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ABOUT US:

The Santa Fe Digital Darkroom Photography Workshops is a unique educational institution offering customized and personalized digital training, specifically designed to meet the needs of photographers and creative users. We specialize in creating customized workshop training by working with our clients personally to build a curriculum specially tailored to suit our clients interests and goals, as individuals or in small group environments.

More Instructor Attention • Smaller Classes • Comfortable Learning Environment • Less Students
Customized Curricula • Personalized Training • Flexible Scheduling • We do it Your Way!

UNIQUE WORKSHOPS:

It is time to get more out of your workshop experience! With the Santa Fe Digital Darkroom Photography Workshops we offer smaller classroom sizes, less students, more instructor attention, and a comfortable learning environment. With friendly, flexible services and scheduling, we happily accommodate and customize curricula to suit all levels of knowledge, individual learning styles, work schedules, and specific areas of interest.

Why sit through classes that address topics that do not specifically relate to your interests and goals and do not move at your learning pace? Our instructors are both professional educators and photographers an unbeatable combination!

We believe that people learn best when the topic is within their zone of understanding and zone of interest. Most Workshop institutions and classroom learning environments pack too many people into the classroom and as a result, the majority of the time spent by anyone in a classroom will fall outside of one or both of those two zones.

How often do (or did) you find yourself zoning out during a lecture when the topics moved to something too rudimentary to keep your attention? Or, what happened when things moved a bit too fast for you to keep up? In either case, you probably found yourself in a situation where you were no longer learning.

"Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand."
-Adaptation of Chinese proverb.

We practice the concept of "experiential learning," as a philosophy and methodology which simply translates to learning through doing. Educators purposefully engage with learners in personalized and direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify values.

The Santa Fe Digital Darkroom provides experienced, professional and friendly creative imaging services to photographers, artists and people with other strengths in life. We know our clients are experts at what they do professionally. Our expertise and specialty is assisting clients with the transition into digital technology and processes with ease.

Collaborative image processing, print and portfolio development paired with customized instruction allows you to focus on what you want to learn! Together we will develop and process your images in the digital darkroom, design promotional pieces, create presentations, explore graphics, or develop any creative imaging process through guided lessons and tutorials. The Santa Fe Digital Darkroom Photography Workshops encourages participants to create work that reflects their individuality and meets their vision, whether using digital tools with a traditional, fine art or experimental approach. We can help learn the tools specifically for your work!

Come Join the Fun!

FROM THE DIRECTOR:

I believe photography has the power and potential to make change in the world. As a photographer with varied professional and personal perspectives as a social worker, educator, outdoor adventurer, sports enthusiast, and traveler, I’ve spent most of my life looking for ways to integrate photography into the many other things that I do for work and for fun. By engaging in photographic projects, directed towards non-profit programs and other personal interests, I have found a method of giving back that engages my passion for the photographic medium in many disparate ways. After publishing two books, initiating, developing and directing several non-profit programs and projects through grants (see Outreach for more information), and building a Customized Workshop Learning Institution, I have learned that photography is and will always be a beautiful and powerful tool to reach others.

Although I do not know of an accurate way to gauge the impact my photography and photographic endeavors may have had on changing the world when all is said and done, I can say that photography has continued to have a significant impact on my life and place within the world. For me, my projects have become a kind "soul food" that challenges my vision, inspires my interest, and engages my spirit both as a photographer, and as a social worker.

Over the years however, in order to realize these projects and programs I found myself engaged in a lifetime committment of learning the tools and processes I needed to achieve my goals as they changed and developed over time. For better and for worse, most of my digital photographic education was developed in the workshop environment over many years- and although wonderful and imapctful- my experience as an experiential educator and as a social worker led me to develop ways to improve upon the workshop model. Coupled with an avid appreciation of the photographic image, and a belief in its power and importance, I decided it was time to create a workshop environment based on collaboration with a focus on educational techniques directed towards creative users to help clients personally reach their photographic and creative goals and vision.

The digital age in photography has not only brought us many great technological advances for added ease and speed of creative and photographic proceeses, but also introduced many new challenges and obstacles for the traditional craft and creative user. For most of us- as the visually adept and computer inept - this has become quite an obstacle to overcome. Learning to use the latest imaging hardware and software is an important step in realizing your creative projects and goals- whether to to enhance your photographs and images traditionally or metaphorically- and can only serve to stimulate new avenues of creativity.

It is my hope that The Santa Fe Digital Darkroom Darkroom Photography Workshops can help you harness your vision, and realize your photographic and creative imaging projects and goals with the new tools available to us today. Whether photography is your profession, your recreation, or just an aspiration, our workshops are a fantastic inspiration for moving you forward! Our comfortable lounge as well as our individual and small group learning philosophy provides a safe and collaborative environment for idea development, and supports new ways of looking at photography and image making.

If you are ready for a unique workshop learning experience that offers collaborative assistance in a personalized small group or individual learning environment, than choose us! Come join us us for a personalized and customized learning experience that will serve to advance your skills and help you realize your personal goals and projects. We will assist you in following your creative vision while expanding your passion for photography.

