Lessons
Minimalism - A Few Words to Start
00:43 2The Power of Negative Space
06:01 3Learn to See Visual Clutter
03:03 4Isolating Your Anchor
03:02 5Composing for Better Minimalist Photographs
03:57 6Choosing Gear to Create Minimalist Photographs
03:22 7Black and White the Classic Approach
03:38 8Working With Color
02:47Location Session - Apex Beach
04:54 10Apex Beach - Wrap Up
02:20 11Timing and Weather
00:44 12Common Traps and How to Avoid Them
07:08 13Post-Processing - When I Use it and Why?
14:19 14Print Your Work and Harness the Power of Minimalism
02:05 15Sled Dog Portrait Image Review
04:18 16Sled Dog Portrait Key Takeaway
02:43 17Location Session - Arctic Drone Flight
01:38 18Arctic Drone Flight Image Review
05:59 19Arctic Drone Flight Key Takeaways
02:10 20Snowkiting In the Canadian Arctic - Location Session
01:35 21Snowkiting Image Review
05:58 22Snowkiting Key Takeaway
02:27 23Class Summary
03:03Lesson Info
Apex Beach - Wrap Up
I wanted to take a moment to quickly point out why I think the color version of this image works better than the black and white version and it's not always the case that black and white is going to be the best way to process your minimalist images. And in this example in particular, there are two good reasons why I prefer color. The first reason being that this image tells a story, there's history in this image and I think that the color is what makes that angle more compelling. The Hudson's Bay company, which is the building that's represented here. Uh, they have a pretty varied history and a long history in the north and a big part of that company's brand was that bold red color. So if you take that read out, it's not exactly recognizable. That building, you know, is not as easily distinguished as any other building you might find on a snowy landscape. There's a very particular um, connection to that red. So I wanted to include that read. It was important for me to keep it in there ...
to create that more interesting image. Secondly, I think that the red in this situation helps us focus our attention on the main subject, which is the boat, it really pops off the screen and you're gonna see with the black and white image that if you take the color out, if you still can see that there's a shape there and you will, you will see that it's a boat if you look closely enough, but it's not instantly recognizable. So if I show you the black and white, you'll see that there's just sort of a dark shape in the lower right and then there's, you know, that building off to the side on the left also kind of shaded and dark. But you know, even though the weight and the balance of the composition is all pretty much the same as the color version, there just seems to be less focus and attention moving to the boat. It's not instantly recognizable. And with these minimal images, that's one of the things you do want to shoot for the color version of this, I feel because of that pop of color really has the advantage over the black and white. And those are the two biggest reasons why I would use color in this situation.
Ratings and Reviews
Brittany Riggs
Lovely and information. The information was relevant and ended up helping a good bit.
Vincent Zuck
Very interesting class, in a very unusual location (Arctic), which blended together to give a top notch class. I learned a lot about Minimalism as applied to photography, and Minimalism as applied to post-processing. Curtis is engaging while teaching and demonstrating on site, or back in his "office". I really enjoyed this class. Thank you Curtis.
Kate Geary
Student Work
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