I am on the forefront of a new era of photography. I live in the digital darkroom. All of my expertise is in the digital format. I started learning the basics of Photoshop as soon as the software was released. I was intrigued by it. I devoted all of my free time to learning as much as I could about all possible ways to use the software to restore and enhance pictures.

Through various classes, I became familiar with techniques to collage and montage images. However, I soon realized that when it comes to landscape and commercial photography, these techniques could sometimes create an unrealistic or “fake” looking image. So, I began a journey to seek out a way to make more natural looking, subtle improvements. Photoshop allowed me this outlet and I decided start on a mission to master the software.

One of the first lessons I learned is "less is more". The less I manipulate the images, the more effective it becomes. In my opinion, over doing repair makes for a very unattractive photographic work of art. I think there is nothing better, than taking something straight from the camera that's perfectly exposed, sharp, and has great color.

Most of my time is now spent shooting, developing Photoshop actions, or working on my web page, fredmiranda.com. For the next few weeks I plan on brining you new and improved Photoshop Techniques. Until then, I will be where I always am -- living in the digital darkroom.