Photoshop Interview With Photographer Jason D. Moore

In my second Photoshop interview, I’m delighted to talk to designer and photographer Jason D. Moore. Jason runs an excellent blog on Photography and Photoshop which is bursting with information. (All images in this post are copyright Jason)

Hi Jason, thanks for taking the time for an interview! Let’s start with your background. You’re a web and graphic designer but studied a completely different field. Tell us a little bit about that and how you got into that role. (eg. Study, work)

First off, thanks for inviting me to do this!

I’ve always been a creative/artistic person but never really thought about it as a career. I got my degree from Boston University studying the religions of the world, something that’s always interested me, but wasn’t entirely sure where that would take me.

I was the editor of my high school yearbook and did some (very bad) sports photography on the sidelines of our team’s football games when they got to the sectionals and that sort of thing. But I never thought much of it, other than knowing I enjoyed the feeling of being behind the camera.

I worked at a department store portrait studio one holiday season during my junior year, which gave me some training and exposure (no pun intended) to posing and composition techniques.

My dad worked as a producer for a television station for awhile and owned his own production company – where I eventually worked for 5 years – and I would often come along to help out and really found some great inspiration and encouragement.

One of the real turning points for me, though was when I got my first digital camera – a 3.2MP HP point and shoot – before I studied abroad with the Semester at Sea program (www.semesteratsea.com) during my senior year of college. That is when I first started using Photoshop and turning my images into more than just snapshots.

I only wish I had realized my passion for photography earlier so I could’ve really studied it academically.

Do you feel your design background gave you “an eye” for photography.

I think my photography has influenced my design work as much as my design work has influenced my photography. Many of the same principals apply to both – composition, color, tone, how you use contrasts, textures, etc.

I think you can, to a greater or lesser degree, acquire an eye for photography and design. But it’s also true that no matter how much you learn and practice you aren’t guaranteed to have that truly “artistic eye” that you’re talking about. You can become a competent designer or photographer, but may never be great if you don’t already have “the eye.” It’s like any other talent, really. In some ways I think you’re just born with it and, if you choose to develop it, you can really do something special.

You have a very successful photography and photoshop blog – http://www.jasondmoore.com/blog – how long has that been running and how has it affected your career?

I’ve been writing online since the end of August 2002. When I went on Semester at Sea I started a voyage log that chronicled the trip for my family and friends back home. When I got back I just kept it up as an online journal and finally turned it into a blog in the summer of 2005.

The shift to a focus on Photoshop and photography – and the development of the blogroll community – happened in 2006 as my knowledge and skills in Photoshop really took off. I also got my first DSLR that year and began to get really serious about my photography.

I think the blog has been more personally beneficial than helpful to my career. I’ve made more online friends and developed a number of connections with members of the world of Photoshop because of the blog than I ever thought possible. It’s be quite humbling and awesome all at once.

With that said, in a way, I got my current job because of the blog. I won a design contest run by a fellow blogger from this area and when I told him I was going to be moving here he pointed me to an opening at the company.

Also, with my blogging experience I’ve taken on a few company blogs to help with our search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

Here on Laughing Lion Design, we’re very interested in all things Photoshop. How important is it for you?

Photoshop and Photoshop education are very important to me. Ever since I first started watching tutorials online I’ve been hooked and I eat up as much training as I can get my hands on (and afford) so I can stay current. I also get a joy out of sharing that knowledge with others.

Did you teach yourself Photoshop or have you attended classes?

The quick answer is “yes.” My older brother first exposed me to Photoshop – and he’s not really an artistic person – so a lot of what I know came from experimentation. It got to a point though, where I realized that I needed to learn more if I wanted to move forward. So I joined NAPP and watched videos, read articles, and eventually went to Photoshop World a couple of times to learn first-hand from the best Photoshop educators in the world.

I think you need to have a balance between the two. It’s important to learn the mechanics but it’s also important to find your own way.

I see that you are an Adobe Certified Expert. Why did you decide to take that exam? And was it hard? Has the certification helped you in any way?

I don’t have any formal design/photography credentials and felt that I needed to take the exam so I would have something that told others that I knew what I was doing. But also, I took it to see if I could do it.

