Content overview of MasterCOURSE “Photography with Intent”

On this page you will find information about the 16 different modules of the MasterCOURSE, as well as some screenshots and samples.

1. EXPRESSIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
Video of 55 minutes
Streaming

2. THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MESSAGE
PDF of 150 pages
Direct download

3. THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MESSAGE
Video of 50 minutes
Streaming

4. NATURAL LIGHT WITH INTENT
PDF of 250 pages
Direct download

7. COMPOSITION WITH INTENT
2 hours 15 minutes of Videos
Streaming

10. PRINTING WITH INTENT
PDF of 120 pages
Direct download

13. BLACK & WHITE WITH INTENT
2 hours 15 minutes of Videos
Streaming

16. FROM MESSAGE TO PRINT III
5 hours of Videos
Streaming

5. LEARNING TO SEE, VISUAL DESIGN
PDF of 35 pages
Direct download

8. POSTPROCESSING WITH INTENT
PDF of 120 pages
Direct download

11. PRINTING WITH INTENT VIDEOS
2 hours 12 minutes of Videos
Streaming

14. FROM MESSAGE TO PRINT I
5 hours of Videos
Streaming

17. MasterPROJECT
Eligibility for the MasterPROJECT

6. COMPOSITION WITH INTENT
PDF of 210 pages
Direct download

9. POSTPROCESSING WITH INTENT
4 hours 38 minutes of Videos
Streaming

12. BLACK & WHITE WITH INTENT
PDF of 90 pages
Direct download

15. FROM MESSAGE TO PRINT II
5 hours of Videos
Streaming

18. 1-to-1 CONSULTATION
One-to-One consultation with Rafael Rojas
Optional service (to be paid separately)

16 INTERCONNECTED MODULES

ILLUSTRATED TEXT + VIDEOS + CASE STUDIES + SUGGESTED EXERCISES

When becoming one of the MasterCOURSE students, you are enrolling in a structured, coherent and comprehensive learning program. It will not only hugely improve your theoretical, practical and critical skills when it comes to expressive photography, it will also provide you with a holistic view of all the different steps involved. Indeed, light, visual design, composition, post-processing, printing and presentation are not independent steps, but an extension of each other:

• The message ignites the expressive process

• Natural light defines visual design

• Visual design informs composition

• Post-processing in the studio becomes the extension of composition in the field

• Final printing and presentation of the image is the logical culmination of the whole process.

The unique and valuable character of the MasterCOURSE resides not only in the quality of the different isolated modules it consists of, but in the way they are linked together. Just like in good photographic composition, one plus one is more than two.

PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENTS: AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING METHOD FROM A TO Z

The MasterCOURSE is a structured program that integrates theory, practice, and reflection.

Throughout the course, you will apply your learning through several Practical Assignments (PAs) that encompass the entire creative process, from conceptualizing a message to producing a final print.

Each Practical Assignment serves as a vital link in an overarching chain of thought and practice. These assignments are designed to guide you through the program, providing an effective method to activate the mental shift necessary for approaching photography in a personal and expressive way.

Accompanying each Practical Assignment are detailed explanations, examples, and assignment files that can be completed directly on your computer.

To inspire and clarify expectations, Rafael Rojas has completed all the Practical Assignments himself, using 10 of his own images. For each assignment, you will have access to a Guidance and Example Video Tutorial lasting approximately 1 to 1.5 hours, in which Rafael demonstrates the exercise, applying it to the same selection of his images. Additionally, you can download the completed assignment documents for each image, accessible via a button below the video.

This wealth of material not only serves as a guide to help you successfully complete the Practical Assignments but also acts as a rich source of inspiration and knowledge, showcasing the creator of the MasterCOURSE applying his unique learning methodology.

FLEXIBLE & AT YOUR OWN PACE

The MasterCOURSE is a flexible learning program that you can follow at your own pace.

For someone with a normal amount of time available, this course might take around 1 year to be completed. This can be done by allotting a few hours every week, and enjoying the process without it becoming a burden. You can also finish the Master COURSE in six months if you do not sleep at all! It is all up to you. What is important is that this MasterCOURSE has been designed not only to help you become a much better photographer but also to let you fully enjoy the learning process and learn at your own pace, with all flexibility.

Once you enroll in our MasterCOURSE, you will have two full years of access to the MasterCOURSE content area. Because the MasterCOURSE has been designed to be covered in one year for most people, you have plenty of time to fully go through the course and the Practical Assignments, even at the slowest pace, without having to stress.

Bear in mind that from day one you will be able to download all the PDFs, so that means you will, in any case, keep all that material with you when the twenty-four months expire. In order to keep the videos up-to-date and limit the hassle of downloading heavy files, videos can be viewed in streaming.

DETAILED CONTENT OF EACH MODULE

PERSONAL EXPRESSION THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY

In the video presentation “Expressive Photography”, which serves as an introduction to the MasterCOURSE “Photography with Intent,” we undertake a rational deconstruction of the different elements that collide when an expressive and personal photograph is created. Certainly the subject matter we photograph is essential, as is the light that falls on it. But there are many more elements that mix and mingle when a creative individual uses a camera to express himself or herself creatively.

