I watched the first Enrico Fossati’s post-processing tutorials back in 2015. They were really helpful in developing my digital darkroom techniques, but it wasn’t until his first dark-processing tutorials in 2017 when I first learned about a new way of “visualizing” and processing my landscape images in a more unique and original way.
Today, with this new volume of dark-processing tutorials by Enrico Fossati, he’s taking the instruction to the next level, offering a complete bundle with more hours, different types of images, and new processing techniques that will help you develop your own artistic vision.
In this article, I want to show you my experience after watching and learning with the new Enrico’s landscape tutorials; we’ll see who these videos are for, the required skills to follow his instruction, the structure of the videos, all the skills that you can learn, and the pros and cons of Enrico Fossati’s processing video tutorials that you can get here.
Who is Enrico Fossati?
First of all, if you don’t know Enrico Fossati and his work and you like landscape photography, today it’s your lucky day!
Enrico Fossati is a professional landscape photographer from Northern Italy. He’s one of the most renowned landscape photographers at an international level, and his work has been awarded and published in some of the most important photography competitions and media over the last decade.
His visual imagery is deeply influenced by classical painters like those of the Hudson River school, fantasy books, and movies, something that has helped him develop a unique style not only for the elements he shoots, but for the moody and cinematic atmosphere that he creates in his landscapes.
Who are Enrico Fossati’s landscape tutorials for?
Enrico’s video tutorials are not for everyone; he doesn’t rely on 1-click solutions and automatisms and most of his work is developed manually paying close attention to details.
If you don’t like spending more than 10 minutes editing your images, I wouldn’t recommend this type of landscape tutorials for you.
On the other hand, if you’re a landscape photographer interested in learning not only new advanced techniques but also the creative process of an image and how to develop your own style, Enrico Fossati’s processing tutorials will be a game-changer.
What skills do you need to follow the dark processing tutorials by Enrico Fossati?
Something to consider are the required skills for following his tutorials.
Again, these landscape tutorials are not for everyone. You don’t need to be a photoshop expert to follow them, but some basic knowledge of photoshop is a must.
This term is difficult to define, but at least, you should be comfortable with the following Photoshop elements:
- Know the basics of Adobe Camera Raw
- Work with a system of layers in Photoshop (Create layers, duplicate them, delete, etc.)
- Understand the main Photoshop tools (Levels, curves, stamp cloning, etc.)
- Luminosity masks and how they work
You can perfectly learn just seeing Enrico’s vision and his ideas for developing his images, but for the most comprehensive experience, I’d recommend having this basic knowledge.
How is the structure of these post-processing landscape tutorials?
Enrico Fossati’s dark-processing tutorials are divided into a bundle of 5 different images with an approximate duration of 1 hour per video.
He uses different pieces of software to develop the images; mainly ACR and Photoshop, but also the Tony Kuyper panel to create luminosity masks, and third-party plugins like Nik collection 3, Noiseware, or Topaz Studio 2.
In the videos, he starts explaining the concept and idea for processing the image, something I found truly valuable since it’s something that other instructors don’t cover in other video tutorials.
Then, Enrico guides you through all the steps he follows during his process. He follows a chronological order, showing everything from the first adjustments in the Raw file to the last sharpening settings when he exports the final image.
The videos are thoroughly explained, and besides technical adjustments, he also talks about WHY he’s doing those adjustments in the image. This again has been the most valuable thing to me since sometimes the “why” is more important than the “how”. In Enrico’s tutorials, you’ll see and learn both.
What skills can you learn from Enrico Fossati’s instructional videos?
Covering both artistic and technical skills, in Enrico’s landscape tutorials you’ll learn:
Image preparation
This step is the cornerstone of the whole process. It doesn’t matter the effects that you add on photoshop; if you start with the wrong settings, your image is doomed to fail.
In this step Enrico shows:
- How to prepare your image with the basic adjustments in the RAW file
- How to blend images with different exposures manually with no halos or misalignments (Exposure bracketing)
- How to blend images taken with different focal lengths to create more depth (Focal blending)
- How to blend images taken at different times of the day (Time blending)
- How to stitch a panorama in photoshop and correct the imperfections
- Which photoshop tools can you use to fine-tune your final composition
Dragon Nest
Color, contrast, and light
If the previous step is key for the creation of any image, these skills are the foundation for creating atmospheric and moody images.
Here you’ll learn:
- How to apply a color base to your image for a more cinematic look (color grading)
- How to enhance and introduce different types of light in your images (soft glow light, diffused light, directional light, Orton effect, etc.)
- How to darken your image and introduce mood without clipping shadows
- Best dodge and burn technique to create depth and lead the viewer’s eye
- How to enhance details in your photos
- How to manage the contrast and light/shadows for the best image readability
Winter Spell
Artistic Vision
If you want your images to stand out, technical skills are useless if you don’t have a clear vision of what you’re looking for in your images.
Here, Enrico talks about:
- Sources of inspiration for his image creation
- The concept behind the image with graphic examples
- The reason WHY he’s applying the adjustments considering his final goal
Well of Mimir
Other Tips
Apart from all the above skills, there are other processing tips in Enrico’s processing tutorials. Some of the ones I found most valuable were about the illumination of your processing room, the best background color for editing dark images, settings for the Wacom Tablet, and the best way to sharpen your final image.
Descend to Rivendell
Enrico Fossati’s dark processing Masterclass Pros and Cons
In a nutshell, these are the things I liked and the things that could be improved or you should consider in Enrico Fossati’s Dark-processing masterclass videos.
PROS
- Comprehensive education covering a wide range of skills and techniques
- The videos are thoroughly explained with the motivation and reason behind the different techniques as well as the artistic vision
- Image variety; from a vast glacial valley to a forest or mountainscapes, you can see the techniques applied according to different scenes
- Quality-price: The bundle includes more than 5 hours of instruction for just €99
- The bundle includes the Raw files so you can practice with the images
A light in the dark
CONS/things to consider
- Some basic knowledge of Photoshop is a must to make the most of the videos
- Some effects like the color grading are processed in 3rd party plugins. The bundle could include at least 1 video explaining how to create those effects in PS like in Enrico’s old tutorials
- The bundle includes no refund, something understandable given the digital nature of the content
- The videos are available in English and Italian; it’d be nice to see them translated into other major languages like Spanish or French
Conclusion
These new processing video tutorials by Enrico Fossati are, without a doubt, some of the best I’ve seen in a long time.
They’ve helped me not only to sharp my post-processing skills, but also to understand the reason behind the techniques and, most importantly, have encouraged me to keep shaping my own photographic vision.
Today, we’re filled with so many online education sources, and time is our most valuable resource, so if you truly value your time and have the goal of taking your images to the next level, I strongly suggest to check Enrico’s videos.
You can find the complete Enrico Fossati’s dark-processing bundle videos HERE.
Please feel free to leave any comments or questions related to these landscape tutorials in the section below.
