OUR INSTRUCTORS:

Leslie Alsheimer, author of Black and White in Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Lightroom, is an internationally published and award winning photographer, author and photo-educator based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was recently honored at Photoshop World 2008 as a NAPP Photoshop GURU Awards revipient, with the Vincent Versace Award for Photographic Excellence. Leslie is most known for her documentary projects with non-profits & NGO’s addressing the human condition world-wide. Her work— spanning editorial, fine art and documentary genres— has appeared in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, as well as numerous books and publications including PDN, Nikon World, B & W Magazine, Focus Santa Fe Arts, and Outside magazines. Through a forward and positive focus, Leslie’s fine-art vision incorporates light, technique, and technology into a unique style rooted in a passion for creating images that parallel and interconnect her work as a social worker and her vision of the human spirit. Leslie’s deeper perspective documentary essays were recently awarded and published in National Geographic Traveler and PDN magazine’s 2009 “World in Focus” competition, featured for a Spotlight Award in B & W Magazine, and earned her two Honorable Mention LUCIE Awards at the 2008 International Photography Awards.

As a professional freelance photographer, a member of the Adobe Photoshop Beta Testing Team, instructor with the Nikon and American Photo Mentor Series, and the Founder and Director of Santa Fe Digital Darkroom Customized Photography Workshops and Tours, Leslie works as a photo-educator, organizer, and host for personalized photography workshops, and photographic journeys around the globe. Leslie’s knowledge and expertise of both traditional and digital photographic darkroom techniques allows her to design programs that inspire photographers and artists alike with the creative possibilities of integrating digital techniques and processes into their work.

As an instructor, Leslie is dynamic and patient, with a gift for making complex concepts easy to understand. Having worked extensively with many of the foremost digital image makers in the country, she has integrated a hybrid of experience, teaching styles and technical knowledge into her unique curricula, facilitating the learning process with fun and enthusiasm in a relaxed environment. 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.

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

Combining her love for photography and background in social services, Leslie also developed Community Photography Outreach, a project based non-profit collecting and disseminating donated cameras to organizations and programs in need, and Forward Focus: Workshops with Creative Purpose, a pioneering organization for experienced and emerging photographers who want to use imagery to help promote developmental, environmental and relief efforts worldwide.

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