Mark Fitzgerald

I've been involved in the professional imaging industry for my entire adult life. When the digital revolution occurred a few years ago, I was able to apply everything I already knew about traditional film photography to the learning process. This is what gives me my unique slant on Photoshop and how it's used in the digital workflow. Here's how it all happened:

Before Digital

I bought my first camera right after graduating from high-school. I instantly fell in love with photography. A couple of years later I began to work for one of the largest photo processing companies in the country, Fox Photo. We had several labs across the country, but only one professional lab at that time. It was located in San Antonio, TX, which is also where Fox's corporate headquarters was located. The pro lab was in the same building as one of the huge "mother labs", so on average we had about 150 people working there throughout a 24-hour period.

In the early days, for someone who was interested in photography, Fox Photo's Pro Lab was an incredible place to work. It was like having a job in a candy store. I was not only exposed to lots of amazing photographs and the photographers who made them, I also worked with some of the smartest people in the industry. All of them were willing to share their knowledge, as well as their photographic equipment.

Having a state-of-the-art pro lab at my disposal made it possible to burn through lots of film at a fraction of the usual cost. I was able to improve my photography and technical skills at a very quick rate. It wasn't long before I was landing freelance commercial gigs, photographing a wide range of subject matter for publications, advertising - and even album covers.

I continued to work in and consult for photolabs. They ranged from large labs like Fox, to small mom-and-pop operations that were usually in the back of photo studios. I got to see how lots of craftspeople created works of art from average images. I also became an expert in color management and color correction.

In the mid-90's my wife and I moved to Portland, Oregon. I quit shooting and focused on my job at a local pro lab. In 1999 I decided I was burned-out on the lab business and ready for something different so I quit and took a two-year sabbatical. During the first few months of that sabbatical I purchased my first digital camera and a copy of Photoshop. It wasn't long before I fell in love with photography all over again.

After Digital

I worked with Photoshop every day and read every relevant book I could find. In the beginning the learning curve was steep. But I had two things working for me: I was already comfortable with computers and I knew what quality photographic prints were supposed to look like. All I had to do was figure out how to use Photoshop to create them from digital files.

Within two years I was ready to begin offering post-production services to several local photographers. In 2002 I started my business, The Digital Darkroom, (). For the first year or so I concentrated on helping photographers create really great prints from their images - (the same thing I've always done). Then, in early 2004 I began to teach photographers how to digitally edit their own images. I soon realized that it's more powerful to teach people how to catch fish themselves than it is to sell fish to them. Ever since then I've been focused on teaching photographers to manage their digital workflows and how to create high quality files from their photos.

Today

I work with a wide range of professional photographers who shoot subject matter ranging from advertising to wildlife. I help them with Photoshop, Lightroom, and digital workflow. I lead workshops and offer private one-on-one training. I am an Adobe Certified Photoshop Expert and an Adobe Certified Instructor for Photoshop CS4. These certifications, are important, but it's really all of the experience I've gained over the years helping professional photographers - whether they were shooting film or digital - that gives me my unique view of Photoshop and how it's used to help photographers reveal their true art.