Training Classes for 
Plano Photography Club and Dallas Camera Club Members

There will be a combination of Live Classes before each club's meetings available to members of that club. Plus Online classes available to members of both club over Zoom.

NOTE: The Fundamentals Class requires prior registration. Walk-ins are not accepted. 

The below schedule will be filled in as members offer to teach a class of their interest.

DCC Members access codes HERE You must be a member and logged on to see this page. 

Start times

PPC/DCC On-line classes start at 7:00
DCC Live classes start at 6:15

Current and Pending Classes

Gold Leave Process - Nancy Mack

Informal Gold Leaf Show & Tell:  samples of materials, supplies, demo and gold leaf photo examples

EXPOSURE: GET IT RIGHT IN THE CAMERA - Larry Petterborg

Properly exposing files makes your subsequent photo editing simpler and your resulting images much closer to what you originally visualized before pushing the shutter button. Over the course of three meetings, we will define “exposure”, explore the camera settings which determine an exposure, and discuss methods for obtaining the best results. While there are many reference sources available on this subject, I plan to rely heavily on Michael Frye’s eBook, EXPOSURE For Outdoor Photography (not currently available).
SESSION ONE: Discussion Topics and Exercise
Define “exposure”, “proper exposure”, exposure triangle (shutter speed, aperture & ISO), metering modes, & exposure modes.
Homework: Make a series of photographs of the same subject at the same time exploring the effects of aperture and shutter speed while the exposure stays the same.
SESSION TWO: Discussion Topics and Exercise
Homework Show &Tell, histograms, exposure compensation, expose to the right (ETTR), and “Blinkies”.
Homework: Make a series of photographs of the subjects utilizing ETTR techniques and compare them to exposures made of the same subjects with your camera set on “Auto”.
SESSION THREE: Discussion Topics and Exercise
Homework Show &Tell and questions.

Things I Can Only Do in Photoshop (Multi-part)

I prefer to do all of my post processing work in Lightroom Classic - Image adjustment, printing, resizing, HDR, Panoramas, etc. However there are certain things I can only do in Photoshop. I will demo the following:
  - Fill holes in the forest
  - Erase certain halos in prints
  - Expand an image when the subject needs more room
  - Fill transparent areas created in Lightroom when correcting geometries
  - Text on images
  - Create a watermark
  - Creative creations
  - More...

How I Made It

The story of a photograph is less about the lens, the f-stop, and shutter speed and more about the moment the photographer decided to make a photograph. In these sessions, photographers will discuss what prompted them to make a photograph. Where were they? What feeling did they have about the location? What drew them to make that particular photograph? Why did they choose the gear and settings they used? How did they process the photograph to realize their vision? Did they choose a particular paper to print the image? Hopefully these stories can help us learn to see a scene better.

Two excellent books illustrating the power of the story are:
Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs - Ansel Adams
Light on the Landscape - William Neill

Image Review (Online)

Anita Oakley - Participants share images and discuss them. The leader my demonstrate potential improvements.

Ask Me Anything

Dennis Fritsche
Description:  This is an open session to discuss anything photographic - cameras, Lightroom, color management, technique, gear, printing, travel planning, back-up strategies, whatever. If I don't know, someone else in the room will. It is a great place to learn something new. If you have a problem image or a question, email it to me at dennisfritsche@verizon.net.

Completed Classes

Managing Mobile Photos in Lightroom and Lightroom Classic
David Swinney

The Impact of Monochrome/Black & White
John Lehman
Photographing or converting an image to Black and White is a deliberate choice. We'll explore the impact of a monochromatic image and discuss the decisions to do so. We'll also focus on converting images into monochromatic images with a focus on Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro3. 

Seeing Beyond the Subject (Online)

Alan Whiteside

We usually think about photographing “things”: rocks, flowers, buildings, people, and so forth. If you want to create images that have the most impact, you have to move beyond what the subject of the image is and explore what the image is about.

This four-session course will help you incorporate design and structure elements (such as perspective; positive and negative space; symmetry; and depth within the scene) to see beyond your chosen subject and define what the image is about and how you want viewers to feel when they see your image.

We will examine a range of example images, including highly successful ones and those that could be improved. You will be encouraged to submit an image and describe (1) how you structured it to make a statement about your subject and (2) how the subject made you feel or what you hope your audience will feel when looking at the image. Discussions will center around how the images are perceived by other participants and how they can be improved for added impact.

