A full introduction to the course where you'll discover all the content we're about to tackle, how you should approach the course, as well as other info about the Battle Plan and the Workshop.

Welcome to From The Ground Up : Diamond 1 

In the diverging part, we'll focus on understanding the terms we are actually using all the time surrounding composition and rendering, and discuss the many misconceptions we tend to have around them. 

In the converging part, we'll zero in on a proper holistic definition that will help us to use composition as a tool and not simply as a theoretical concept that has no bearing on our day to day practice. 

Let's start with Diamond One : From The Ground Up

Welcome to From The Ground Up : Diamond 2

Time to talk about perception. In this Diamond we'll focuse not only on what we see, but on what we perceive, which is a lot more powerful skill to have when it comes to composing images. 

In the diverging part, we'll talk about the peculiarities of human vision and how it informs how we read images so that we can then talk about the more nitty gritty stuff like contrast, tensions and weights. 

In the converging part, we'll focus on the notion of balance. I'll first discuss the usual misconceptions surrounding the concept of balance to then offer you a more acute understanding of it that will help you in guiding your composition choice in your future projects.

Let's dive in Diamond 2 : Perception

Welcome to From The Ground Up : Diamond 3

With our new proper understanding of how composition is the interllinkage of Intent, Frame, Light and COlor, and a more thorough understanding of how perception works, we can now start dealing with each core component one by one. 

Diamond 3 is focused on Intent

In the diverging part we'll deal with understanding intent in all its different forms and typologies.

While in the converging part we'll talk more about how to identify your project's intent, how to put together a hierarchy of intent, mix intents in a single image and much more. 

Diamond 3 is all about creating meaning in your image. 

So let's dive in Diamond 3 : Intent

Welcome to From the Ground Up : Diamond 4

Here we'll deal with the second core component of composition : Framing. As you'll very shortly see, behind the word framing lies an immense number of small details and aspects we sometimes tend to forget about when composing our images. 

In the diverging part, we'll cover things as varied as aspect ratios, the typologies of framing, grid systems, details regarding how to treat your horizon lines, or your verticals in an image, negative space and many other topics that impact what ends up being in your frame. 

In the converging part it will be more about how do we actually take decisions regarding those newly found concepts and how we can foresee the impact it will have on our images.

There's a lot to cover, so let's dive in Diamond 4 : Frame

Welcome to From the Ground Up : Diamond 5

Here we'll deal with the third core component of composition and focus on light

The diverging part is all about undertstanding the component of light, its weight, the many photography concept such as keys and values. We'll also cover more practical and real world scenarios by tackling the impact of the sky and how the type of weather gives us a specific 
type of light and why we would want one scenario rather than another for our image.

The converging part is more about learning how to ask ourtselves the right question and how to answer them in order to come up with a coherent lighting strategy for each of our images.

So let's dive in Diamond 5 : Light

Welcome to From The Ground Up : Diamond 6

Here we'll deal with the last of the core component of composition : color

In the diverging part we'll focus on the weight of color, its inherent dynamics and its relative dynamics when paired with additional colors. We'll also extensively tackle the visual power of color as well as their symbolic power. 

In the converging part we'll discuss how to create color palettes from different constraints we can discover, as well as how to use the relativity of color perception to our advantage in order to build successful and appealing color palettes in any scenario.

So let's dive in Diamond 6 : Color

Welcome to From The Ground Up : Diamond 7 

Creativity is paramount in our line of work. Coming up with new solutions to address our own needs or our clients's. And yet, sometimes artists are very disorganized on the matter and rely on serendipity alone. This is not a viable way to work in a business environemnt. 

In the diverging part we'll focus on the roots of creativity and understand where it comes from and how we can better harness its power. 

We'll then mostly look at the two main tools I use to maximize my creativity : the references and the repertoire. 

In the converging part we'll discuss how to practically build those tools and integrate them in your routine, as well as other practice that can help you maximize your creativity on a daily basis

Let's dive in Diamond 7 : Creativity

Welcome to From the Ground Up : Diamond 8

Even the most creative artist can fail miserably in the real world if they don't know how to handle their client relationship properly. 

In this diamond we'll focus first in the diverging part on understanding the two main actors of any relationship : you and your client. 

After giving a proper guideline on how to approach business relationship, we'll discuss the most important aspect of any project : ripping the brief, and theferore understanding your client's intent. 

In the converingpart we'll discuss how to cocreate a great creative brief with your client, as well as how to push your relationships further and make them longlasting.

Let's dive in Diamond 8 : Clients

Welcome to From the Ground Up : Diamond 9

Last Diamond of the course. Time to talk about process!

Process is key to productivity and expertise signaling. If you have no methodology, there's a great chance that your client will always lead you anywhere they want because they won't trust your ability to lead them. 

In this final diamond we'll first focus on deconstructing the biggest steps of ideation and how to come up with ideas on any project. 

In the converging phase, we'll then focus on how to cull and choose our best image options for a project, and slowly refine them until the final deliverable. 

On top of that, we'll dive deep into the realm of client presentation, the pitfalls to avoid, and how to lead those conversations by leveraging the power of compositional principles we've learnt throuhgout this course.

It's the last Diamond of the course, and I'm glad you stuck with me until the end. 

So Let's now dive into the final diamond, Diamond 9 : Process.

This is it. You made it!

In this conclusion, I'll recap some of the most fundamental takeaways I think you should have in mind from this course, as well as give you some pointers on what to do next to implement all this new knowledge into your current workflow and practice.  

In this appendix part you'll find all the downloadable content : cheatsheets, checklists and what you need for the workshop.