Annie Leibovitz Photoshop filters and masterclass

[RayDalio]

I'm normally loathe to spend money on these kind of things, but suddenly they're all over Facebook and Reddit – has anyone given them a go?

Applied Image
Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography | MasterClass

 

[Derrel]

Have not tried either, but to me, Presets are valuable tools, and I use them a lot in Lightroom. I got a lot of free presets a few year ago, and have LOVED using them. Presets are editable, so you can tweak them to your liking.

The Annie classes...sounds like a good deal to me for $180 for a year. If you could learn just six things from her 15 lessons, you'd be money ahead in the long term.

Yes, these two things cost money, but not "that much" money.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I've seen something before about Annie Leibovitz teaching a video course thru MasterClass. I think there are various courses offered by a number of well known people in various fields. I don't think it has anything to do with the other website linked.


I don't think the presets being sold by what's calling itself Applied Image Research have anything to do with Annie Leibovitz. (I don't get why they're using her name, or the 'research' name of the site since they seem to only be selling one set of presets.) It's a .co and I can't find any contact info. or address or company info. so I'm not sure what the site is or who's behind it or who owns it or anything - other than someone somewhere is selling some presets. And whoever wrote it spells 'color' like 'colour' so that makes me think it's not a US company.

 

[RayDalio]

Thanks. Yeah, I should have said they're not connected, other than they're both popping up on my Facebook at the moment.

I was really wondering if anyone knows how much use the masterclass is for more experienced photographers? It's hard to tell from their blurb, as they're obviously trying to target a broad audience. The presets have been suggested as a pairing, as the retouching side is clearly more technical. From what I gather it's a London studio that reverse engineer the looks of famous photographers like VSCO do with film.

They're also on Creative Market and were being distributed on Reddit, but I don't think 'officially'.
New York Retoucher Photoshop Actions

 

[RayDalio]

Thanks Derrel!

That's how I feel too, and it's good to hear that from someone else. I'm almost surprised the masterclass hasn't got more attention. She's got one of the most commercially appealing looks of any photographer, I've always thought.

 

[vintagesnaps]

It doesn't appear to be the same company. There's an Applied Image in the UK - different website. There's an Applied Image in Rochester NY - different .com website. I think .co is a domain name out of Colombia. The site doesn't seem to provide an address or any info. about who's doing the company/website or where they're located. I wouldn't trust giving some anonymous person/people my credit card info.

I hadn't seen Creative Market before. Their CEO runs on Cheerios and avocados, and if that's his professional bio I'll pass. And there are the Terms... a glance down and I found 4b User Content License Grant - look at that before you use the site, sounds like site users are allowing Creative Market to use their photos from now on, in an unlimited way, etc. etc. No way would I agree to that.

To me it looks like whoever's doing the so called NY presets seems to be using Ms. Leibovitz's name... wouldn't be surprised if it's unauthorized (and if someday their site might just be gone and out of business, who knows).

 

[cgw]

She's got one of the most commercially appealing looks of any photographer, I've always thought.

Yup, change the verb tense to past and you've got why Annie's doing this now. Cynicism(though it seems justified here)aside, she's been convinced that "branding" with a touch of celebrity worship will rake in a few $$$. The idea of a "master class" offered online a la MOOC seems just a bit contradictory.

 

[RayDalio]

It doesn't appear to be the same company. There's an Applied Image in the UK - different website. There's an Applied Image in Rochester NY - different .com website. I think .co is a domain name out of Colombia. The site doesn't seem to provide an address or any info. about who's doing the company/website or where they're located. I wouldn't trust giving some anonymous person/people my credit card info.

I hadn't seen Creative Market before. Their CEO runs on Cheerios and avocados, and if that's his professional bio I'll pass. And there are the Terms... a glance down and I found 4b User Content License Grant - look at that before you use the site, sounds like site users are allowing Creative Market to use their photos from now on, in an unlimited way, etc. etc. No way would I agree to that.

To me it looks like whoever's doing the so called NY presets seems to be using Ms. Leibovitz's name... wouldn't be surprised if it's unauthorized (and if someday their site might just be gone and out of business, who knows).

Creative Market's a very popular site in the design industry. The terms would refer to people selling their own products through the site. So if you upload a product, they've got the right to promote it on their networks. I get Creative Market ads all the time on Facebook. I'm sure Adobe and VSCO have similar terms where applicable.