Exploring Black and White Prints

Dennis Fritsche

What: I will bring some silver gelatin prints by the renown photographer John Sexton. And some digital prints of mine. You are invited and encourage to bring black and white prints of any any and all types.
Purpose: To see a traditionally printed image, compare to digital prints, discuss digital papers and their impact on the final image, and see other processes. And whatever else we decide to explore.
When: 6:15 - 7:15 (Program Meeting starts at 7:30)
Where: In the Aaron Youth Center (AYC) at Congregation Shearith Israel

Introduction to Club Competition (Live DCC)
Frank Richards

Club competitions are a great way to engage with other members and to quickly improve your photographic skills.  Some members don’t compete because they don’t like the concept, while others lack the confidence to compete and receive feedback, or they simply don’t understand the process. This is a hands-on, interactive class designed for new members and members who not currently competing or are competing at the beginner level.  The focus is on making competition worthy images. Its objective is to prepare and encourage members to compete in the 2022-23 competition year starting in May. The class will cover:

• Why we compete
  
• Mechanics of DCC competitions
  
• What makes a good image
  
• Preparing files as projected images and to print
  
• Giving and receiving criticism
  
• Discussion of your images – both projected and prints
  
• Prepare images to enter the May contest 

Five classes starting at 6:30 pm prior to the meetings in January – March, 2022.

If you are interested in joining the class or have questions, send me an email at f-richards@sbcglobal.net. It would be useful to know what type of camera and image processing software you use. Also, how you print photographs. This will help tailor the class to your needs. 

Lightroom: From Camera to Print - Update covering new masking tools (Online)

Dennis Fritsche
Description: This class concentrates on the Library, Develop, and Print modules of Lightroom Classic. We explore the power of the Library module to help you mange your photographs, the basic and advanced techniques to refine your images in the Development module, and the details of outputting to paper from the Print module. 

Photojournalism
Larry Petterborg
Description: Photojournalism is a form of documentary photography that goes beyond merely depicting a scene to telling a story about people and events. This class will cover the development of photojournalism, from the earliest days of photography to the present. Classic and iconic examples of the genre will be discussed as a way of exploring the elements of a memorable image.

Selections in Photoshop
Craig Rowen
Description: Their are many ways to make selections in Photoshop. This class will give an overview of the many options and dive into the most used methods.

Fun with Photoshop
Heidi Phillips

Printing and Mounting Your Photographs
Dennis Fritsche

Description: Ansel Adams famously said “The negative is the score, and the print the performance." This remains true in the digital age as well. Prints provide a unique opportunity to enjoy, display and share our photographs.  This class will demonstrate the basics of printing your photographs or preparing them to be printed by a service.  It will also demonstrate how to mount a photograph for display and judging.

File Formats in Photography

Davis Swinney

Description: In photography, we are presented with a variety of file formats – JPEG, TIFF, RAW, DNG, PNG, etc. These sessions will unravel the terminology and help you understand what they are and when to use them.
Session 1: (RAW and XMP) vs. DNG - the pros and cons of each file type along with usage scenarios/workflows

Session 2: Using Different File Types When Roundtripping between Lightroom and Photoshop 

Preparing Slideshows
Dennis Fritsche

Description: During the club year, we can share our photography and creativity with our fellow members with slideshows. These sessions will use Photostage Slideshow Software from NCH Software. We will cover considerations for choosing and sequencing the slides, creating title slides, when to use and not use special effects, how to find and add music, and how to prepare the final product into a movie that displays well on Zoom.

Techniques to Expand the Capability of Your Camera
Frank Richards

Description: Today’s cameras are marvelous instruments with capabilities unimaged just a few years ago. However, there are some things that are currently beyond our camera’s capabilities. We can capture multiple images and combine them in post processing to overcome some of these limitations. Frank will explore in three situations where multiple images can be combined to create a new image that exceeds the exposure range of your camera’s sensor or exceeds the viewing angle or depth-of-field limitations of your lenses. These three techniques – HDR (High Dynamic Range), Panoramas, and Focus Stacking – will each be addressed in a separate session.

What Judges Look For
Larry Petterborg

Description: As both clubs move from one contest year to the next, it is good to keep in mind What Judges Look For when judging a club contest. Larry shares his observations from competing and judging other clubs for many decades into a helpful set of observations.

Street Photography

Hugh Adams
Description: This training session will include the history and definition of street photography, including examples, equipment, approaches, composition, locations, ethics, legality, and resources of street photography.

Luminosity and Color Masks in Photoshop
Anita Oakley

Description: Luminosity and color masks allow you to make edits to your images that would be impossible without them. They can be as intricate as a single shade in the leaves of trees. They also blend beautifully so the edits appear more natural. However, manually creating luminosity masks is a difficult and time-consuming process. Ted Kuyper’s TK7 Rapid Mask module makes them a snap! We will edit three images and show you how effective and easy they really can be.

Photographing Moving Water
Alan Whiteside

Description: Whether you’re photographing naturally moving water (e.g., a creek, ocean, even rain) or an artificial source (e.g., a faucet, fountain, fire hydrant), there are numerous considerations that affect the final image. We will explore these factors, which range from your own safety, to your vision for the image, to manipulating the light to express your intent. Most of the example photos will involve water, but the considerations can be applied whenever you want to capture and interpret the motion of everyday objects while your camera remains stationary.