PHOTO: LEE VARIS
L E E VA R I S
Portrait Retouching for the Artistically Challenged:
Photoshop Power | Photography Seminar
sponsored by
Meeting Location: GTM Research Reserve, Classroom 2
FRIDAY 10 TO 11:30 A.M.
Lee Varis is a photo-illustrator now working in the Boston area. He has been involved
in commercial photography for over 40 years. He started working with computer
imaging over 20 years ago and currently works with digital as well as conventional
photography in conjunction with computer graphics to create images for use in
print advertising.
Lee’s work has been featured on movie posters, video box covers, CD covers,
numerous brochures and catalogs. He is responsible for the moth on the “Silence of
the Lambs” movie poster, as well as photos of the Starship Enterprise for the Star Trek
movies! The author of 4 books, his best known book is the best seller: “Skin: The Com-
plete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies”
Wiley Publishing 2006 & a 2nd edition in 2010. This book has become a must-have
reference for every portrait and fashion photographer.
Lee’s 40+ years of experience in photography spans the transition from film to
digital giving him an invaluable vantage point for teaching and inspiring future
generations of artists.
Price: $25 | Max. No. People: 30 | Difficulty Level: All Levels
Lee Varis, the bestselling author of “Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally, Lighting,
Photographing and Retouching Faces and Bodies” will demonstrate new techniques
for portrait retouching that leverage the powerful image processing capabilities of
Photoshop to enhance the average subject, without requiring special artistic skill.
You will see advanced techniques for:
• Removing blotchy red skin and evening out skin color without painting or cloning
• Lightening dark skin and darkening light skin
• Precision dodging and burning to minimize wrinkles without disrupting skin texture
• Shaping and sculpting the image using Liquify
• Skin smoothing with two different approaches that iron out large defects while
preserving fine skin texture
• Eye enhancement with simple technique for that extra sparkle
• A special “skin-glow” effect
Lee shows how, with a little computer cleverness, you can create portrait enhance-
ments the rival the experts in a few minutes. He will work on several portrait enhance-
ments; start to finish, to illustrate the essential techniques that will take your portrait
photography to the next level.
Modern Photo Workflows | Photography Seminar
Meeting Location: GTM Research Reserve, Classroom 2
THURSDAY 1 TO 2:30 P.M.
Price: $25 | Max. No. People: 30 | Difficulty Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Photography is evolving at an even faster rate. The modern photographer has to
navigate through more than real world situations to encompass the virtual world of
Facebook, Flickr, Wordpress, Dropbox, YouTube, Instagram, and more. This requires
intimate knowledge of more than one or two Adobe apps!
Lee Varis examines various modern photography workflows that import, edit, pro-
cess, and push images out into the world onto multiple platforms. While Lightroom
remains a key component of these various workflows it is not a be-all, end-all solu-
tion by any stretch of the imagination, so Lee looks at other applications, desktop
and web based, to offer a more complete picture of the hyper-connected world the
modern photographer now lives in!
Topics covered include:
• importing, editing, and cataloging
• working with Instagram
• Integrating a blog
• distribution strategies for family & friends, clients, followers
• web galleries and web based archives
• backup strategies
Participants will come away from this workshop armed with the knowledge neces-
sary to craft their own personal workflows that incorporate all aspects of the modern
photography ecosystem.
21st Century Lighting Techniques – Lighting & Photoshop |
Photography Seminar
Meeting Location: GTM Research Reserve, Classroom 2
SUNDAY 10 A.M. TO 2:30 P.M.
Price: $25 | Max. No. People: 30 | Difficulty Level: All Levels
Learn a whole new approach to lighting that leverages the idiosyncrasies of digital
capture to create spectacular effects with minimal equipment.
Lee will guide students in a lecture/demo/shoot that explores unique lighting tech-
niques using various simple light sources in combination with Photoshop. Students will
learn detailed techniques for creating spectacular RGB coloring effects, as well as cool
painterly light quality effects!
Topics include:
• False-color lighting
• Light painting
• Multi-shot workflow
• Photoshop layers fundamentals
• Photoshop blend modes
Participants will photograph 3 different still life setups and explore various light painting
techniques and see how Lee assembles final images in Photoshop. Participants will need
a camera capable of shooting “timed” exposures of 6 seconds or more, and a tripod.
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