Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE630: Clone the Dog (Photoshop for Photographers)

Course Details

Photoshop is a GINORMOUS piece of software and we cannot do more than scratch the surface of its features. The class will introduce as many topics as is comfortable without overwhelming you, but mastery of those topics is not something that is expected or even possible after only six weeks. The goal of the class is to show you what is possible so that you feel comfortable experimenting and practicing on your own when the class is finished. I want to empower you to play with your images in Photoshop!

The syllabus lists some of the potential topics to be covered, as well as topics that will not be included in the course.

This class is meant for photographers, not graphic designers. We will start all of our projects with an image (or several), as opposed to creating from a blank canvas. Students will need to provide their images for most projects and should be comfortable with their camera and len(es). If this is not the case, it is strongly recommended starting with Shoot the Dog which will be offered again in June 2018.

Students will also use images provided by the instructor for some lessons. Images will be available through a link in Dropbox.

This is a highly technical class. I will be making many assumptions about what you are capable of doing on a computer. Please see the “Equipment and Prerequisites” tab for a partial list of skills that you need in order to feel comfortable in this class as a Gold student.

Registration

Next session starts: June 1, 2025
Registration starts: May 22, 2025
Registration ends: June 15, 2025

Registration will begin at 10:30AM PDT.

Enrollment limits: 15 gold, 10 silver, unlimited bronze. If you are interested in a bronze-level spot you can register any time during the registration period.

Syllabus

View Full Syllabus

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Layers
Adjustment layers
Layer Styles
Layer Masks
Clipping Masks
Cloning and Spot Healing
Selection techniques

Topics that will NOT be included because they are covered in other classes:

Basic processing of RAW and JPG camera files (Adjust the Dog - April 2018)
Organizing your photos (Adjust the Dog - April 2018)
How to take photos of <<insert your topic here>> (Shoot the Dog, Expose the Dog, Compose the Dog)
How to shoot in manual mode (Shoot the Dog, Expose the Dog)

Topics that will NOT be covered:

Paths and the pen tool
3D
Video-related features
Channels
Curves

Prerequisites and Equipment

There are no FDSA course prerequisites for this course.

Equipment required for Gold and Silver students:

DSLR camera, lens, memory card(s)
Preferred - Computer (Mac or PC) running the latest version of Photoshop CC. This is obtained via a subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud (see below).
Acceptable - Older versions of Photoshop will have most of the functionality that is required for the class. However, most instructions will be given based on the latest version.
Insufficient - Photoshop Elements

Bronze students can follow along with the class with either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, as long as they understand not all of the features will be available in Elements or older version of Photoshop.

Computer skills required for Gold and Silver students:

Strong level of comfort with computers in general
Understand the directory structure of your hard drive (where image files are located)
Know where to find files downloaded through the Dropbox website
Basic processing of images (clean image edit per Adjust the Dog)
Upload photos to Google Photos album
Create screenshots and upload them to a Google Photos album

Photoshop/Lightroom Creative Cloud Subscription:

You can sign up for a subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud software here:

https://creative.adobe.com/plans?store_code=en&promoid=KSDPZ

Select the "Photography" plan for $10/month. This will give you both Photoshop CC and Lightroom.

Additional Equipment

MONITOR CALIBRATION

You must work on a color calibrated computer monitor to get the best and most consisitent color and brightness results from your post-processing.

Here's what I recommend as a basic calibration package:

http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-CMUNSML-ColorMunki-Smile/dp/B009APMNB0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1451507779&sr=8-6&keywords=xrite

If you want to spend a little more, this is the one I use:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055MBQOW/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1451507779&sr=1&keywords=xrite