Rick Sammon's Creative Visualization for Photographers

The difference between seeing and looking is essential-much like the difference, in music, between hearing and listening. In Creative Visualization, master photographer, photo educator and photo instructor Rick Sammon presents his proven methodology for creative digital photography. His signature inspiring and motivating approach opens creative avenues for photographers in a variety of genres. With easy-to-follow examples, Sammon shows you how simple changes-with visualization, composition, post-processing, and more-can mean the difference between a snapshot and a great shot. This book, illustrated with more than 300 of Rick's photographs, includes invaluable information about exposure, composition, subject choice, lighting, mood, and depth. In the Food for Thought section, Rick offers guidelines for setting goals, getting motivated, connecting with a subject, learning, painting with light, thinking like a painter and more. In Develop Your Creative Vision, Rick takes you on an exploration of composition, exposure, making images with impact, creating a mood, altering reality, and pursuing your passion. Corrective and creative image processing techniques, as well as HDR, EDR, panoramas and black-and-white imaging, are covered in the Image Processing Specialties section. Rick also shares a chapter on self-assignments - photo challenges - that you can use to expand your photographic horizons. - Canon Explorer of Light and master photographer Rick Sammon shares the secrets behind learning to see photographically, to make the necessary changes that will have a noticeable impact on your photographs - Includes easy-to-follow instruction for post-processing techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop. Tips for making the best HDR and EDR images are also included, as well as illustrations of how plug-ins can help photographers awaken the artist within - Uses clear, visual examples of "photo failures" photographs side-by-side with successful ones, outlining the small, but important changes-to composition, framing, exposure, etc.-that can immediately make a significant difference

Award-winning photographer Rick Sammon is a man on a mission - a mission to make learning digital image-making fun, creative, exciting and rewarding. He has published 36 books (including seven children's books), offers 11 iPad and iPhone apps, and has more than a dozen online classes. He is a regular columnist for Digital Photo and Adventure Collection.com. Rick hosts inspirational, photography and Photoshop shows on kelbytraining.com, and runs more than a dozen photography workshops and presentations around the world each year. Rick was named on of the best photographers by Squarespace.com and one of the best travel photographers by Chillisauce.com. He reaches his wide audience of photo enthusiasts through his blog, books, how-to videos, iPhone and iPad apps, the Digital Photo Experience podcast and an expanding following (almost a million total at the time of this publication) on social media. He also presents at Photoshop World. He is also a Canon Explorer of Light, a Westcott Top Pro Elite, Lexar Pro, and a x-rite Coloratti. Rick also plays guitar, bass guitar and keyboards, one of his great joys in life. See www.ricksammon.com for more information.

Part I: Developing Your Creative Mind 1. Four Levels of Learning 2. Photography and the Space-Time Continuum 3. Making Image with Impact (Light, Subject, Color, Contrast, Abstract, Action, Lens, Exposure, Mood, Participation, Altered Reality, HDR, Processing) 4. Setting Goals 5. Why We Like the Work of Master Painters 6. Making Order Out of Chaos 7. Photography: The Death of Reality & The Birth of Creativity 8. Photographic Philosophies Part II Developing Your Creative Vision 9. Seeing the light: contrast, direction, color, quality, intensity, and movement 10. Thoughts on the Histogram 11. Importance of a good/interesting subject 12. Seeing in 2-D vs. seeing in 3-D 13. The mood of the image 14. Follow Your Passion and Heart: Wildlife, People, Landscape, City shooting, Nature Part III: Capturing and Controlling the Moment 15. Composition: Rules and Breaking the Rules 16. Exposure 17. Controlling Light 18. Color 19. Dumb Luck Shots Part IV: Corrective Image 20. Exposure 21. Color 22. Contrast Processing Part V: Creative Image Processing 23. The Art of the Crop 24. Black and White Imaging 25. Basic Image Processing 26. Playing with Plug-ins 27. HDR Part VI: Telling a Story with Stills