Perspectives

Perfecting Light and Shadows Using Adobe Photoshop

with Maggie Taylor

Online registration for this program has closed. To check availability, find out about future dates, or if you would like further information, please call 505-983-1400 ext. 111. Also, get the SFW E-Newsletter for updates!

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Course Description

By popular demand, here is our next installment of Maggie Taylor’s always intriguing online series of Photoshop compositing adventures. This one, in mid-December, explores manipulating and organizing light and shadows. Maggie says, “As photographers, we absolutely have to master the ability to capture the nuances of light and shadow to tell our stories. Cameras are used to do this for many storytellers, but for those creating composites or montages, Adobe Photoshop is the tool we use for capturing light and shadows.”

Work along with Maggie as she puts together a composition with believable shadows and intriguing light. She shares her favorite techniques for generating shadows and enhancing both existing and non-existing light in a composite. There are numerous ways to create a realistic-looking shadow, and Maggie demonstrates several techniques with this goal in mind. She then discusses how she takes time to carefully consider the light in an image, analyze problems, and correct them using non-destructive adjustment layers and their masks. Maggie also explores layer styles as a way to add light to an image. 

Participants are able to download the same files Maggie uses in the live group sessions and access the recordings of the Zoom sessions after class and reassemble the images at their own pace as a teaching tool. Each live group session consists of 90 minutes of insights and demonstrations from Maggie, followed by 30 minutes for questions and answers. Join Maggie for this entertaining and comprehensive presentation on the joys of perfecting light and shadows to your digital composites.

Additional Information

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

Open to anyone interested in this special program.

What You Should Know:

Participants with intermediate and advanced Photoshop skills will benefit most from this webinar. A grasp of Photoshop layer and layer masks, as well as some familiarity with smart objects is helpful, but anyone intrigued by Photoshop compositing is welcome to attend.

Policies:

View Cancellation and Transfer Policies for online programs.

Recording class sessions using personal devices or third-party tools is not permitted. Session recordings are provided by Santa Fe Workshops and are available to enrolled students for two months after the class. This policy helps protect the intellectual property and privacy of both instructors and students.

about
Maggie Taylor

Maggie Taylor spent ten years making color still-life photographs before transitioning to digital imaging in 1997. Her label-defying, whimsical, and poetic images have been collected by numerous museums. Her books include Internal Logic, No Ordinary DaysAdobe Photoshop Master Class: Maggie Taylor’s Landscape of DreamsSolutions Beginning with A, Through The Looking Glass, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.

Perfecting Light and Shadows Using Adobe Photoshop

December 10 and December 13, 2025

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