On Tuesday 20th we were addressed by David Garthwaite, speaking from Yorkshire via zoom to an audience of about 50 of us, spread half and half between the Duke of Wellington and on zoom.
David’s talk was titled “Fine art; a workflow”. David’s images are indeed that: fine art. He photographs (mainly?) architecture and then renders those in photoshop to the most beautiful and striking monochrome square images.
He demonstrated how he sources his images, explained that for easier dodging and burning they are best taken on overcast days, without too much contrast, i.e. as “flat” images.
He then showed many ways of cleverly selecting different elements of the photograph to tidy them up, create nice shade and light to match the chosen, sometimes inserted light source. Dodging, burning, luminosity gradients, new skies, symmetry: apparently it can take many hours of processing per image.
David also gave a masterclass of composition and preparation for a viewer: our eye drawn to the brightest and most contrast-y part of the picture with intelligent use of lead-in lines, all anticipated at the time of image capture. This understanding of the viewer’s perspective is a major part of David’s eye and idea during the processing; the viewer’s eye is drawn exactly to where David has intended. It all made sense when you see the final result and you know what he is working towards – a clear idea of what it can be made to look like.
Much food for thought and inspiration – a very good evening.
idse