🇬🇧 Halloween Forest Photoshop Livestream - Episode 2: Cinematic Post-Processing Masterclass

Sunday, November 2, 2025
6:00 PM 9:00 PM

Ermelo, GE Netherlands (map)

Google Calendar ICS

Watch me Edit Live on Discord

***Invitation only. 3 hours of post-processing different images.*** 🧟

  In a nutshell
  Available seats: Unlimited.
Duration: 3 hours.
Date: Sunday November 2nd, 2025.
Lead by: Daniel Laan.
Price: 100 EURO p.p.
Starts at: 18.00 Amsterdam time.
Ends at: 21:00.
Includes: Action set to Sharpen and Export for the web.
Excludes: This will not be recorded nor distributed. This is a single opportunity and you get exclusive access.
  

Cinematic Post-Processing Live Stream

Following a field workshop on Saturday, this Sunday Livestream is dedicated to creating movie-like results.

Accessible from around the world.
3-5 different images fully post-processed (including, but certainly not limited to Speulderbos).

Tune in, relax, take notes.

Why Tune in?

25 years of experience in Photoshop

Unlike other photographers, I started in Photoshop creating paintings in my teens. Digital photography for me came later. I actually took Photoshop classes. I’ve seen professional photographers open multiple instances of PS because they’re not familiar with layers or abuse the history brush because masking is too complicated. You will learn a non-destructive workflow with me.

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I’ll slow my pace

With experience comes speed. That makes it hard to follow for most. Here I’ll slow my pace down and explain verbally what I do and I why I do it. What’s more, I will repeat steps like creating certain light effects. Time-consuming stuff like dodging, I will only do minimally to keep things interesting. I’ll make you remember by words like “the little Japanese flag” or “press The Claw on the keyboard”.

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Why this Halloween Special?

To give you an idea of my cinematic approach, I’ve decided to theme this workshop and the post-processing live stream that follows it. I love the idea of Halloween. The rustling leaves, the crackling fireplace, the Jack-O-Lanterns and the ghost stories. But it’s the supernatural that’s always attracted me. I’m agnostic to the paranormal. I love a good story, but I’m not easily convinced.

This workshop is honoring the cinematography of (creepy) movies using nothing but natural light and the absence of it. Here’s a list of recommended films and episodes to get a sense:

Game of Thrones - the very first episode’s opening. It sets the bar in a stylistic sense for what’s to come. I love the blues here and you see me using a cool white balance in-camera intentionally to get this mood.
The Batman. Not a very creepy movie, but an exercise in dirty framing. You’ll learn more about that during this workshop.
The Fellowship of the Ring. The scene where the Hobbits “get off the road” for the “black rider” changes as the Nazgûl looms over the scared Hobbits. Look at how this part is visually different from the rest of that scene.
Prometheus. When they approach the planet, it’s Iceland on steroids: it’s vast. It’s empty. It’s scary in the sense that it’s completely foreboding.
The Babadook. Highly underrated supernatural horror film.
The Witcher. Those forests and the horrors that lurk within it are stunning.
Sunshine. A dystopian sci-fi that turns into a space adventure and then a thriller, with fantastic cinematography.
Nosferatu. I mean, this film is beautiful. It’s an inspiration for many of my black and white stuff.
The VVitch: A New-England Folktale. I hated this movie because I got caught up in how they talk. But here’s how you make it look bleak and creepy by purposefully de-saturating your palette.
Bonus: the indie video games Limbo and Inside.

Bookings and Payment Options

Payment options include iDeal, various credit card options, PayPal and bank transfers. Book using the pink button near the top of the page.

The Process in 6 steps

Create a Discord account if you don’t have one yet.
Supply your information through the form at the top of the page and add to cart.
Go to your cart and pay the amount due.
You will receive a booking confirmation upon prepayment in full.
You will not hear from me until:
I will add you to the livestream on Discord on Sunday the 2nd of November. Additionally, you will receive 1 email on Sunday the 2nd of November. That email contains an invite as a backup. This invitation is only for you. (Additional watchers are kicked from the stream).
Everybody will be muted. You can ask questions in the chat. Depending on how busy it is, I will take time to answer questions.

Cancellations and Returns

Find my cancellation policy here.

Tech talk. What skill level or software do I need?

I highly recommend you are a little familiar with Photoshop. I’ve had people on workshops using every software under the sun. I’ve had people bring iPads, phones and whole desktop computers and I’ve had people taking notes or just listening and falling asleep to my ASMR certified voice. Point is, no software translates to Photoshop. Even the free, highly copyright-border-crossing Photopea doesn’t. I work in layers, use masks, channels and importantly: Camera Raw Filter as a layer for creative effect.

I use TK Actions. Here’s a free version. Or get 15% off on everything on this page, including TK9 V3 with LAAN15.

Watch Sean Bagshaw’s free “Getting Started with TK9” here if you’re unfamiliar with TK Actions. I will run through this during the livestream.

Already you’ll see that I mention very technical terms. But don’t be discouraged. If you’ve never used Photoshop before, you have to start somewhere and you will learn a ton from watching me work. And you will learn it the right way.

By the way, I’m on PC. Keyboard shortcut use will be minimal and translated to Mac whenever possible, but your mileage may vary due to differences in operating system commands. That’s why we’ll stick to Photoshop’s menu system.