Creating Classic Black and White with Digital

Summit Online Workshop

May 10, 17, 24 & 31 

8-9:30pm Eastern

Four 90-minute sessions

Workshop Tuition: $399 USD

The power of black and white photography

Have you ever marveled at the beauty of a Ansel Adams or Edward Weston photograph and wondered how you could create that with your digital camera? The beauty of classic black and white is not about what tool you use, but how you use it!

Join Rich Seiling for this inspiring four week series of classes that shows the thought process and tools Rich uses to create museum quality digital black and white prints in the classic style.

May 10, 17, 24, & 31 2023

Workshop outline

Four sessions with time reserved for Q&A.  Class recordings available for 60 days after the workshop.
May 10, 17, 24 & 31, 2023 at 8PM EST

Session One: Contrast

Contrast is the key component of an expressive B&W photograph. Rich will teach you how to create and control contrast for maximum effect.

Session Two: Converting to B&W like a Master

Garbage in, garbage out. The wrong pre-processing choices can make or break your photographs. Learn which RAW processing tools to use…and avoid, and how to convert from color to B&W with the eye of a master.

Session Three: Local Control - The key to expressive results

Effective local control with brushing and masking allows you to “dodge & burn” like and darkroom master. It allows fine tuning that makes the difference between a ho-hummer and a masterpiece. Learn the how you can capture the viewer and guide the eye while creating a more expressive vision.

Session Four: The Proof is in the Print

Prints are the ultimate way to share a B&W photograph, but the number of printing options can be overwhelming. I’ll give you a clear roadmap that will let you navigate the many choices of papers and printers to create the classic beauty you are looking for.

Meet your instructor

Rich Seiling

Rich Seiling’s passion for capturing light and beauty with photography has led him on a series of  adventures that have shaped his vision and view of the craft. From a stint at The Ansel Adams  Gallery in Yosemite as an assistant curator, to his pioneering work in digital printmaking,  founding of a leading fine art printing studio, and 22 years living in and photographing the  Yosemite region of the Sierra Nevada, Rich has deeply explored the vision and craft of  photography while continuing to express his own vision.  

He learned photography in the darkroom, seeking to make prints with the rich tonal scale  exemplified by the West Coast traditions of photography. But his frustration with color processes  lead him to explore digital photography starting in the early 1990s. 

Combining his darkroom knowledge with digital tools led to a process for making color prints of  museum quality that pushed the process to new heights. His reputation for making vibrant yet  realistic digital prints allowed him to help photographers like Michael Forsberg, Galen Rowell, Jack Dykinga,  Robert Glenn Ketchum, and many others, make the transition to digital fine art printing. With his  team at West Coast Imaging, he has helped produce numerous museum shows, supplied prints  for leading galleries, and done prepress for art books from publishers like Taschen and  Houghton Mifflin.  

His simple yet powerful Photoshop workflow, tested on tens of thousands of prints at WCI, is in  use by many top professionals, and has been taught to countless students across the country  through workshops and lectures. 

Working in both black & white and color, Rich strives to capture the profound beauty of nature  and communicate it through vibrant, and sometimes large, prints. He considers himself a  student of light, discovering its qualities and how it communicates the inherent realities of a  subject, often seeking out fleeting moments of rare light that make the landscape sing its own  voice. 

Driven by the belief that each photographer has a unique story only they can tell, Rich teaches  the art of photography through workshops and articles. His goal is to help students unlock their  potential to tell their own stories by helping them gain control of the craft, expand their vision,  and most of all, to experience the enrichment and joy that photography brings.  

Rich lives just outside Nashville with his wife and creative partner Susan, and his three children.  

You can see more of his photography at richseiling.com and read his blog for photographers at craftingphotographs.com.

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