FInal Exam and last Meeting

NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS CLASS SESSION
Tuesday December 11
10:15-12:15

Here is the final exam/quiz that everyone must complete. Once there, select File > Download As > Word.

Here is the make up Quiz on Exposure. You only have to do this if you aren't happy with your original grade. I will replace your original grade with whatever you get on this quiz.

Staged/Directorial/Cinematographic Photography - Jeff Wall and Gregory Crewdsom; two of the best contemporary photographers

Gregory Crewdson

Excellent Aperture web feature on Gregory Crewdson. His work is amazing. Sometimes, I think my process of shooting my Three Minute Series is complex, but his process makes me feel inadequate.

Great video about Gregory Crewdson and his beginnings.

Smithsonian article about Crewdson.





Great interview with Gregory Crewdson talking about his work and Normal Rockwell's work. PDN article about Normal Rockwell's use of photographs for source material.

New York Magazine Article about Gregory Crewdson.

Great collection of Gregory Crewdson photos.

Jeff Wall

Excellent resource on Jeff Wall and his work.





Long panel discussion featuring Jeff Wall. It starts out in French, but it is in English after the introduction.

Remember....little baby assignemts

You have a Star Trails assignment that I gave out several weeks ago.

A flash assignment from several weeks ago. 

Also, I want you to add the flash with night sky assignment to the mix.

More to come...

What's going down?

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ART 2030 - Photography

Project #4: Directing and Photographing People: What's going down?

First round of images brought in for editing by Monday November 26th

Final Critique: Final Exam Day Tuesday, December 11 10:15-12:15

For this assignment, you will work in a directorial/staged/cinematic mode (you set up the photographs) to create portraits and/ or narratives using people as subjects. This assignment will require some planning. Start thinking about it now. Don't wait until the last minute!

Open ended narrative photographs containing people:

Shoot any subject(s) concentrating on the idea of a suggested but open ended narrative. Make photographs in which a single image tells a story or implies a narrative. The most interesting narratives are ones in which the story is open ended- those which leave the viewer filling in holes or trying to complete the story. Aim for this type of narrative! I want all your narratives to be vague. Experiment! Have fun! Get crazy!

Think about what distinguishes a fine photograph from a snapshot and take responsibility for everything in the frame. This includes (but is not limited to) distance from subject, background, pose, expression, figure ground relationships/ depth of field, mood, lighting, composition, and other formal considerations. Decide what you want the photograph to communicate and make it happen.

Hint: We all know the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" but an image that "tells it all" is generally less interesting than one which leaves the viewer looking for more. Keep this in mind when shooting and try to create images that will intrigue the viewer; create open ended images that will involve the viewer in the narrative and inspire the viewer to interpret your narrative. Don't give away the ending! Think of each image as its own narrative that occurs in the same ‘universe’ as the other images.

Requirements: Shoot a variety of photographs with a digital camera. I would expect you to shoot a least 60+ images over several hours over several days. Place all of the images on Flickr, then using ACR, edit the 10 that you feel are strongest and put them in their own set.

Criteria for Grading:

The emphasis of your grade will be based on your creativity and ability to communicate the objectives above; however, technical proficiency is expected and poor technique will have an adverse effect on your grade.

Class is cancelled for Monday, November 19th

Hello all, 

I am canceling class on Monday, November 19th so that I can attend my uncle's funeral. So, you don't have to come to class. The next time we will meet is Monday, November 26. Keep shooting for the Get Out of the House assignment until you feel you have at least 10 strong images. They can be from multiple excursions. 

Also, you have to do a 'fun' little holiday assignment. Assignment is below. Happy Thanksgiving. 

'Fun' holiday mini assignment

You only have to do one of these:

If you are going home for Thanksgiving:
Make and exhibit of the art in your parents home

If you aren't going home for Thanksgiving:
Make field guide to your yard

For either assignment, you need a minimum of 5 shots. Post them to Flickr. Make a Set for them. You have to put in captions for the Art at Parents Home assignment, but not the other one.

Should take you about 15 minutes to shoot either of these assignments. It isn't due until after you get back from Thanksgiving vacation. You don't have to edit them.

