The Proof Is In The Light

The Proof Is in the Light was created because photographers kept telling me these images couldn't possibly look this way straight out of camera.

They questioned the sharpness. They questioned the background separation. They questioned the lighting. Some believed the subjects had been masked into the scene. Others believed the background blur had been created in Photoshop. And more than a few insisted that this simply wasn't possible at f/1.2.

So instead of continuing to explain it in a comment section...I opened the files.

In this course, you're going to see the actual RAW images, the complete EXIF data, the location, the lighting setup, the environment I was working with, and the decisions that allowed these photographs to look the way they did.

I zoom into the untouched RAW files at 200% so you can inspect the sharpness for yourself. You'll see what the background actually looked like in-camera, what the light was doing, where the subjects were positioned within the scene, and how all of those decisions worked together.

I also include BTS footage and pullbacks from this location to give you a better understanding of what I was seeing versus what ultimately appeared through my camera.

Then we go from RAW to final.

You'll watch my complete hand edit and see exactly what changed...and more importantly, what didn't. There was no background blur added. The subjects weren't masked into another scene. The sharpness wasn't manufactured in Photoshop.

The separation, depth and overall look began with the capture.

Inside the course you'll see:

• The actual untouched RAW files
• Complete EXIF data
• 200% examination of the RAW sharpness
• BTS footage from the location
• Pullbacks showing the environment
• My lighting setup
• Why I chose this particular area
• How I used subject placement, background and light together
• Midday sun considerations
• My complete RAW-to-final hand edit
• Exactly how much post-production was actually necessary
• How I prepare the finished files for social media

What makes this course interesting isn't simply proving that the photographs are real.

It's being able to look behind the finished image and see why the camera produced what so many photographers assumed had to be created afterward.

The proof really was in the light.

Runtime - 26 min

Software - ACR/Photoshop

Available inside the VP Box