Mastering the Digital Darkroom - From Capture to Output with Olympus Visionary Jay Kinghorn
by Jeff Kent
From capture to output with Olympus Visionary Photographer Jay Kinghorn
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For Jay Kinghorn, it all started with a point-and-shoot camera. While attending the University of Colorado, Kinghorn got heavily involved with several outdoor adventure sports, including rock and ice climbing. Wanting a way to document his experiences and share them with his friends and family, he purchased a small camera and started snapping shots of his outings.
Kinghorn had always had a passing interest in photography, and his outdoor adventure photography accelerated his curiosity. Still, as a religious studies major, he wasn’t thinking of a career in the photo world. Then he attended an outdoor retailer trade show to check up on the latest, greatest gear for his adventures. While flipping through a catalog from one of the companies, it suddenly occurred to Kinghorn that he could produce better photographs than those displayed in the catalog. So he contacted the president of the company and asked if he could submit some photos for consideration in their next catalog. The president agreed, and Kinghorn sent in a dozen images. The catalog bought six. From then on, Kinghorn knew that his future would be linked with photography.
Kinghorn began his pro career working as an assistant, mostly on the production and processing side. He handled back end work for busy commercial shooters, doing Photoshop enhancements, streamlining workflow systems and mastering the complicated world of digital image management. After a few years in the digital darkroom, Kinghorn had built a robust knowledge of digital imaging techniques. Rather than continuing to assist others, he decided to go out on his own as an educator. “It dawned on me one day that I should be teaching all of these digital photography lessons that I’d learned,” says Kinghorn. “I knew the photography end and the digital processing side, so I put the two together and started giving seminars.”
These days, Kinghorn spends most of his time teaching. He is one of the main presenters for FirstLight Workshops, where he gives seminars on a range of digital photography issues. In 2005, he was the lead lecturer for Digital Days, an 18-city workshop tour sponsored by Adobe, Sony, Albums Inc. and American Photo and Popular Photography magazines. He consults regularly with corporate clients such as The Rocky Mountain News and Vail Resorts, and he’s been recognized by Olympus as an Olympus Visionary Photographer. Kinghorn has even co-authored a book, Perfect Digital Photography, with Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jay Dickman.
“I really enjoy teaching and all it entails,” says Kinghorn. “Digital photography is still such an emergent field, and there is so much potential. I am always looking for ways to make the process as efficient as possible for my fellow photographers.”