Next class, we will spend most, if not all of class, editing.

upcoming flash at night mini assignment

We will discuss this on Wednesday.

Collection of gelled flash images incorporating the night sky.

Get Out of the House assignment

For this assignment, you are to go somewhere that you have never been before. Take compelling photographs of the experience/location/activity/travel, etc. I want photos that speak to your take on the experience. Photos that only you can take because only you see it/feel about it that way. They should demonstrate your understanding of photography as an artistic medium. I want no less than 30 unique images.

DO NOT EDIT THEM. We will spend Wednesday editing the images in class. You all need more practice editing your images. I want to see you edit your images so that I can assist you in the process. 

Your trip doesn't have to be grandiose. It could be a trip to a small town that you have never been to eat at a greasy spoon diner. Stop along the way and photograph anything that interests you.
Or a road trip to anywhere new. A store. Cabellas? Frankenmuth Christmas village? A silly roadside attraction like worlds largest pie. A state or metro park that you haven't been to before. Take a trip on a public bus. Take photos of the entire bus experience. Any type of new place or experience. 
Look up work by Stephen Shore, Alec Soth, Robert Franks, William Eggleston.  Good photos can be made of anything.

Hope that helps.

Get out of the house

Stephen Shore - street photographer?




a shorter version with better video quality. Video of Stephen Shore's photographs with his own narration

Flash! Savior of the Universe!

Flash, Flash, I love you!

The Strobist website/blog is a great place to start learning about using flash. There is a ton of information available from there. The video immediately below if from there.

Large format lenses use leaf shutters which allow you to use flash at all shutter speeds. This allows you to use fill flash even when it is very bright outside and you need/want to use a fast shutter speed.


Nikon AS-15 PC to hotshoe adaptor

Various Nikon off camera TTL cables

Composition

Wednesday/Thursday, we will discuss the effective use of focal length to control the apparent space between objects. We will also disucuss composition. To follow up on that, I would like you to read the following over the weekend.

The Art of Black and White Photography: Techniques for Creating Superb Images in a Digital Workflow, read Part III: Rules of Composition. The whole thing.

http://www.utoledo.edu/library/

Go to the Quick Links section and hit Search

Or go directly to

http://utmost.cl.utoledo.edu/search

Once you find the book, you click on the read online link or something like that. If you connected to the internet via a UT connection, you will not have to sign in. If you are at home, then you will have to sign in using your name and R number.

A really great Kodak presentation on photo composition made in the late 1970s. I love this presentation. I have it on slide and audio cassette; easier to show this way.

Kodak Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition - this is an old Kodak guide to photo composition that someone scanned and transcribed. The images still hold up. It is a newer version of the other presentation.

Kodak Guide to Better Pictures: Composition - simplistic, but there is still some good information and images here.

Homework for Wednesday

Take a star trail photo. At least a 5 minute exposure. Use your remote to trigger the opening and closing of the shutter. Don't pace near the tripod when the shutter is open. Avoid brightly lit area such as near a street lamp. Use Long Exposure Noise Reduction.
You don't need to bring your cameras to class on Wednesday as I will be presenting a lecture on composition. Be sure to bring your memory card though so that you can upload them to Flickr.

**MONDAY WE WILL BE MEETING AT THE PLANETARIUM**

Hello guys, 
Monday we are going to meet at 9:30 am at the Ritter Planetarium on main campus. It is the littler building with the dome on it. Just meet in the hallway. You will see Faux Space photos there in the display cases. 
We will learn how to use a telescope to take astrophotography and  watch a movie in the planetarium about the same. 
Please email me to let me know that you got this message: seder.burns@utoledo.edu
Thanks, 
Seder

Faux Space, Your Next Frontier

In the Fall of 2012, University of Toledo Physics department unveiled a new fancy projector in the Ritter Planetarium. As part of their grand opening ceremony, they invited us to put up work in conjunction with the opening. It went really well. Students enjoyed the project and produced really great images. So the Physics department asked us to do it again.

Your class will be the third class to produce prints on this theme for display at the Planetarium. Next time you are on campus, be sure to stop by Ritter Auditorium on main campus to see the prints on display from the previous class. They play full dome films in their planetarium which are fun to see. You should check one out.

