! You talk about things not many do and it really makes me think what do I want to achieve with it. You are very friendly and supportive which are great qualities to have!
Thank you Adriene! I’m glad that you found the lesson helpful regardless…I think many aspects of the creative process can apply equally to portraits as well as landscape photography. Yes, there is a certain technical “base” knowledge you need to know, but there is so much creative freedom left to explore. I appreciate your great feedback. 🙂
Chris, thank you for this. Timely and so well distilled. I love photography! I actually love the zen of presence that accompanies a walk with camera in hand. I enjoy this process so much that I often don’t even go into the digital darkroom because the experience of just being with the camera has already fulfilled my wants. This lesson has made me want to go deeper and take my experience into the darkroom. Create longer lasting moments and share them in a more ‘me’ way. Excited for the next steps.
Hi Kim! I think many photographers view the darkroom as a separate process and experience from the actual photo-creation process in the field…but it’s really just a natural extension of it. I’m thrilled that you’re thinking about going deeper into the darkroom…I think you’re going to love what it has to offer! Thanks for the great comment.
Great video, thank you! I really appreciate the topics covered and look forward to the rest of the videos in the series. I find that if I shoot 80-100 images and get 5 keepers out of those then it’s been a successful day. The most successful of those 5 photos is always the one or two that I’ve pictured in my head (my vision) before I’ve even left home following research of the area I’m going to shoot. You’ve put into words what I’ve been doing with the Identify element of IMA and I feel that subsequent videos are going to really amplify the creativity aspect of my photography which is really positive. A refreshing take on why we like what we like! Can’t wait for lesson 2!
Thanks Alwyn, and that is an excellent realization to have! Back when I was using film, I was a bit more careful with how many frames I used…but now with digital photography, I’ve grown to love the culling process…and like you, will only pick a handful of images to work on from a day of shooting.
I’m really glad that this lesson was helpful to you, and thanks for the great feedback!
Are the worksheets for our own use?
Yes, of course Robert! You can print them out or just use them as a reference 🙂
This is an excellent lesson. I have fallen into the trap of buying too many tutorials. This one is refreshing. You have gone to the absolute basics
Thanks Rajiv, glad you found it useful. Tutorials, presets, etc. are definitely needed to facilitate our creative thesis for an image…but only if you know how to leverage that new tool or tactic to compliment your workflow and creative ideas. Usually, we go about this the other way and try to change our workflow to accommodate what we learned, and that creates a lot of friction. I talk more about this in Lesson #3, which should be emailed to you in a day or two.
Great advice, many thanks 🙂
You’re very welcome Denise! 🙂
This approach sounds really very interesting and probably a great time saver as well.
I’ve got everything downloaded and worked up. Really looking to more wisdom! Thanks so much for all the work you had to put into this!
Gave me a lot to think about especially in Lr. Hitting ‘auto’ and then making the same adjustments over and over again. Time to think about how I really feel about my photos. Thanks Christopher.
Hello Christopher,
just returned from vacation and started to enjoy your lessons. Unfortunatley I can’t download the very valuable video, even after refreshing the page.
Kind regards, Klaus
Please ignore, after refreshing a couple of time the download did work – probably a problem related to browser cache.
Hi Klaus – Glad the link worked. The download links are a bit temperamental, but usually work if you reload the page. Thanks for letting me know!