High Fashion Retouching Classes

L
Posted By
lbp
Aug 27, 2004
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431
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11
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Closed
While i can read books and try things on my own, i am really looking for something intense that deals with the specifics of high end fashion/advertising retouching. When i was in grad school for photography, the photoshop class that i took was, in retrospect, a joke and in no way made me viable in the marketplace for photoshop.

I am in New York… does anyone know of good, intense classes (at fairly reasonable prices- i don’t think i could take out another loan just for this, outside of a degree program)?

Thanks
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R
Ram
Aug 27, 2004
I know this is not what you describe in your post, but for $30, you may want to look at this: (Volume 1 – Photographic Workflow with Vincent Versace)

<http://www.digitalinnovator.com/>

From the blurb:

This DVD provides a detailed look at retouching a Hollywood portrait and thoroughly explores the process of enhancing a floral photograph. Segments in the portrait retouch include: planning the retouch, the healing brush, lighting in Photoshop, pop-up menus, adjustment layers, soft masks, enlarging the eyes, lighting the face, color correcting, butterfly lighting, and sharpening. The floral retouch includes segments on: color correcting for blue, adjusting tonal range, selective muting, sharpening and contrast, black and white conversion, sepia toning, and adding blur and noise.
L
lbp
Aug 27, 2004
There is a dvd i think by Scott Kelby about the secrets of fashion retouching for around $40 that i would buy -but i’m still considering if a DVD would help.
R
Ram
Aug 27, 2004
Well, some people liked Kelby’s book, but I did not Β—in the least. I know nothing about his DVD. However, I understand that your question now is about DVDs in general.

My feeling is that I would rather watch a thorough professional like Vince Versace at work for a couple of hours, who commands stratospheric fees for his shoots of Hollywood and other celebrities, than enroll in some classes necessarily given by a less experienced instructor at a community college who is bound to give attention to a group of students but may not be as competent at his craft. But that’s just my opinion.
R
Ram
Aug 27, 2004
SoftwareCinema also has a good (but expensive) set of CDs with QT movies on retouching < http://www.software-cinema.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTG Y&Store_Code=SC&Category_Code=JC>.

They are the ones that produce the excellent Julieanne Kost QT movie tutorials, worth every penny.
RL
Ronald_Lanham
Aug 28, 2004
lbp

This is not overkill if you’re serious about learning Photoshop and don’t want to take classes. This by comparison to taking a class at a reputable university, etc. is inexpensive.

Total Training for Photoshop CS < http://www.totaltraining.com/store/2003/tt_products/photosho pbonus.asp?mscsid=>

I know you’re specifically looking for retouching photos, but since you said the class you took in grad school was such a ‘joke,’ you might want to consider it.

I have no financial relationship to the above website/products.
L
lbp
Aug 28, 2004
Since graduating i have learned a lot by studying and doing on my own- but what i need is not just "total training"- i have a fairly good grasp of photoshop- but something intense and very specific to high fashion, which is where i have been assisting but would like more hands on training

No offense to anyone who has responded, but i can buy as many DVD’s as i would like and retouch on my own, but it doesn’t give me feedback on areas that i need to work on- it doesn’t test my skills- which is why I asked specifically about classes, not DVD trainings.

I live in a huge city that is filled with fashion photography… i know there has to be a class out there that deals directly with this. All this post was asking was if anyone knew of classes- not DVD’s.
R
Ram
Aug 28, 2004
No need to get testy, LBP. You introduced a certain ambiguity to your post by labeling your previous Photoshop classes as "a joke".

The DVDs might not be of use to you, but they might help someone else reading this thread later on.
PC
Pierre_Courtejoie
Aug 28, 2004
Yes, as far as I know, Scott Kelby does not work in the fashion retouching industry. But he’s good to teach semi advanced techniques to beginners.

IMHO, three books you should look at: Photoshop for Photographers <http://www.photoshopforphotographers.com/> by Martin Evening <http://www.martinevening.com>

Photoshop from concept to cool <http://www.suzettetroche.com/concepttocool/index.html> by Suzette Troche. <http://www.suzettetroche.com/>

Photoshop Restoration & Retouching <http://www.digitalretouch.org/> by Katrin Eismann <http://www.photoshopdiva.com/index.html>

Vincent Versace is also another pro, to say the least!

Any class on the topic given by those last 4 is a must see!
EG
Ed_Gerson
Sep 1, 2004
Kelby is a little maniacal at times, but his tips are helpful to me. His PS CS book could be condensed to a few flash cards, but if you don’t know
this stuff its great to learn it. The updated versions of his PS CS book wasn’t that much better than the first one.

You will find the Versace CD an awesome (I don’t normally use that word) learning experience. Although he says he forgot his lighting equipment, which necessitated a need to have PS CS save him….yeah, that’s absurd
but who cares, Versace is a pro’s pro in my opinion.

Ed
R
Ram
Sep 1, 2004
My main disagreement with Kelby is his ill-guided technique of switching from RGB to L*a*b color space for corrections like sharpening. Totally unnecessary and potentially harmful to the image.
R
Ram
Sep 1, 2004
As for Vincent Versace and his lighting equipment, that’s just a very effective didactic device he uses. Sometimes he uses a slight variant: he and his assistance were in separate vehicles and each thought the other one had the equipment. πŸ™‚ I’m pretty sure he’s never been actually been caught without his equipment. πŸ˜‰

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