So I don't think there's any danger of you signing rights away when you buy anything from them. Applied Image are quite well known too. In their own words I think replicating looks is done unofficially. But they seem pretty careful with their language, and a lot of photo apps do it far more brazenly. I'm not even sure about the legalities of film emulation, when it includes brands like Kodak and Fuji in the advertising.

 

[RayDalio]

She's got one of the most commercially appealing looks of any photographer, I've always thought.

Yup, change the verb tense to past and you've got why Annie's doing this now. Cynicism(though it seems justified here)aside, she's been convinced that "branding" with a touch of celebrity worship will rake in a few $$$. The idea of a "master class" offered online a la MOOC seems just a bit contradictory.

It did make me pause and think. She has quite a track record for accumulating debt. I still enjoy seeing on set videos with her, on some of the highest budget celebrity shoots in the industry, shooting with a Canon 1D and a $50 Soft Lighter.

 

[Derrel]

I just bought the book "Women", by Annie Liebovitz, with an introduction by Susan Sontag. It's a big, coffee table book, with loads of single-page and double-trucks of women of all types and social levels, from poor to royalty, celebrity to regular. Single, doubles, groups, all women.

I tell you what...if a person cannot respect Liebovitz's skills (plural) behind a camera, they're really not that photographically savvy, or they're extremely cynical and deluded. She is, without a doubt, a master-level people photographer. If, after watching fifteen video lessons for a full year, a person cannot justify the expense of learning from one of the 20th centuries greatest portraitists, then that person might as well just throw the cameras and lenses and lights up for sale on e-Bay, and take up a new hobby.

Many people blow more than the cost of her master class on barista-poured coffee within a six month time frame, on something they will literally pi** away within hours.

 

[cgw]

I just bought the book "Women", by Annie Liebovitz, with an introduction by Susan Sontag. It's a big, coffee table book, with loads of single-page and double-trucks of women of all types and social levels, from poor to royalty, celebrity to regular. Single, doubles, groups, all women.

I tell you what...if a person cannot respect Liebovitz's skills (plural) behind a camera, they're really not that photographically savvy, or they're extremely cynical and deluded. She is, without a doubt, a master-level people photographer. If, after watching fifteen video lessons for a full year, a person cannot justify the expense of learning from one of the 20th centuries greatest portraitists, then that person might as well just throw the cameras and lenses and lights up for sale on e-Bay, and take up a new hobby.

Many people blow more than the cost of her master class on barista-poured coffee within a six month time frame, on something they will literally pi** away within hours.

Agree, in part, but still think as a celebrity "celebrity" photographer, that her best work isn't necessarily her most recent work--OK, she did shoot QE II and who gets to do that? But isn't that the point? She always worked with a regiment of assistants, grips and MUAs--advantages few of us enjoy. I'm choking a bit on this online "Master Class" proposition that she and Meyerowitz et al. are floating and question, apart from bragging rights, what one gets from a few lessons that supposedly concentrate a lifetime's work and knowledge. I'll keep buying the books, thanks. BTW, her "Portraits" is also deserving of a place on your coffee table.

 

[espresso2x]

--OK, she did shoot QE II and who gets to do that?

John Hedgecoe.

She always worked with a regiment of assistants, grips and MUAs--advantages few of us enjoy.

Not with Rolling Stone. As i think you might be suggesting, among her best output. Although A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005 is quality throughout.

 

[SquarePeg]

Sounds like a bargain to me. Just to hear her creative thought process would be worth the money.

 

[DanOstergren]

No doubt she is an incredible photographer, and a huge inspiration. I bought the Master Class and personally I feel that it's not worth the price. It's more like watching a long interview where most of the content is Annie talking about herself, and she shows you her photos and tells stories about them. I'm not saying it isn't inspiring or valueable, I just don't think it should be called a "Master Class".

 

[cgw]

No doubt she is an incredible photographer, and a huge inspiration. I bought the Master Class and personally I feel that it's not worth the price. It's more like watching a long interview where most of the content is Annie talking about herself, and she shows you her photos and tells stories about them. I'm not saying it isn't inspiring or valueable, I just don't think it should be called a "Master Class".

There's a huge aspirational hook in those "Master Classes" but did you truly expect anything more? It's a rare short-term workshop or class that has much of a takeaway beyond vague sharing of the organizer's "vision."