So, your second Project is going to be about Space. This may seem difficult with photo, but I assure you there is much that you can do. Start by checking out this excellent series of photos of the topic.



The film The Fountain made use of close up photography of viscus fluids for much of the special effects. Here is a short write up about it. Here is a link to the guys that made the visual effects with some additional similar examples.










A Photogallery honoring the first chimp in space. InPraise of Ham the Astrochimp.
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Air and Space magazine have a collection of photos and articles titled 50 Years of Space Flight. 

Americans Dream of Space. A great video about the nation's excitement and fascination with space during the 1950s-1980s. Excellent gallery of early space program photos.

Did you know that there is a museum dedicated to space named The Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio? Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, was born in Wapakoneta. The museum chronicles Ohio's contributions to the history of space flight.

You can make an inexpensive balloon camera outfit and launch it. Similar article in PopScience. Yet another similar project.

Be sure to check out NASA's extensive resources. Much of the imagery that comes to mind when we think of Space is included in NASA's Great Images in NASA collection.

Here are the Flickr Astro Photographers of the Year for 2012

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Additional food for thought: There are some people who don't think we ever really landed on the moon.

Bannedin America: Proof of Fake Moonlanding is a film on the topic. It is interesting as they explain the methods which they believe were used to fake everything. You could use these techniques to fake your own trip to the moon. If you want more information on the supposed conspiracy, just do an internet search on ‘Moon Hoax’.

Think aliens...think early space exploration…think current space exploration….think space tourism…watch some bad science fiction for inspiration…think War of the Worlds….read up on private space exploration such as Space X. Most people believe it is where the future of space exploration lies.

Nice collection of water based photos.

The only limitation is that any editing that occurs to your image must take place in Adobe Camera Raw. This isn’t an exercise to see how good you are at image editing. This is to say, you are supposed to the work for this assignment with your camera, not on the computer. It’s about how creative you can be. Millions of excellent photographs were taken prior to the invention of the computer. You are allowed to perform local edits in ACR.

Below is a slideshow made from the students work from Fall 2012. You can see the images as a Set on Flickr.




Here is a little video about getting into Astrophotography




Created with flickr slideshow.

Lomography Student Discounts

FYI: Students can get 35% off Lomography photo products.

Photograph a Significant Outfit

There is an artist by the name of Miranda July whose work I adore. She is an author, performance artist, conceptual artist, actor, director, and all around amazing. She has a website, Learning to Love You More, which provided 'assignments' for the public to complete. People would then submit their completed work for possible inclusion on the website. No longer active, it is still a fantastic site. I am asking you to complete Assignment #55: Photograph a Significant Outfit. There are lots of examples there. This is due on Monday as a RAW file. You will have time to edit it and post it to Flickr at the beginning of class. You must include the significance of the outfit as a caption on Flickr. I suggest that you write that ahead of time.

This assignment serves to introduce you to the powerful combination of text and image. Additionally, I want you to explore photography in a different context. Not all images have to look good to be good.

If you want to read a really excellent collection of short, quirky stories, then I encourage you to read Miranda July's book No One Belongs Here More Than You. She has also written and directed two films.

Previous Students' Faux Space images

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color spaces and Flickr

It is important to keep your files in the sRGB color space for use on Flickr (or for any screen use for that matter). If you upload images in Adobe RGB color space, they will experience a very noticeable color shift.
Below is a screen grab from Flickr showing an identical image except for the color space assigned. It isn't supposed to be purple.
When preparing an image for print, use the Adobe RGB color space which works with a larger range of color.

Focal Length experiments - due Wednesday

Two sets of photos:
1. Take a set of photos of three objects. A foreground, middle ground, and background. Set the camera up on tripod. Take an image at your longest, shortest, and middle of the road focal lengths. Don't move the camera at all between the shots. Use the same exposure for all the shots.
This image illustrates the idea of what you are trying to do.   
Another example. 