The exam was hard, and it’s meant to be. One of the tough things was learning areas that I didn’t work with everyday and also re-learning things because the exam asks you how Photoshop was engineered to work, not necessarily the best way to do something.

I think it’s given me some extra credibility in the Photoshop community and it’s certainly a plus when it comes to my resume.

Can you give us an example of your workflow from taking a pic through working on it in Photoshop.

Every image is different and so there is no such thing as a “typical” post-processing workflow for me.

I’ve loved Camera Raw since I bought my first DSLR but ever since the first beta version I’ve been hooked on Lightroom and there’s been no turning back.

Admittedly, I’ve never been formally trained in photography and still do a lot of guessing, trial and error, and relying on some of the camera presets to get the job done in-camera. My real strengths, I think, are more in composition and framing and so I focus on what I do well while still learning the more technical stuff.

I usually setup the shot as best I can so that it’s not just a snapshot but rather a medium for telling a story or expressing an emotion or idea. I always take at least 3-4 shots of a given angle so I am more likely to get something in focus and usable – hopefully on a tripod or using a faster shutter speed. Then I take it into Lightroom to make sure I get the white balance, exposure, shadows, highlights, sharpening, etc. looking good. In LR I will also do some more artistic processing with vignettes or a B&W conversion or some local adjustments to make sure everything is pretty close to what I had in my mind when I released the shutter.

A lot of the time it ends there, but if I need to do any finer adjustments or apply any effects I’ll move over to Photoshop. There, I try to use Smart Objects and Adjustment Layers whenever possible to preserve editability without sacrificing pixels.

For presentation, I bring the files back into Lightroom and export using one of the built-in Flash web galleries. I don’t do much printing, but I usually output through Lightroom as well.

What is your favourite tool in Photoshop and why?

It’s really hard to pick just one… It’s not a tool, but I really love masks. When I first learned about adjustment layers and layer masks it really made a difference for me. When the whole “black conceals and white reveals” thing clicked in my mind, everything changed. So I think I have a certain connection with masks.

What Photoshop shortcuts have you learned along the way that have made a difference to your workflow.

There are a number that I use all the time like Ctrl-J for duplicating layers, [ and ] to resize brushes, Ctrl-Shift-Alt-E to stamp visible, the spacebar for switching to the hand tool, Ctrl+ to zoom in/Ctrl- to zoom out and Ctrl-0 to fit to screen are used a lot too.

Do you use any actions (free or purchased)?

I use a couple at work for when I’m creating clipping paths for product shots but I don’t really use any in my personal workflow. I know how useful they are, and should use them more, but I’m still a little behind in that area.

What version of Photoshop do you use? If it’s not the latest version, do you think you will upgrade?

I just upgraded to CS4, actually. I haven’t had much time to play with it yet but I’m glad I can finally get around to getting up to speed.

I don’t think it’s always necessary to have the latest and greatest. Photoshop is only a tool and while it’s important to have good tools, it’s the talent behind it where the real magic happens.

What other software do you use?

I use Photoshop Lightroom a whole lot for the majority of my initial processing. I used to use Acrobat Pro a lot for creating interactive documents for clients but have been moving more into InDesign lately for layout, and hope to learn more.

What are you favourite online sources of inspiration?

Another tough one… I look at the blogs of my members at least once a week and get inspired all the time by what they come up with and/or what they link to. Sometimes when I’m in a rut I just take a look and see what they’re up to and I can usually find something to jump start my creativity again.

Do you have aspirations to go fully Pro with your photography?

Yes. I’m not there yet but I’ve been dreaming of turning my passion into my profession. I’m sure I can do it but I know that I need to make sure I do it right.

I think I could really do a good job writing and/or teaching Photoshop and about the art of photography – even though I’m not great at the mechanics of it – even if I’m not a working photographer selling my images/prints. I’ve done some portrait work but I’m not interested in going the wedding photography route.

And finally, for you, the colour of happiness is ….

I’d have to go with something close to #2c5472 (various shades of slate blue) but my wife and I are very attached to fall colors – since we were married outside in the fall surrounded by the colourful foliage, so I’d also have to go with something from the other side of the spectrum along the lines of #ad0000.

Jason, thanks a million for taking part in the interview.

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