Give yourself or someone you know the gift of learning —Inspire or Reinspire! Grow, Realize your Photographic Vision
Join the fun!

See you soon in our Learning Lounge or your studio!

With every good wish,

Leslie Alsheimer , Director

OUR INSTRUCTORS:

Leslie Alsheimer, author of Black and White in Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom, is a dynamic and patient instructor who facilitates the learning process with fun and enthusiasm in a relaxed environment. She has worked extensively with many of the foremost digital image makers in the country, and integrates a hybrid of experience, teaching styles and technical knowledge into her unique curricula. With Santa Fe Digital Darkroom, Leslie travels to work with clients as a creative imaging consultant, private instructor, and trainer as well as providing professional photographic and digital darkroom services. She specializes in helping photographers and artists transition into digital technology and processes with ease, using collaborative image processing and printing techniques in a calibrated workflow.

As a professional freelance photographer, a member of the Adobe Photoshop Beta Testing Team, and an instructor with Nikon and American Photo Mentor Series, Leslie's knowledge and expertise of both traditional and digital photographic darkroom techniques allows her to bring significant passion, experience and enthusiasm to all she does in this field. She currently instructs various private and group Photoshop courses around the country.

Leslie believes in using photography to help empower others to find their own creative voice and vision. She was the creative director of the published book, Reality from the Barrio, a social documentary honored in the PDN Photography Annual 2003-The Best Photos of the Year. Inspired by a traditional wet darkroom photography program that Leslie developed, and directed for a non-profit organization's gang diversion program, the book became a thesis project for Leslie's master's degree in social work.

Leslie is the Director of Community Photography Outreach a project based non profit collecting and disseminating donated cameras to organizations and programs in need. She is also currently developing and directing Forward Focus: Workshops with Creative Purpose, a pioneering series of nonprofit educational journeys for experienced and emerging photographers and writers who want to cover developmental, environmental, and relief efforts worldwide. The Workshops utilize the power of visual imagery and the written word to support and encourage grassroots nonprofit initiatives dedicated to fostering social and environmental change. The Workshops also provide a collaborative forum that combines education, adventure, and creative purpose to celebrate what people are doing to create a better world, supporting and encouraging acts of connection, compassion and contribution, i.e. creating works that matter.

Check out our write up in The Sunday ABQ Journal
"Falling in Love with Uganda"
Sunday March 4, 2007 The Wall Street Journal Sunday Inside MONEY

Michael Clark is an internationally published outdoor photographer specializing in adventure sports, travel, and landscape photography. His editorial and corporate clients have included National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Outside, Men's Journal, Outdoor Photographer, Climbing, Patagonia, Pfizer, Nike, Nikon, and DuPont, to name just a few. He has risked life and limb on a variety of assignments to bring back stunning images of rock climbers, mountaineers, kayakers, and mountain bikers pushing their sports to the limit in remote locations around the world. He was featured in Outdoor Photographer (September 2001) for his work with extreme sports. Michael's Web site address is www.michaelclarkphoto.com.

TESTIMONIALS:

About Michael:

"You have some fine images, no doubt about it. I especially like the way you portray the climber's on the face of the wall - the angles really give a feel for what it is like to be there. You have some fine work!"
- Kent Kobersteen, Renowned National Geographic Photo Editor

"Your images are among the most consistently high quality I receive, and I look forward to each submission you send."
- Stephen Miller, Photo Editor of Rock and Ice Magazine

About Leslie:

"This is not a computer geek, Leslie comes from a traditional photography background and can eloquently translate digital speak into real photographic terms and metaphors I can understand. If Leslie can teach me she can teach anyone who has the desire to learn the endless possibilities of the digital darkroom and we can all feel lucky that she is willing to open the door for the rest of us."
- Jay Maisel

"Leslie was truly fantastic and made learning child-like fun instead of scary and boring."
- Joanne Ortega

"In a few hours, Leslie can take away the mystery that many traditional film photographers have for today's 'digital darkroom'. I'm convinced that I can do anything now, without compromising my 'real moment' philosophy."
- Mike "Nick" Nichols, National Geographic Photographer

Something You Can't Teach
"I came upon the photography of Leslie Bryn Alsheimer . This kind of talent can't be taught. I'm sure she's well educated in the technical aspects of photography and post processing in Photoshop, but where she shines is in her unique viewpoint. Literally."
- Robin Ann Walker

"Outstanding! Could not have been better for Photoshop—having a non-geek, but knowledgeable instructor is clearly the way to go!"
- Stephen K Hall

OFFICE & LEARNING LOUNGE LOCATION:

410 Old Santa Fe Trail Suite H Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mailing address: 551 W. Cordova Rd. #155 Santa Fe New Mexico 87505

VISIT OUR STUDENT GALLERIES

Have old cameras? We can put them to good use!

CONTACT US!
Send us your comments or questions or Join our Mailing List! info@sfdigitaldarkroom.com