TRAINING RESOURCE REVIEW:
Compositing Exposures to Light Architecture & Landscapes
with Bob Coates

This training CD teaches you how to take multiple exposures of any scene and combine the various parts to create one exposure that will result in your dream scene!

I discovered how to use Photoshop CS3 to light my scene's space by using various parts of several photographs taken with various exposures. The creativity demonstrated with highlights and shadows make the color saturation POP!

Bob Coates has answers for the most challenging architectural lighting situations. And never fear, all the class photographs are included for a step-by-step learning experience at your own pace.

Class Sessions
CD-ROM : Total Run Time: 1.7 hours

Session 1 : Outdoor Architecture
Learn how to make multiple captures of a scene that will give a look that transcends the original image.

Learn Photoshop CS3's Auto Align Feature. I really felt that the tutorial explained Photoshop CS3's Auto Align Feature and the Refine Edge so well that I could develop several scenes that really popped!! The shortcuts given make the workflow fast and easy too!


Session 02 : Indoor Architecture
Learn how to use Photoshop CS3 to light space as an accent to lighting equipment.

Indoor Scene with Outdoor Window Scene Merged
Two photos taken indoors with a tripod... one was great for inside, one was great for outside window view. The two photos were merged, masked and refine edged to create one fabulous shot. This is a must see for those who shoot professionally!!!!


Session 03 : Indoor and Outdoor Architecture Combined
Learn how to make exposures over a time period and combine them into a single image that your eye could see but the camera could not capture in one exposure. This combining of images is a technique that will save you if the indoor shot is good, but the view is blown out. Combining shots and using masks is a breeze.


Session 04 : Landscape
Capture detail in the bright areas of the sky as well as a shadowed foreground in a landscape image, merge and create a fabulous end result.


Session 05 : Panorama Landscape 1
Learn to Photomerge right from the Bridge and then blend images together.


Session 06 : Panorama Landscape 2
Use photos taken with a tripod and then hand merged for a flawless finished panorama when Photomerge doesn't work quite right.


Session 07 : Creating a Signature Image 1
Using curves, light effects, and mask techniques can make any ho-hum photo into a great art effect for an advertising art photo. This was a session that was incredible. I used it to make a plain photograph into a work of art.


Session 08 : Creating a Signature Image 2
Lighting techniques that make a flat photo SING! After merging a daytime photo and a sunset photo, you can use the color mode to bring out the desired colors.


Session 09 : Camera Raw to the Rescue
This trick is very useful for those using RAW photos -- not to be missed.


Recommendation
Overall, I felt that "Compositing Exposures to Light Architecture & Landscapes with Bob Coates" was an affordable short training CD that will be invaluable for those who shoot architecture photographs. The training sessions provide new ways to use several shots of the same scene at different times to create one great photograph. You'll also learn how to save a shooting session if the photos were not quite right. It's an inexpensive way to learn to produce an artistic and professional end result, whether amateur, semi-professional or professional photographer!

WHERE TO BUY:
Buy direct from SOFTWARE CINEMA for $49.00