Testimonials

“Luckily I have found my way into your realm of photo painting!! I didn’t even know that this existed and I’m just so excited. I’ve learned so much in the last couple of months that right now my brain feels like it might explode – Thank you so very much for your video critiques!! You were right on and I’ve already made some of the changes you suggested. I’m very pleased!! I appreciate so much your manner of teaching and it has been a pleasure to work with you. My little artist inside is very young and unsure of herself and you have been so encouraging. I’m so lucky to have found you!! I’m very intrigued by color and look forward to entering that whole new world as well…”

~Cheryl Romalho

“I can hardly believe that this class is over – the weeks just flew by. I cannot thank you enough for your kind encouragement and gentle instruction. Each lesson I took away something important that has added significant value to my photographic journey – I have refined my processing skills, and I have learned to observe my surroundings with a different emphasis in mind. I especially appreciated your suggestions for improving the imagery – for example, I tried the cropping and burning of the harbour scene as you suggested, and boosting the yellow in the stamens of the forest lilies, and I was quite startled at the difference these tips made. Thank you!”

~Michelle Marlin

“Before we started our official work, Cheryl asked me to submit over a hundred images for her review. What she found were many decent and some good images which cried out for organization. I did not have a clear focus. Cheryl had also asked me to journal some thoughts about what I experience in photography.  I had taken many workshops, and many classes, but I did not yet have a “style” or something that was recognizably my work.  That has all changed. Cheryl talked to me about what my favorite images were, and why.  She custom designed my assignments to build on my strengths.  She pointed out my strengths, which I had not clearly seen. She introduced me to photographers that I could clearly learn from, those whose work would resonate with me. There has been a lot of personal interior work which I think partially came about as a result of Cheryl’s perceptive assignments. Cheryl’s guidance has given me confidence in my work. I see the difference in the images that I produced before working with Cheryl, and after.Cheryl is determined that you be the photographer you want to be.  She encourages you in your vision.  I think that is the most valuable lesson I have learned from her.”

~Deanna Bittker

“Cheryl, Thank you so much for your comments and suggestions. The last eight weeks and particularly the last four have been exceptional for me. I have particularly appreciated the challenging assignments that you gave us each week. After an initial panic each week, I found myself mulling over each assignment for several days and then planning my response. Somehow that seemed to free me even more when I began taking pictures. Most of my favorite shots evolved as I began shooting. Also, I really enjoyed reading your critiques. I learned a lot by understanding what you saw that made the picture work and from your ideas about how to improve it. I am truly sorry to see the courses end as I saw my skills and my creativity expand each week.”

~Jerry Cohen

“Cheryl taught me how to improve both the processing and the presentation of my photographs. Her instruction was both aesthetic and technical: how to see possibilities with more fertility, and how to execute a plan more smoothly. I currently use what she taught me every time I sit down to the computer. We did cover some ground with which I was already familiar, but even so, she taught me how to do what I had been doing both better and more smoothly. And there was much that she taught me about of which I was previously ignorant, so that I can now do things that I had not been doing at all. Consequently, I believe that the content of my images now have a richer feel than they had previously, and her techniques for finishing an image generate a more polished look to my images. In all of this, my learning was eased by her manner of teaching. Cheryl is patient and soft-spoken, so she sets her students at ease. Furthermore, she is careful both in what she says and in how she says it, so her words are clear and precise. Cheryl is the very model of what a teacher should be. My only regret was that the class did not last longer.”

~Lewis LaRue

“I cannot tell you how much I have truly enjoyed your class!  You have really helped me refine my eye for composition and I know my images have benefited greatly from your thoughtful critique. While I have more work to do, this class has been exactly what I needed:) “You, my dear, are an excellent teacher who makes her students want to work to the best of their ability (perhaps pushing them further than they thought possible), tells the truth on their work even if it hurts, yet are fair and encouraging.  I thank you for all you have made me “see.”

