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This just in! I'm teaching Photoshop for Photographers (PHOT 222) again at SAIT. Wednesdays: Feb 24-March 31, 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon Books I Recommend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Teach People

I teach photography at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary. I design and deliver custom corporate seminars, and I give individual training to photographers, designers, communications professionals and hobbyists on photography, imaging software, newsletter design, and blogging. I have been doing this formally since 2001 while also maintaining a small photography practice. I research my fields of interest constantly, and I am a born trouble-shooter. I work hard to facilitate my students and my clients. Some of my students become clients, and some of my clients become students. I love my job!

I work and teach with the assumption that technology has limits, while creativity doesn't. We push photographic and digital technology to its limits, but that is an ever changing line. My job as your teacher is to demystify technology so that your creativity can emerge. My teaching philosophy is best summed up by this quote from The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.

A professional dedicates himself to mastering technique The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him. He apprentices himself to them. The professional dedicates himself to mastering technique not because he believes technique is a substitute for inspiration but because he wants to be in possession of the full arsenal of skills when inspiration does come. The professional is sly. He knows that by toiling beside the front door of technique, he leaves room for genius to enter by the back.

Educational resources created by Marlene Hielema

My "Take Better Pictures" seminars have been delivered to hundreds of people and can now be reviewed online. See the presentations below via SlideShare.

Part 1 - Composition Though technically inclined, I feel that composition is the access point to good photography and that is should be taught early in photo courses. I give this overview presentation in my first class at SAIT.

Part 2 - Digital Camera Set-up Presentation. I also give this presentation in the first class. There is no audio, but if you've been in my class it will remind you of the key points.

Part 3 - How to Critique Photography from a Design Perspective
What makes a photograph work or not?

The MOST common question I get asked from new digital photographers, like my SAIT students, is: "How do I re-size my images?"

This demo movie shows you how using Photoshop (.swf format). New version of this presentation created using Jing. Jing is awesome and free.

I learned about Jing/Screencast during a course I took at SAIT on Blended Learning. I tried out different mulitmedia teaching software, and this is my favourite so far.

You can also re-size images using a free online software called Picnik. I have a quick software review on Picnik on my blog. Check it out today!

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TIP* Ever wonder how educators can zoom the window during demos? On a Mac, go to System Preferences>Universal Access>Zoom>On. Very useful when teaching large groups.

References for Shooting in Raw File Format

Adobe Camera RAW notes that I use in my Power of RAW seminar. (~900kb pdf)

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Adobe DNG Converter 5.6 update - READ the following if you can't open your RAW files using the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)

Step One:

• Update to the latest version of ACR (v5.6 as of December 2009)
• If you are using Photoshop CS2 - the latest version of ACR is 3.7
• If you are using Photoshop CS3 - the latest version of ACR is 4.6
• If you are using Photoshop CS4 - the latest version of ACR is 5.6

Here are the links to the latest Adobe Camera Raw updates:

Mac: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=106&platform=Macintosh

Windows: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=106&platform=Windows

Step Two:

• Try to open your camera RAW files. (Easiest way is to navigate to the folder where your RAW files are using Adobe Bridge).
• If that doesn't work you will need to convert your files to DNG and then use ACR to open the converted files.
• Here is the link to the latest Adobe DNG Converter v5.6:
• DNG Converter for Mac: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4519
• DNG Converter for Windows: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4520

Step Three:

To use the DNG converter, follow these simple steps:

• Go to the appropriate link above and download the latest Adobe DNG Converter.
• Place it in your Applications folder.
• Launch the DNG Converter application.
• Select the folder where your raw files are located and click "convert".
• You can save the new files to another folder, which I suggest you do and throw out the original raw files.
• You can also re-name your new DNG files, but it might be simpler to keep their original file numbering.
• The DNG files are also slightly smaller than your raw files, but don't worry, all the quality is there.
• Suggestion: Try one small folder of images first to test.
• The DNG converter converts your raw files to the DNG format which can then be opened using ACR and Photoshop CS2, CS3 or CS4.
• Very simple and fast. Converting files to DNG is actually considered very beneficial, as it is an archival format and it also uses a lossless compression which makes the DNG files 15% smaller.
• DNG files can be opened by all RAW conversion software and in the future may become the standard file format for all digital cameras.
• The Adobe DNG Converter, a free utility that converts files from more than 200 cameras to DNG, enables you to easily convert camera-specific raw files to a more universal DNG raw file.

Academic Papers

The Magic of Photography in the Media (2001)
An examination of photo manipulation and surrealism in photography
Download paper (pdf ~120Kb)

Evaluating Instructional Technology (2002)
An evaluation plan for using TextWeaver software to teach the History of Photography
Download paper (pdf ~ 60Kb)

The Effects of the Internet on Photographers (2003)
An emprical study based on surveys and interviews of Canadian photographers
Download paper (pdf ~170Kb)

The Effects of Digital Imaging on Photographers (2004)
University of Calgary, Masters of Communications Studies Thesis Project.
An emprical study based on surveys and interviews of photographers
If you really want to download my thesis, please contact me.

Last update of this page - 7 February 2010