2. Select a subject. Take an image at your longest, shortest, and middle of the road focal lengths. Move the camera as necessary to keep the foreground subject the same size. A friend works well as a subject. Note how the apparent distance between foreground and background elements seems to change.Use the same exposure for all the shots.
Here is a nice example of what you are trying to do. 
Here is another nice example of what you are trying to do. 
Here is yet another example. 

Other links you might find useful/interesting:
Effect of focal length and DoF
Illustration of the effect of changed perspective in combination with change in focal length
Series of portraits taken using different focal lengths and perspectives.

Artists' work viewed in class

Ruud Van Empel

Loretta Lux

Interesting photos

Impersonators

Sally Mann Lecture Tonight (Thursday) in Ann Arbor

Sally Mann Lecture is tonight in Ann Arbor

Good art blogs/sites

Gestalten

Behance

But Does It Float

Fubiz - art and design

WebUrbanist

Creator's Project

Canadian Art

Bored Panda

Ufunk

Printeresting- great name- blog about printmaking and paper arts

White Balance Assignment

Take three photos in each of the following lighting situations:

Daylight
Shade
Fluorescent
Tungsten (traditional household screw in light bulb)
Mixed Lighting Situation (two or more light sources of different color)

For each situation, take a photo using the Auto setting, the Daylight setting, and the setting that yields you the most accurate result.
Post those to Flickr with tonal edits.
Then adjust the WB of each using the tools in Adobe Camera Raw.

UT Library resources and THE best book on Adobe Camera Raw

I look through a great deal of materials before assigning you any reading or videos to watch. The majority of the 'information' out there is junk. Most of it written by techie folks with no real understanding of how an image should look. THE best book available on how to edit a RAW file using Photoshop CS5 is Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS5. The authors know how images should look and how to make them look that way.

If that link doesn't work, go to:

http://www.utoledo.edu/library/

Go to the Quick Links section and hit Search

Or go directly to

http://utmost.cl.utoledo.edu/search

Once you find the book, you click on the read online link or something like that. If you connected to the internet via a UT connection, you will not have to sign in. If you are at home, then you will have to sign in using your name and R number.

I want you to read pages 146-164 prior to class on Thursday if you can. If not, please read it over the weekend.

Editing RAW files

Ansel Adams wrote, "The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways."

The same can be said for editing your RAW files. Editing takes considerable time. It is a thoughtful, contemplative process. It is not a race to be done.

There is much in regards to digital imaging and photography that isn't intuitive. Editing your images is one such example. The biggest thing that students have trouble with is failing to make full use the full tonal range of the image.

One of the biggest struggles that students have is learning to adjust the distribution of tones in an image. Technically speaking, when you are shooting, your job is to capture all the data in the scene without clipping important highlight information. Your job in editing is to re-arrange those tones to make full use of the tonal range and create an attractive image.

If you see data climbing the right and left walls of an image, that is data containing no detail. I find if helpful if you think of lost detail as not having texture. If you grossly overexpose an area to the point that the data is climbing the right wall, let's say it is a white t-shirt, then the photo of the t-shirt won't have any sense of texture to it. You won't be able to tell if there was a pattern or what type of fabric it was. In a nut shell, you should set the black and white point of an image so that the data just kisses both sides of the histogram without climbing it. Of course, there are exceptions to this such as when you deliberately allow the white of a specular highlight to go to pure white.

If you see that there is a gap between the right wall and the image data, then you are not using the full range of tones available to you. Increase the exposure additionally until the data just kisses or nearly kisses the wall. If you see that there is a gap between the left wall and the image data, then you are not using the full range of tones available to you. Increase the Blacks slider until the data just kisses or nearly kisses the wall.You should do these edits first, then edit the other tones. At a minimum will likely have to adjust the midtones a bit using the Lightness slider or Curves.

