Live Composite Workshop - with Janey Lazenby

It is incredibly rare to get a look behind the curtain of a master fine-art composite creator—let alone to see the entire process happen completely live, right before your eyes!

Live Composite Workshop with Janey Lazenby

Most of us have looked at a finished composite and wondered how on earth it came together. What we rarely get to see is one built from nothing, live, with every decision explained as it happens. That is exactly what Janey Lazenby is going to do for us.

Janey is one of the more recognised names in the UK photography community, and it has been a few years since she last presented for Camversation, so we are really pleased to have her back. She trained first as a painter, spent 25 years as a professional artist, and then brought that eye to photography and Photoshop. She is best known now for her fine art equine work, and has been named the Master Photographers Association's Equine Photographer of the Year, and its Dance Photographer of the Year too.

On the night, Janey will build a complete, story-driven image from scratch in front of you, using a horse as her subject. Do not let that put you off if horses are not your thing, the subject is simply the example. Every technique she covers, choosing and changing backgrounds, matching colours, layering and building a scene, applies just as well to portraits, landscapes, still life, wildlife or whatever you love to photograph. This is a workshop about the craft of the composite, not about any one genre.

Nothing is prepared in advance. You see the real process, and the thinking behind each step, at a pace you can actually follow.

What you'll learn

• Choosing your elements: how to judge which backgrounds and textures will work in a composite, and which to avoid so you don't lose hours to the wrong ones.

• Colour matching: how to strip out conflicting tones and settle any subject naturally into its new setting.

• Layers and texture: how Janey builds atmosphere and a finish that holds together and tells a story.

• The decisions behind the clicks: not just what she does, but why, so you can bring the same thinking to your own images, whatever you shoot.

  
  

From Mark

I have known Janey a long time, and her work has earned recognition well beyond the UK. But what makes her worth an evening of your time is the way she teaches. She trained in adult education, and it shows: she explains every click and every creative choice without rushing, so you come away with practical confidence rather than a blur of clever moves you can't repeat. And while she is known for her horses, the skills on show here are the same ones you would use on any subject, so everyone will find something to take home. There is a lovely bit of Yorkshire grit to her story too, she is seriously allergic to horses and has built her name photographing them anyway. Watching a fine artist edit live like this does not come around often, and I think you'll get a great deal from it.