Take your digital photography skills to the next level with personal guidance and engaging photography assignments. This intermediate photography class is designed to help you master your camera’s manual settings while exploring the new subjects that move you beyond the basics of digital photography.
Over the course of this five-session photography class, you’ll work on weekly shooting assignments. With the direction of the instructor Peter Merts, you’ll explore examples from skilled photographers and discuss approaches to these different topics. Additionally, you’ll get to present your photography for regular supportive group critiques.
“I loved the class, especially the opportunity to see the work of the other students.”
— Lisa N.
April 17, Day 1: Course Overview
May 1, Day 2: Shallow depth of field: Create a portrait emphasizing shallow depth of field to isolate your subject from the background.
May 15, Day 3: Metaphor: Capture images that metaphorically express the themes of ‘pierced/broken boundaries’ or ‘hemmed-in, constrained, bound.’
June 5, Day 4: Catch-lights in Portraits: Photograph portraits focusing on capturing catch-lights in the subject’s eyes, adding life to the image.
June 26, Day 5: High-key and Low-key Imagery: Experiment with lighting to create both high-key and low-key images, exploring the extremes of brightness and shadow.
July 17, Day 6: Slow Reveal: Photograph a series of 3 images of an object, progressively moving from an unrecognizable abstraction to a clear, detailed depiction.
Workshop presented by The Image Flow Photography Center, providing photography classes, custom printing services, and fine art reproduction.
Peter Merts has been a photographer for 40 years, focusing on documentary, portrait, and fine art projects. His work has been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Huffington Post, Newsweek Online, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.
For the past 15 years, Peter has documented California’s Arts in Corrections program, visiting over 120 art classes in all 36 of California’s adult state prisons. He co-published, with Dr. Larry Brewster, the book Paths of Discovery: Art Practice and Its Impact in California Prisons (now in its 2nd edition). In 2022, Peter published a monograph with Daylight Books: Ex Crucible: the Passion of Incarcerated Artists.
Peter’s recent photography awards include the 2020 Critical Mass Top 50, and the 2021 CENTER Social Award.
Thursdays
April 17 – July 17, 2025
11 AM–1 PM
In-person, 6 sessions, 2 weeks apart for classes 1-3 and 3 weeks apart for classes 3-6
As an Adobe Affiliate Partner, we make a small commission for purchases made through this link — at no extra cost for you.
Intermediate photographers who want to expand their artistic technique and photography skills.
The Image Flow Photography Center
328 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, San Anselmo, CA
415-388-3569
Located in Marin County CA, just north of San Francisco.
