Photo by Julia Dean student Will Cole.

There’s an artist inside you, you just don’t know it.

It may require a natural gift to become a Mozart or Rembrandt, but photography is one art form that anybody can do with a little training. “I tell my beginning students that one of the many reasons I love photography is that you don’t have to be born with an innate talent,” says Julia Dean. “It can become a learned skill. It took me seven years to create my first good photo.”

Dean has been bringing out the artist in everyone for 25 years, first as a college instructor and now as the founder of The Julia Dean Photo Workshops, year-round courses held in Los Angeles, Venice, Santa Ana, Oceanside, Escondido and San Diego. With over 170 workshops taught by legendary instructors, Dean’s courses are a fast and fun way to learn the art of photography.

Today it seems like everyone has a digital camera, and there are more photos taken today than at any time since the first permanent photograph was made in 1826. But do most people have the slightest idea what they’re doing?

“The main thing about the equipment today compared to when I first started,” says Dean, “is that you can take pictures today without understanding your camera. It’s a good thing in that you don’t have to learn all the technical stuff, but a bad thing because you’re relying on the camera rather than your knowledge of how to control the camera.”

So what do you need to learn to make the transition from MySpace snapshooter to emerging artist?

Simple: how to make the camera do what you want it to do, whether it’s freezing the action of an athlete or blurring the background while keeping the foreground in focus. You also need to master the most critical technical aspect of photography: “The most important thing in a good photo is light,” explains Dean. “You get great light and you have the chance of a great photo, but then you have to add content, and capture the emotion.”

Dean’s classes vary from one-time, half-a-day workshops to six-week courses in everything from the basics to how to create a portfolio. There are also 10-day travel workshops to such exotic locales as Prague, Cambodia and Vietnam.

So whether you just want to spruce up your Facebook page or start working part-time as a wedding photographer, there’s something for you. “We advise people about which classes would be good for them based on their needs,” says Dean.

And if your need is simply to unleash the artist inside you that’s dying to come out, then call 310.392.0909 to find out more.

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