~Diane Shima

“Cheryl, Your critiques are poetic…I enjoyed this class tremendously. I really felt pushed and challenged in a great way. I’ll be back for your next class; Until then I plan on going through all the lesson plans again and glean all I can from them. I’d like to especially thank you for your thoughtful critiques of the class photos. I appreciate how you used critiques to re-enforce and illustrate the lessons, and I learned a lot from them–you also have a way with words that makes them a joy to read! Take care and thanks.”

~Larry Guayante

“I would like to start doing this professionally (I bet you already guessed that?) and am trying to get my skills to where they should be.  I am still at the point of just doing friend’s portraiture but I learn something every time and honestly, I love it.  I am so happy to have found a creative outlet that blends so perfectly with my mothering.  You have been so integral to this journey Cheryl so again, thank you.”

~Kerry Travilla

“Cheryl Dorskind worked with me about a year ago to sift through my portfolio and decide which photos best represented my work and who I am as a photographer.  Cheryl’s critical (in a really positive and kind way) eye and words have been invaluable to me.  She clearly gave each and every one of my photographs much thought (both portrait and landscape) and took her time in writing evaluations and communicating with me verbally.  She was clear in her thoughts about how my websites should be organized and helped me above and beyond my expectations.  In addition to be a top notch photographer and coming to the project with excellent credentials, Cheryl is an easy person to work with, extremely organized and fun to talk to.  I highly recommend her.”

~Cordia Murphy

”Thank you. Your “Colors” course was just what I needed, just when I needed it. I was getting stagnant and bereft of ideas for my imaging, especially flowers. You have guided me to additional techniques I’ve now added to my imaging armamentarium. Most importantly, you have helped me further understand and appreciate color as another variable to consider and capitalize on when previsualising and creating images. I’m confident that there will be future images that greatly benefit from this new knowledge. One of the immediate benefits, for me, was that an image I created for one of your assignments is now in my folder of all-time favorites. Thanks for that, too. You are an excellent artist, photographically and otherwise, which carries through into your teaching. I particularly valued your diligent, in-depth, and conscientious critiques. I will look forward to your new classes, your blog, and your new books.Thank you.”

~Roger Mitchell

“I can not begin to tell you how much I have enjoyed this class. You made me get out of my comfort zone and try some things I have never been brave enough to try before. I came away from every assignment knowing that I now can do ‘that’. I have read each critique for every student and find I learn so much that way. Your presence on the Q&A has helped me so much, as has the other student’s participation there. When I asked a question, I got it answered almost immediately. I am so going to miss this class and feel very fortunate to be joining you in the Color class next. I hope to ‘see’ some of you again in a class down the road at PPSOP, the best Internet photography school out there.”

~Robyn Mehmke

“Thank you so much Cheryl – I feel you have given me a gift. You opened a door I did not know existed:)”

~Debra Nash

“I have LOVED spending the summer with you, taking your two classes! My eyes see the world a little differently. I have begun my color journal with yellow, not just solely but in its analogous and complementary color context. I have a ton to learn about the digital brush – not sure about the dry media brushes. In the meantime,THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL AND SPIRIT-FILLED EXPERIENCE!”

~Edie Clifford

“I was thinking about you because of “all the color” my eyes behold since your course. Yesterday, I purchased a vivid and colorful flower bouquet…it exemplifies “fauve” colors.  I have never purchased this type of bouquet…as you know by now, I surround myself with peaceful, mostly monochromatic colors. Well, I must tell you that the colors truly lifted me…as I looked at them, my heart filled with joy…So, dearest Cheryl, the benefits I derived from your course photographically speaking are wonderful.  Due to my experiences in the past few months, the benefits I derived personally are immense. Thank you for sharing your love and passion for color with me.”

~Diane Imfeld

“This class has been a marvelous experience, and I expect painting photographs to become a lifelong pursuit. You set a great tone from the beginning—it’s very hard to feel a personal touch in an online class, but you have done that. The balance of specific instruction with encouragement to just go and experiment has been just right for me. I hope to take “Photographing Children” from you sometime in the coming months.”

~Margie Morris See more testimonials