Documentary Photo Techniques with Photoshop and After Effects

Course details

In this course, Rich Harrington explores the world of documentary storytelling, using various techniques in Adobe Photoshop and After Effects to transform damaged photos into brand-new works of art. Throughout the course, Rich covers basic image editing techniques in Photoshop such as toning, cropping, sharpening, and resizing. He also shows how to add movement to photos in After Effects, which can help you create a dramatic story.

Learning objectives
Understanding resolution
Organizing photos with Adobe Bridge
Renaming files
Working in the right color space
Removing damage with the healing and cloning tools
Making Content-Aware Scale and Fill repairs
Controlling focus with blurring and sharpening
Correcting alignment
Restoring contrast with Curves and Levels
Importing images in After Effects
Using ease and keyframe assistants
Adding vignettes
Rendering animations

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - Using the exercise files

1. Organize Your Photos with Adobe Bridge

03 - Adding ratings to images
04 - Checking focus in a photo
05 - Using Review mode to check your images
06 - Batch renaming files

2. Understanding Resolution

07 - Resolution requirements for video
08 - Requirements for panning and scanning
09 - Using the Place command to size an image
10 - Doubling an image
11 - Batch processing with the Image Processor script

3. Working in the Right Color Space

12 - Requirements for video
13 - Batch converting images

4. Removing Damage

14 - Removing damage with the Clone Stamp tool
15 - Removing damage with the Healing Brush tool
16 - Removing damage with the Patch tool

5. Content-Aware Repairs

17 - Using Content-Aware Scale
18 - Removing objects with Content-Aware Fill

6. Controlling Focus

19 - Adjusting the focus point by blurring
20 - Sharpening an image
21 - Creating a Lens Blur effect
22 - Adding a vignette

7. Removing Distractions

23 - Correcting alignment
24 - Cropping for composition
25 - Cropping with a document

8. Toning Images

26 - Restoring contrast with Levels
27 - Shadow Highlight effect
28 - Restoring contrast with Curves
29 - Adding a sepia-tone or duotone effect with gradient maps
30 - Using layer styles for a consistent effect

9. Documentary Motion Control with After Effects

31 - Why use After Effects
32 - Importing image files
33 - Organizing images with folders
34 - Creating compositions
35 - Essential animation controls
36 - Using ease and keyframe assistants
37 - Adding vignettes in After Effects

10. Exporting Animation

38 - Rendering the animation
39 - Creating render presets for consistent exports
40 - Saving time with batch rendering
41 - Using After Effects projects natively in Premiere Pro

Conclusion

42 - Next steps