Scott Kelby Reloaded

Recently, I attended a local presentation of the 2015 Scott Kelby Live Reloaded tour . In addition to wanting to learn something new, it was a chance for me to experience firsthand a seminar taught by Scott Kelby himself. I was interested to see and hear what kind of teacher he is and if I could relate to his style of presentation.

Even if you think you know about the topics covered, it is always good to take a refresher from time to time. There is so much to remember these days, especially in terms of software, cameras, lighting, composition.

Here are some quick things Scott spent time discussing.

Your Photography

• You need to develop our own vision. You decide what the viewer is to see in your images.
• You need to balance the content selected for your images with proper composition.
• Learn how to work a scene. Getting the image right in the camera first is always great, but you must also consider that there may be more than one interesting image for a scene.
• If an image looks great to you, what if you tried to crop it differently? You might be surprised at how many other images reside in the one you took. And then what might that say about the original image you captured?

Using Lightroom or Camera Raw

• Get the right color by experimenting with the White Balance dropdown or the eyedropper tool.
• Set the right tone by maximizing the tonal range of the image you captured. Do this by shift-double clicking on the Whites slider and shift double click on the Blacks slider.
• Correct any image problems, especially in the highlights and shadows.
• Correct for the flat photo look.
• Create depth.
• Fix lens issues.
• Add sharpening.

Lighting on a budget

• Some simple, inexpensive lighting equipment to use.
• Good lighting for taking portraits was discussed and demoed.
• Tips for using soft light.
• The importance of using Lightroom tethered to the camera in determining the properly captured picture.
• How to take group shots.

Stuff they don’t tell you

• How to open doors when selling your photographic services.
• How to build your portfolio.
• Important copyright information.
• More lighting demoes.

My goal here is not to expand on the topics presented above. That is Scott’s department.
Overall, I enjoyed Scott’s sense of humor. He has a very non-threatening way of presenting in easy to understand language. If you like the topics above, I would encourage you to find a seminar of Scott’s  near you.

Enjoy!