Through a full hour, we will review these essential elements in the order in which they arise during the creative process. The intention is to show how all our images are created by the contribution of a certain number of different factors, some of them external to the photographer and some others inherent to the creative person behind the camera. Then, we will highlight how the contribution of each different ingredient can vary from one image to another.

PA1: PORTFOLIO REVIEW & INITIAL ASSESSMENT

At this point, you will prepare a selection of 50 to 100 images of your work that you think is representative of your personal style and centers of interest. These images do not need to be the most aesthetically beautiful ones, nor the most technically difficult to achieve. Instead, you should favour for this selection images where there is a good dose of personal “voice”. That is, images where a certain idea, message, emotion or feeling is present in your opinion. If you have doubts about this choice, just add the images that feel “special” and meaningful to you.

Once the selection is made, you will meet your tutor for an online 1-to-1 session of around 1 to 1.5 hours. He will provide an initial assessment of your work, finding patterns and coherent relationships between the different images and identifying with you traits that define your personal vision and way of seeing and reflecting the world through your photography.

Then, during this session a collection of 10 images will be chosen together with your tutor. These images are not supposed to constitute a “project” or a “body of work”. In fact, it might be a good idea to choose images that convey very different messages, display different visual design, adopt different styles and use different compositional registers. These 10 images will ideally be used all along the subsequent Practical Assignments as you progress through the MasterCOURSE, and for this reason, we might tackle many more aspects of Expressive photography when dealing with as many different images as possible.

PA2 - ANALYSING THE MESSAGE

For this Practical Assignment, you will follow a step-by-step effective method elaborated by us. The method will provide you with a series of logical steps, taking you by the hand and helping you:

• Identify the message in your images

• Clarify the intent and the reason why you make your images

• Analyze the different layers of signification found in your images

• Inform your photographic practice

• Identify patterns and universal underlying meanings in your images

• Identify emotional connotations associated to your images

We will provide you with an structured method by means of template documents that you can fill in electronically and that you will use to analyse a group of images identified during the Practical Assignment 1.

As with all the Practical Assignments, you will have access to a Guidance and Example Video Tutorial lasting up to 1.5 hours, where Rafael Rojas himself completes the Practical Assignment using 10 of his own images. In addition to the video, you will also be able to download various files that have been completed and answered by Rafael Rojas. This material will be extremely useful when it comes to completing your own Practical Assignment.

PA3 - ANALYSING THE VISUAL DESIGN

Like for all Practical Assignments, this time you will also follow a method and structure provided by us, that will “take you by the hand” and help you develop a critical awareness of how your images are built, why and what effect and affect that creates in your images.

For this Practical Assignment, you will continue to analyze the same set of images you worked with on the PA1 and PA2, this time identifying the Visual Design and the way it contributes to:

• Deliver, influence or nuance the message

• Provide emotional connotations

• Affect the visual experience in the viewer

• Affect depth and balance

• etc

We will provide you with an structured method by means of template documents that you can fill in electronically and that you will use to analyse a group of images.

As with all the Practical Assignments, you will have access to a Guidance and Example Video Tutorial lasting up to 1.5 hours, where Rafael Rojas himself completes the Practical Assignment using 10 of his own images. In addition to the video, you will also be able to download various files that have been completed and answered by Rafael Rojas. This material will be extremely useful when it comes to completing your own Practical Assignment.

PA4 - ANALYSING THE COMPOSITION

Like for all Practical Assignments, this time you will also follow a method and structure provided by us, that will “take you by the hand” and help you develop a critical awareness of how your images are composed (made in the field), why, and particularly what effects and affects that creates in the expressive load of your images.

In the PA3, you analyzed the Visual Design. Now, on the PA4, you will continue this exploration, this time thinking and analyzing how the work in the field (Composition) has affected that visual design, and also has shaped:

• The nuances of the message

• The expressive register

• The emotional connotations

• The visual style

• The visual experience in the viewer

• etc

We will provide you with an structured method by means of template documents that you can fill in electronically and that you will use to analyse a group of images.

As with all the Practical Assignments, you will have access to a Guidance and Example Video Tutorial lasting up to 1.5 hours, where Rafael Rojas himself completes the Practical Assignment using 10 of his own images. In addition to the video, you will also be able to download various files that have been completed and answered by Rafael Rojas. This material will be extremely useful when it comes to completing your own Practical Assignment.

COMPOSITION, EXPLAINED

More than sixty different images made all over the world are analyzed and commented on in depth throughout two hours and fifteen minutes of fully animated videos.

These videos tackle all the elements discussed in the written module of “Composition with Intent”. Mainly, we focus on Visual Design, Visual Dynamics, and Visual Relationships and how they affect the emotional connotations, the overall message, and the visual experience for the observer. Particular attention is also paid to balance, depth, and the influence of timing on the final result.

