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Shoot: Tree Image

Lesson 70 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

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Lesson Info

70. Shoot: Tree Image

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

19:06
2

Storytelling & Ideas

27:34
3

Universal Symbols in Stories

03:19
4

Create Interactive Characters

02:16
5

The Story is in The Details

04:13
6

Giving Your Audience Feelings

05:49
7

Guided Daydream Exercise

04:20
8

Elements of Imagery

02:19
9

The Death Scenario

01:47
10

Associations with Objects

03:01
11

Three Writing Exercises

06:39
12

Connection Through Art

30:35
13

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

07:40
14

Layering Inspiration

23:13
15

Creating an Original Narrative

07:42
16

Analyze an Image

04:12
17

Translate Emotion into Images

04:31
18

Finding Parts in Images

06:02
19

Finding Your Target Audience

04:05
20

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

12:01
21

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

32:43
22

Formatting Your Work

06:08
23

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

07:24
24

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

04:17
25

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

11:27
26

Circle of Focus

07:55
27

The Pillars of Branding

06:18
28

Planning Your Photoshoot

09:05
29

Choose Every Element for The Series

07:38
30

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

09:37
31

Sketch Your Ideas

17:27
32

Choose Your Gear

02:50
33

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

26:18
34

What Tells a Story in a Series?

13:06
35

Set Design Overview

01:43
36

Color Theory

19:50
37

Lighting for the Scene

12:05
38

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

06:00
39

Locations

04:31
40

Subject Within the Scene

07:26
41

Set Design Arrangement

05:46
42

Fine Art Compositing

03:46
43

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

10:29
44

Checklist for Composite Shooting

18:52
45

Analyze Composite Mistakes

12:11
46

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

10:42
47

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

08:36
48

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

08:17
49

Shoot: Miniature Scene

09:59
50

Editing Workflow Overview

01:57
51

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

08:35
52

Edit Details of Images

08:09
53

Add Smoke & Texture

10:47
54

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

24:58
55

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

17:55
56

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

22:10
57

Self Portrait Test Shoots

22:30
58

Shoot for Edit

04:21
59

Shoot Extra Stock Images

10:01
60

Practice the Shoot

25:07
61

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

03:33
62

Shoot: Vine Image

10:40
63

Shoot: Sand Image

09:50
64

Shoot: End Table Image

04:59
65

Shoot: Bed Image

06:18
66

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

05:54
67

Shoot: Chair Image

08:02
68

Shoot: Mirror Image

06:57
69

Shoot: Moss Image

05:48
70

Shoot: Tree Image

07:33
71

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

04:09
72

Shoot: Feather Image

09:00
73

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

07:35
74

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion

36:55
75

Edit Images with Advanced Compositing

29:33
76

Decide How to Start the Composite

09:35
77

Organize Final Images

21:37
78

Choosing Images for Your Portfolio

08:19
79

Order the Images in Your Portfolio

16:28
80

Why do Some Images Sell More Than Others?

16:03
81

Analyze Student Portfolio Image Order

11:42
82

Framing, Sizing, Editioning & Pricing

02:19
83

Determine Sizes for Prints

16:44
84

How to Choose Paper

13:56
85

How to Choose Editions

07:18
86

Pricing Strategies

18:59
87

How to Present Your Images

13:26
88

Example Pricing Exercise

09:39
89

Print Examples

08:23
90

Licensing, Commissions & Contracts

04:44
91

How to Keep Licensing Organized

06:07
92

How to Prepare Files for Licensing

07:28
93

Pricing Your Licensed Images

12:33
94

Contract Terms for Licensing

12:07
95

Where to Sell Images

04:55
96

Commission Pricing Structure

08:23
97

Contract for Commissions

12:17
98

Questions for a Commission Shoot

08:45
99

Working with Galleries

08:58
100

Benefits of Galleries

07:39
101

Contracts for Galleries

10:32
102

How to Find Galleries

05:22
103

Choose Images to Show

08:53
104

Hanging the Images

03:38
105

Importance of Proofing Prints

08:04
106

Interview with Soren Christensen Gallery

21:59
107

Press Package Overview

04:35
108

Artist Statement for Your Series

18:20
109

Write Your 'About Me' Page

09:04
110

Importance of Your Headshot

03:55
111

Create a Leave Behind & Elevator Pitch

20:19
112

Writing For Fine Art

04:44
113

Define Your Writing Style

14:49
114

Find Your Genre

06:41
115

What Sets You Apart?

02:25
116

Write to Different Audiences

05:10
117

Write for Blogging

39:57
118

Speak About Your Work

14:21
119

Branding for Video

07:37
120

Clearly Define Video Talking Points

14:27
121

Types of Video Content

31:45
122

Interview Practice

13:22
123

Diversifying Social Media Content

22:32
124

Create an Intentional Social Media Persona

24:48
125

Monetize Your Social Media Presence

18:46
126

Social Media Posting Plan

04:01
127

Choose Networks to Use & Invest

02:57
128

Presentation of Final Images

19:13
129

Printing Your Series

09:16
130

How to Work With a Print Lab

13:39
131

Proofing Your Prints

10:11
132

Bad Vs. Good Prints

03:32
133

Find Confidence to Print

10:50
134

Why Critique?

