Art Photography Academy

Single Technique Course #1 · Refracted Impression

Your photograph isn't the end. It's the beginning.

Print it, tear it, set the pieces behind a few clear glasses and photograph it again. In five short lessons Martin Osner shows you how to turn any photo, even a family portrait, into a one-off piece of art.

Start for $29

One payment · Instant access · Your $29 counts towards Getting Started

A studio portrait, and the same portrait after the Refracted Impression technique — The original portrait, and the same print photographed through glass.

316photographers have learned it at the Academy~45minutes of video1afternoon to your first piece

What one photograph can become

Made in camera, through ordinary glass

No Photoshop tricks and no studio. The fragments, repeats and light lines come from the glass in front of your lens.

Fragmented portrait — **A portrait**A studio headshot, torn and reassembled behind cut glass.

Fragmented shop window mannequins — **A shop window**Mannequins in a window, broken into layered planes.

Fragmented street scene in warm light — **A street**A village road at sunset, repeated through a row of glasses.

Make your first piece, $29

How it works

Four steps at your kitchen table

Print a photographAny photo you like, A4 on slightly heavier paper.
Tear it into piecesTake one scene apart, or tear several prints to repeat one element.
Set the pieces behind glassClear drinking glasses or a cut vase, lit from behind with a desk lamp.
Photograph through the glassWith your camera or your phone, then finish it in Snapseed (free) or Photoshop.

Martin Osner photographing a torn print through drinking glasses

A printClear glassesA desk lampA dark or white clothCamera or phone

Three ways to use it

For you, for someone you love, for your clients

Start your own work

Your best photographs become the raw material for something only you could make. For many students this is the first step into art photography.

Make a gift

A portrait of a parent, a child or a friend, made into a one-off piece for their wall. It means more than another print in a frame.

Offer it to clients

If you photograph people, this is a small add-on for them.

Send me your portrait, I'll turn it into art.

What you get

Everything for $29

Five lessons on the techniqueEquipment, the method step by step, a snag list, editing the file
video
Five bonus lessonsWhat fine art photography is, and how to get into it
video
Two months in the Inspire CommunityOpen Mic evenings, creative challenges and honest feedback on your work
worth $58
Yours to keepEverything stays in your library, watch at your own pace
lifetime

Single Technique Course #1

^$29

one payment, no subscription

Start now

Go on to Getting Started in Art Photography later and your $29 comes off the price.

Your teacher

Martin Osner

Martin ran his own photography studio in the 1990s and started looking for ways to give his photographs more artistic depth. He taught these techniques to full-time students at his college of photography for years. Today he teaches them online at the Art Photography Academy.

Questions

Before you start

Do I need a professional camera?

No. A phone or tablet works. A DSLR or mirrorless camera gives you more control over depth of field, and Martin shows both.

Do I need Photoshop?

No. Martin edits in Photoshop, and Snapseed, a free app for phone and tablet, does the job just as well for this technique.

How long does it take?

The technique lessons take about 45 minutes to watch. Most people have a first piece within an afternoon.

What happens after I pay?

You get your login by email straight away. The course is in your library, and your two months in the Inspire Community start the same day.

What if I want to go further?

Getting Started in Art Photography teaches ten techniques. If you join it later, your $29 comes off the price.