Tone Assessment and Tone Theory are the Building Blocks of Great Images
If you have followed me for almost any amount of time, I have probably taught you a few things that you thought were pretty awesome. What I am going to show you today is the most is, in my opinion, the most important thing I could ever teach you. Why do I say that?
For the last 9 years, I have critiqued well over 2000 photos. For the longest time, I could not understand the difference between a phenomenal photo and an okay photo. You could have two people that record the same exact location, but one image comes out better than the other. Why is that? Is it because one person is better than the other?
Not necessarily.
It is because one person knows where they want the viewer to look to interact with the work. The key to almost anything in life is to think about what you want and then work backward to get there. If at the end of the day, we want the viewer to interact with our photography, to engage with it, to embrace it, then we need to know what is going to get them there. It is nearly impossible to get the emotion out of the viewer if you don’t know where they are going to look when they see your work.
Today I will show you a technique I developed to help me see exactly what the viewer sees first to help them navigate throughout the piece. It’s an effortless technique, and it works EVERY time! Click here to download the Action for this video.
It's All a Game of Tones
This video is just a small sampling of a much bigger course on Tone Theory. In my new course Game of Tones,You Will Learn:
► How to Principles of Tone Theory
► An Understanding of Light
► How to Assess tones to navigate the viewer’s eye
► The difference between Dynamic Range and Contrast
► The Blend Modes that encourage Tone control
► Luminosity Mask and Blend If basics
► How to control the viewer’s experience in post-production
► NEW- The ART of TONE Sculpting
For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
Elegantly simple to inform us in how to effect the necessary tonal adjustments to achieve the vision we have for an image that can truly transfer to others for all time.
That’s a pretty awesome way to look at it 🙂
As for Photoshop and for the knowledge of image editing, you are one step ahead of everything I have seen after more than 15 years studying this subject through the “gurus on duty,” and this not because you study more, but because of something fundamental in the advancement of any knowledge, you are always investigating. I am lucky to nourish myself early on your achievements. I congratulate your personal journey in this regard.
Wow, thank you so much, that comment means the world to me, Sergio. You rock!
I agree 100% with Sergio!
Most of what I practice with Photoshop is down to Blake’s generous distribution of his knowledge.
Thank you Blake!
I am just sharing my successes, lol, you should see my failures, they are doozies!
I totally agree with Sergio! I have learned more from you Blake than all the others I have struggled with. Your training makes sense and ties it all together rather than bits and pieces in disjointed ways that make no sense to the overall use! More importantly too is that your training teaches the WHY as to what tools to use as I edit my photos. It explains what Photoshop is doing in the background that I’ve found no other training does. I still have so much to learn but I no longer feel totally defeated in every learning Photoshop or photography in general.
So thank you, thank you, thank you!
Y’all are gonna make me tear up, I already have that little knot in my throat, geesh!
It is all my sincere pleasure, I love what I get to do for a living.
Blake,
I’m just going to pile on a little bit more…
What you offer in your training/sharing/insights is not just based on your art background and your relentless drive to find ways to utilize the tools at hand to achieve an artistic goal. It’s also not just defining the goal and its process with the whys. It has consistently been (at least to me) to actually recognize my failures through a way of seeing whether or not my results actually represents what I had envisioned in a way that also communicates that vision to others. I believe that this skill that you are teaching is based on your empathy, shaped by your artistic vision and honed by your studiously pursued technique. I am so glad that I discovered you years ago.
Last year I commented on Blake’s work. Maybe repeating it now is in order …
I have been following Blake Rudis for several years, taking his courses, reading his tutorials, using his panels, joining his ‘clubs’ on social media and his web site, attending his webinars, and any other way I could access Blake’s knowledge of Photoshop. Blake has contributed abundantly to the Photoshop community … discovering new Photoshop features, new techniques for applying Photoshop’s power to image processing, and so much more.Thankfully, he freely shares his new gained knowledge through tutorials and webinars with all Photoshop users. Blake’s enthusiasm for all things Photoshop and empowering others with his Photoshop knowledge is remarkable. He is an excellent educator. Blake has a good presentation voice and can explain complex concepts thoroughly in a style that’s easy to follow and understand. Don’t pass up any chance you may have to avail yourself to Blake’s teachings.
You always have fantastic /videos, but I have to agree this is a game changer for me. Much more than just a simple vignette! Thank you.
Yet another great tool that I added to My Panel 2! I have always struggled with seeing through my collector’s eyes! This makes it so much easier to see, and also gives me insight into why some images sell better than others. Many thanks yet again Blake!
Very crafty and astounding connection that you use here to make a paint 😉 I loved how you translate the old master‘s craft into today‘s photography. Precise, powerful and practical! Kudos.
You are one lucky dog to have been able to attend the workshop with Joel! I was drooling over the thought of actually being able to attend myself.
Bottom line is, luck lies at the intersection of hard work and perseverance I don’t know anyone else that works as hard at your craft than you do Blake! I enjoy your approach to teaching a lot!
OMG!!!! Blake this is your best, I admire you and your commitment to help us all become better photographers and photo editors through your willingness to clearly share your knowledge.
Thank You
Thank You
Thank You