06:55
135

Critiquing Your Own Portfolio

10:39
136

Critique of Brooke's Series

16:18
137

Critique of Student Series

40:07
138

Yours is a Story Worth Telling

02:09

Lesson Info

Shoot: Tree Image

This image is going to be, perhaps, the most complicated picture that I'm trying to complete in this series. I said perhaps, but I definitely mean it will be the most complex picture; because this is going to be almost entirely Photoshopped. From the moment I take the shot to the end product, it's just gonna be maybe one or two pictures and then the rest happening in the computer. What I need to do right now is to make it look like this entire room has a huge tree coming through the floor and up through the ceiling. The gist of it is that we're going to have our subject just totally enveloped in the tree roots underneath the room, so she is completely a part of nature and structure at this point. The difficulty in doing something like this is that there are a lot of small elements that will add to the believability of this final image. One of the most important pieces is making sure that the lighting is maintained on every single image that we end up putting in this picture. One of the...

m being the tree roots, another one being our subject, another being the tree itself; plus, the little details of how we're going to create holes in the floor and ceiling of this picture. Then there is an entire other aspect to this that is complicated in and of itself; which is that I'm shooting, essentially, a half above ground, half below ground image. I need to make it look like there's cut in the floorboards so that I can see below the house and in the room. That is complicated alone. When you add that with something shooting through a room, all these entry points of different objects that weren't there to begin with; this becomes a very complicated image. That's why we have to be completely ready and know what elements we need ahead of time. What do we need ahead of time? First of all, we need to know our angle. If I'm going to photograph something below this floor and above this floor, then realistically I have to get down really low to shoot these images so that I'm close to the floorboards that are coming toward my camera. Part of the reason why I'm using a 25 millimeter lens here is so that there is just a slight bit of distortion on the floorboards, so that they do look like they're really coming toward my camera; which is going to be helpful for creating a little bit of a dynamic believability with the perspective, here. That's one consideration. I have to make sure that I have the room completely cleared, which you can see we have done. So there's nothing in this space, which is making room for the tree. I'm actually going to use this column here as a little piece of the tree. That's going to be our marker of where the tree is going to go. You can see it doesn't actually go into the floor, but it is creating a shadow, so I'm going to know where the tree shadow needs to be in the end. That's going to be how this image comes together. It's going to be very complicated, but I think we have all the elements that we need. I'm going to get down low, and I'm going to shoot this room first. That way I have my very first image, I understand the angle that I'm getting on that, and then I can shoot my subject. First thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to get down low and I'm going to shoot this room. Let's go ahead and take a look. The lower you get the better in this situation, since we're going to see underneath these floorboards. Doesn't really make a lot of sense if I start shooting it like this, up higher, to then be able to see underneath the floorboards. The lower we get down with the camera, the more you're going to believe that we can actually see underneath the floor. That's going to be super important to the believability, here. I'm gonna get pretty low. I'm actually just gonna lay down to get comfortable. I think this angle's really nice. I'm at ISO 500 right now, and F 3.5. I'm changing my shutter speed to be 160. This looks pretty good from my angle. I'm just gonna flip my screen up a little so I can see better. I'm going to focus on the column in this room, knowing that that's where my tree will be. Where the tree is, is really important; because the tree will end up under the ground, and that's where our subject will be, as well. This is going to give me a sense of space. Knowing that this column is in the room, and that's where the focus is, I also need my subject to be relatively the same size and distance from my camera as this column is. I'm gonna go ahead and get my focus. That looks good. There are a couple things that I don't like in this frame, such as the windows; but that's something that I can deal with in post if I don't end up liking it. I'm gonna get my low angle. I'm focused on the post. I'm gonna go ahead and take my first shot, here. That's looking really nice. I'm just gonna move my camera around the room, making sure that I can expand this frame out if I need to. I'm gonna get some of the ceiling, here. That should do it for the images around the room. Maybe a little bit more floor, just in case. You never know where that edit is going to come in. Now that we've got everything in the room, we can get our subject. This is going to be a little bit more complicated, because our subject; we can't see exactly where she's going to be, yet. It's going to be a little bit difficult to envision, what will her background be, what will be touching her? All I know is that she'll be underground in the earth, in the dirt, and the tree roots are going to swoop in and sort of cradle her underneath this house. Knowing that, I wanna make sure that there's darkness around her. I don't know if it'll be pitch black, or if it'll be brown like dirt. So, I'm going to place her in a spot here, where there's natural light coming in; which will allow natural darkness to fall off in the background. We're gonna have her in fetal position on her back. If you wouldn't mind coming in, I'm gonna have you lay down just right about there. We've swept a little spot for her. I'm gonna have you on your back with your legs pulled up. Exactly. Instead of holding your knees, I'm actually gonna have you put your head up to your knee. Yep, just exactly like that. She just did it, everything's perfect. I'm gonna move back and get this shot. I'm making sure that I get a low angle, but not as low; because if I am as low as I was, then I would be shooting up at our subject, whereas if you can envision in this final image- Yes, relax. In this final image she'll actually be below the lens of my camera if she really is underground. I'm simply going to photograph her, maybe from just a little bit slightly above, here. Can you pull in in even further? Yep, that's it. Got it, okay. You can relax. Those were the pieces of this image that I needed to get right now. What you're not seeing me get is a tree and tree roots, as well as the hole; which I think that we talked about earlier that we saw a couple little holes around here in the floor. I'm going to try to use those as the entry point for the tree through the ceiling and the floor. After I get those, this image should be good to go, but I do anticipate a number of hours in Photoshop.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)
Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)
Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)
Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)
Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)
Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)
Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)
Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)
Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)
Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)
Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)
Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)
Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)
Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)
Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)
Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)
Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)
Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)
Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)
Bonus Materials Guide
Syllabus
Image Edit Videos

Ratings and Reviews

April S.
 

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Angel Ricci
 

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

Ron Landis
 

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

Student Work

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