Photocomposition for Fine Art Photography

Portraits don’t always have to be what meets the eye. Let Dasha Pears make you look twice and create something surreal. Inspired by a passion for psychology, she employs what she calls a ‘psychorealist’ style to depict what is going on in our inner worlds and make our feelings, thoughts, and emotions tangible. She’s a self-taught artist and has received more than 15 international photography awards, a gold medal from the Photographic Society of America and a prize from the Smithsonian Magazine for the best-altered photo. Her work has been exhibited around the world — in Finland, Russia, Poland, France, Germany, Israel, the UAE, Mexico, the UK, and the US.

Learn how to craft photos with more than meets the eye. In this online course, Dasha teaches you how to employ a minimalist aesthetic to surreal portraits that bend your perceptions of reality. She explains how to decide on key elements to make simple portraits attention-grabbing with simple props and tools. You plan out a photo shoot, from choosing the right tools and setting, to preparing your camera, to finding what deeper meaning you want to convey with your work. You will guide your model to get the right look and feel for your image, and edit it with a surrealist spin using Lightroom and Photoshop.

Dasha begins the course by introducing you to her artistic journey and influences. She shares what drew her to minimalism and surrealism, how she developed her no-rules attitude, and why she feels there should be no excuses for creating unique and unexpected images, even when resources and budgets are limited

Then you start your minimalist journey by coming up with an idea of what you want your final image to look like and what you want it to convey. You learn the basics of minimalistic portrait style and how to decide on color, composition, wardrobe, props, and lighting. Sketch a draft of your final image (no illustration expertise needed!) and build a Photoshop plan based on it.

Dasha next takes you through different location types and how to set up your shoot. She also introduces you to the equipment she uses, and explains how to efficiently work with your team members and models – even if they aren’t pros.

Start to really bring out the surreal in your photo in post-production. Dasha shows you how to bring out the magic by editing raw files in Lightroom and Photoshop. She takes you through everything from fine-tuning your image to film-inspired filatures. Finally, you’ll export the file to the web to be shared on social media or printed.