The videos “Composition with Intent” will help you see and understand visual imagery in a whole new and different way.

PA5 - REFINING THE COMPOSITION

Like for all Practical Assignments, this time you will also follow a method and structure provided by us, that will “take you by the hand” and help you develop a critical awareness of how your images are composed (made in the field), why, and particularly what effects and affects that creates in the expressive load of your images.

In the PA3 and PA4, you analyzed the Visual Design and the Composition of your images. With this Practical Assignment 5, you will follow a method provided by us that will help you refine your Composition in a convergence process of reduction. You will be invited to analyze the way the message, the expressive power of your images and the emotional connotations shift in the process. By measuring these shifts against the original message analyzed in the PA2, this exercise will help you identify the “real” intent and message of your images, and ideally enhance it and reinforce it. This exercise will also help you hone your compositional skills, allowing you to say more with less and inform the way you approach the field work for your future images.

We will provide you with an structured method by means of template documents that you can fill in electronically and that you will use to analyse a group of images.

As with all the Practical Assignments, you will have access to a Guidance and Example Video Tutorial lasting up to 1.5 hours, where Rafael Rojas himself completes the Practical Assignment using 10 of his own images. In addition to the video, you will also be able to download various files that have been completed and answered by Rafael Rojas. This material will be extremely useful when it comes to completing your own Practical Assignment.

PA6 - PLANNING THE POST-PROCESSING

Post-Processing is first planned in our head. Then, the tool we use is secondary. With this Practical Assignment, we will help you analyze what the image demands in terms of Post-Processing, where, and for what reason. Guided by the original message identified in the PA2 and refined in the PA5, you will plan Post-processing in order to enhance the visual design analyzed in the PA3 and the composition analyzed in the PA4 by means of detailed instructions and method. The result of this Practical Assignment PA6 will inform the next step, where you will make use of your Post-processing tool of choice. This Practical Assignment will be useful even if you decide to print your images in the traditional darkroom!

We will provide you with an structured method by means of template documents that you can fill in electronically and that you will use to analyse a group of images.

As with all the Practical Assignments, you will have access to a Guidance and Example Video Tutorial lasting up to 1.5 hours, where Rafael Rojas himself completes the Practical Assignment using 10 of his own images. In addition to the video, you will also be able to download various files that have been completed and answered by Rafael Rojas. This material will be extremely useful when it comes to completing your own Practical Assignment.

PA7 - PERFORMING THE POST-PROCESSING

Informed by the Practical Assignment PA6 you did and the feedback provided by your tutor in the Video Assessment VA6, you will now accomplish the Post-Processing by using your tool of choice: Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture 1, etc.

As with all the Practical Assignments, you will have access to a Guidance and Example Video Tutorial lasting up to 1.5 hours, where Rafael Rojas himself completes the Practical Assignment using 10 of his own images. This material will be extremely useful when it comes to completing your own Practical Assignment.

MORE THAN 2 HOURS OF POST-PROCESSING VIDEOS

With the videos “Printing with Intent” you will see practical examples of preparing files for printing, resizing, sharpening, soft-proofing, and simulating different papers and media. We will also cover from A to Z the preparation for printing by using Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. To end with, we will also show you an example of how to calibrate a monitor and how to obtain the profile ICC of a certain printer and paper.

Total duration of videos: 2 hours 15 minutes

Part I - Calibrating the monitor - 20 minutes

Part II - Printer profiling - 13 minutes

Part III - Printing with Adobe Lightroom - 47 minutes

Part IV - Printing with Adobe Photoshop - 53 minutes

PA8 - PREPARING FOR PRINTING

For this Practical Assignment, you will review your post-processed images and prepare them for printing. Your tutor will provide you with several ICC profiles, corresponding to different papers. With this ICC profiles, you will:

• Decide on which paper they should be printed, according to message and intent

• Soft-proof the files and see the impact of the different media

• Identify the best rendering intents

• Pre-tweak the image files for optimum printing (pre-press)

• Resize them and sharpen the files for a given size, in coherence with the message and intent

• Produce the ready-to-print files that you would send to a lab

As with all the Practical Assignments, you will have access to a Guidance and Example Video Tutorial lasting up to 1.5 hours, where Rafael Rojas himself completes the Practical Assignment using 10 of his own images. This material will be extremely useful when it comes to completing your own Practical Assignment.

THE 15 CASE STUDIES WHERE WE APPLY IT ALL

Our last three modules “From Message to Print - The Videos” are the perfect way of finishing this MasterCOURSE, as we showcase the practical application of everything we have discussed during the preceding thirteen modules. On each of the videos of this module, we analyze a single image, and discuss the message and the intent, the compositional decisions that took place in the field, the light and weather that illuminated the scene and the visual design that builds the image. Then, we proceed to post-process the picture by paying attention to the composition and the visual experience and the emotional connotations we want to convey to the viewer. To end with, we soft-proof the file and prepare it for printing on the media most suited to the intent of the image.

Total duration of videos: 15 videos of around 1 hour each.