I offer classes to help you improve your photos regardless whether you are a beginner or a long time photography enthusiast.

- I OFFER THESE CLASSES AS PRIVATE FOR-YOU-ONLY CLASSES. 

We work on YOUR photos,  with YOUR camera, YOUR aesthetics and answer YOUR questions as we go along. The classes are a mixture of artful composition and the technical. You need both for great pictures.

- I PROVIDE AN HOUR POST-CLASS SUPPORT AS PART OF YOUR FEE.

If you get stuck on a picture at home,  call or email. We will fix it together at no charge.

- I start with aesthetics, not tools

How many classes have you been to where the person just goes through every bell and whistle of an editing tool but you have no idea WHY you are using a particular tool. Worse than that, you have no idea what tool to use once you know what you want your photograph to look like.  Instead, I start with your image and what you want to do with it aesthetically. Then we find the tool to do what you want and learn that tool only at that time. You will find that this approach makes a huge difference in your ability to do this on your own.

 

BEGINNING PHOTOGRAPHY

You love taking pictures. You like a lot of what you take but want to make them even better. You don't like some of what you take but cannot either say why or cannot figure out how to fix it.

Then this class is for you.

Depending on where you are with photography, this class can be 1-3 hours.  Part of your class fee includes handouts so you have something to reference after you leave.

Fee: $50/hour    Contact me: normafriesdesigns@yahoo.com OR 919-451-5667 (cell)

 

PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS (or FULL PHOTOSHOP CS6)

This class is for those who want to graduate beyond fast but limited editing programs like iPhoto, Snapseed, etc. I approach it like "you want this effect? then this is what we do". It makes no sense to me to talk about every aspect of a tool just because it is there.

Depending on where you are with photo editing, this class can be 1-6 hours (and can be broken up into two to three classes).

We can add to this class by learning about the Topaz Labs Photoshop plugins. This will include creating painterly images from photographs, black and white images that pop, special effects, and more.

Part of your fee includes two books. One is about exposure in camera and the other is a quick illustrated guide I wrote to help students.

Fee: $75/hour   Contact me: normafriesdesigns@yahoo.com OR 919-451-5667 (cell)

 

HDR (High Dynamic Range) PHOTOGRAPHY

Many of the images on my site are HDR. That's fancy language for "there is a huge range between the darks and lights in this photo."  HDR photography allows you to get gorgeous detail in the lightest and darkest areas of your image.  Look at my Italy collection to see HDR in action.

Fee:  $75/hour.  Contact me: normafriesdesigns@yahoo.com OR 919-451-5667 (cell)

 

PHOTOGRAPHing 3D objects

If you sell things on eBay, are an artist needing professional pictures of your 3D artwork (ceramics, jewelry, etc.), or simply want to know more about how to beautifully photograph objects with diffused lighting, this is your class. It is 1-on-1 using your camera with your objects.  Once you learn how to do this, you will never have to pay a professional again to photograph your objects.

Fee:  $75/hour.  Contact me: normafriesdesigns@yahoo.com OR 919-451-5667 (cell)