Photocomposition for Fine Art Photography

Learn how to shoot and edit striking portraits that convey deep meaning and emotion through minimalist imagery

• Introduction
• Your First Steps In Minimalism
• The Photoshoot
• Post-production
• Final project

Portraits don’t always have to be what meets the eye. Let Dasha Pears make you look twice and create something surreal. Inspired by a passion for psychology, she employs what she calls a ‘psychorealist’ style to depict what is going on in our inner worlds and make our feelings, thoughts, and emotions tangible. She’s a self-taught artist and has received more than 15 international photography awards, a gold medal from the Photographic Society of America and a prize from the Smithsonian Magazine for the best-altered photo. Her work has been exhibited around the world — in Finland, Russia, Poland, France, Germany, Israel, the UAE, Mexico, the UK, and the US.

Learn how to craft photos with more than meets the eye. In this online course, Dasha teaches you how to employ a minimalist aesthetic to surreal portraits that bend your perceptions of reality. She explains how to decide on key elements to make simple portraits attention-grabbing with simple props and tools. You plan out a photo shoot, from choosing the right tools and setting, to preparing your camera, to finding what deeper meaning you want to convey with your work. You will guide your model to get the right look and feel for your image, and edit it with a surrealist spin using Lightroom and Photoshop.

• About Me
• Influences
• What Is a Minimalistic Portrait?
• Coming up with the Initial Concept 1
• Coming up with the Initial Concept 2
• The How-Tos of Minimalism 1
• The How-Tos of Minimalism 2
• Getting Ready
• The Space
• The Model and the Team
• Equipment
• During the Photoshoot
• Editing in Adobe Lightroom 1
• Editing in Adobe Lightroom 2
• Photo Compositing: Cleaning up the Image 1
• Photo Compositing: Cleaning up the Image 2
• Photo Compositing: Cleaning up the Image 3
• Photo Compositing: Adding Believability and Volume 1
• Photo Compositing: Adding Believability and Volume 2
• Photo Compositing: Adding Believability and Volume 3
• Photo Compositing: Adding Believability and Volume 4
• The Final Touches
• Understanding and Sharing Your Art
• Photocomposition for Fine Art Photography