Dive In!

I’m so excited to be running Swan Dive one more time!

I’ve had some questions about what this course is all about so I thought I’d share more about it today and tell you about why I love post-processing.

When I first found photography, the relationship between the way taking pictures invited me to slow down and notice the beauty around me (and eventually within me) was thrilling enough.  Just the taking of photos felt invigorating and exciting.

Then I found the wonderful world of flickr and being able to share images with folks around the world, join group and get feedback was thrilling.

But I started to notice that what came out of my camera and what many people shared online were very different.  I assumed they just had magic creative powers and magic cameras but soon realized that in fact it was that they had some pretty fabulous post-processing skills.

I discovered that photography and post-processing felt really different to engage in creatively and in fact, to me, were two completely different art forms.

So I started to explore all the possibilities, to fall in love with layers, textures, borders and all of the different programs there are to process with.

And Swan Dive emerged.  It is not a how-to Photoshop or Lightroom class (though there are lots of demos that I’ve created specifically for this class in those programs).  It is not a dry or boring post-processing class.  You don’t have to define yourself as a ‘photographer’ or ‘artist’ to take part (though I will warn you that you may end up saying those words in reference to yourself by the end of the class).

It is all about engaging in the art of post-processing and seeing what incredible things we can create.

It is about making beautiful mistakes and going against the rules in order to discover unique ways of creative post-processing.

It is about making friends with post-processing programs (yes, like photoshop or lightroom or other online and free programs).

It is about creatively  experimenting with things like layers, textures, borders, light leaks, cloning and double exposing!

It is about being in a creative community…and we have an incredible group gathered for this class!

I have also gathered TONS of resources for this class so if you’ve been wondering that to do now that the program Picnik is closing, you will be sure to find lots of options to replace it through your Swan Dive experience!

The course also has interviews with incredible artists like Kim Klassen, Roberta Murray, Lelainia Lloyd and more…and we’ll get a glimpse into their incredible work!

And class starts Monday.  You can sign up over here!

If you have any questions about the class don’t hesitate to email me.  This is the last time I’m planning to run the class so if you’ve been wanting to take it…now is the time to DIVE IN!

Below are some examples of some of the things we’ll be exploring. I hope to see you there!