Simply put, if you only use part of the tonal range, then you will have a flat (lacking contrast) image.
Like any advice, it is good to hear it from multiple people. Here are some tutorials on the use of Adobe Camera Raw that I highly recommend. These are written for Adobe Photoshop, but nearly everything is the same between PS and LR as far as the editing of RAW files is concerned.
I would like you to watch these videos. If you are struggling to understand the editing of RAW files, these will really help. The first one in particular.
Start with this one:
Adobe TV video featuring Julieanne Kost introduction to ACR. Great step by step tutorial in which she explains the choices she makes. If you like it, and I think you will, it is part of a longer video series featuring her. Click here to see all the episodes of The Complete Picture with Julianne Kost.
Russel Brown a long time Adobe evangelist and a pretty funny guy, has been posting some really great tutorials and scripts to his website for a number of years. I mention it now because he has some nice tutorials on working with Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop CS4. He takes a novel approach in some of the tutorials in which he edits others' files. You will have to scroll down to find the videos on editing RAW files.
The Russel Brown Show

Homework due TBD

SHOOT RAW FILES FROM HERE ON OUT

Reading due: London Ch. 3 (Lens) and 4 (Exposure, Sensors and Film)

Read this short article about reciprocity

Depth of Field Assignment

Select a scene to shoot. It has to have a foreground, middle ground, background. You are to shoot the same scene at your maximum aperture and each whole aperture. Let's say the maximum aperture of your camera is f3.5. You would then determine the optimal exposure using f3.5 and a shutter speed fast enough to hand hold the camera (assuming you don't have a tripod). You would take one shot at f3.5, then another at 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, and 32 (assuming your camera stops down to 32). Of course, you have to vary your shutter speeds as you do this. If you are shooting outside on a nice day, you can likely complete the exercise using your lowest ISO (your cameras native ISO where is is most 'happy'). This will either be ISO 100 or 200. However, if you are indoors or it is late or early in the day, then you will likely have to increase your ISO at some point in order to maintain a shutter speed of 1/60 or faster as you work your way through the various apertures.

Since you will be shooting these as RAW files, you won't be able to upload these directly to Flickr (unless you have Photoshop & Bridge at home). We will take a few minutes to upload these using Bridge at the beginning of class.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Project #1: Response to your personal environment

ART 2030 - Photography

Due:  TBD                                                                                                  


The greatest failure is the fear to fail.                                                                                                                                                        – Duane Michals

What is your environment? How do you define it? Is it intimate or vast? Is it physical, psychological, or both? How far does it extend? Think about what this means to you – it is completely open to interpretation. Make a series of photographs that both explore your environment and communicate something about it to the viewer.

                                                                                               

Assuming you’re photographing a place (again, open to interpretation), what can you convey about the place as well as the space? Is there a diiference? How does it feel? Is it warm or cold? Is it comforting or threatening, calm or chaotic? Is it a personal environment or a shared environment? Does it include people? How does the idea of time factor into your photographs? Your environment can be anywhere and should be a place you can return to over a period of time. The idea is for you to push yourself to see how many different ways you can photograph this environment and what you can communicate about it through photography.

Have fun, be creative, and see how far you can push your creativity. Experiment with camera angle, camera position, distance, lighting, time of day, color, lens, shutter speed, aperture, composition, mood, drama, etc. Just be sure you have enough light for proper exposures. Pay attention to the entire frame and aim to create images that are both visually interesting and communicate something about your subject. These photos may be shot indoors or outdoors, or both, but  if you shoot indoors, use natural window light or the correct white balance with artifical light to avoid unwanted color casts. Plan to explore this theme over a period of time - do not shoot this the day before it’s due!

Suggestions:

• Move away from, and close to, different parts of your subject (physically or through focal length changes)

• Consider figure/ ground relationships and focus on different parts of the scene to change emphasis

• Shoot at eye level, crouch down, stand on a ladder, lie on the ground, turn and face different directions

• Vary the placement of your subject within the frame/ play with the composition in various ways

• Experiment with color within the composition (consider color relationships such as complimentary colors, etc)

• Experiment with different aperture settings and shutter speeds (use a tripod when necessary)

• Shoot in morning, afternoon, evening & in various weather conditions for different effects

• Pay attention to the lighting and the mood it creates!

Criteria for Grading: Grades will be based on creativity and technique with an emphasis on creativity. Experimentation is required!  See "What does your grade mean?" on the syllabus.

Requirements: Shoot at least 75 different photographs with a digital camera. Upload the images to Flickr. Before the critique, create a set of the strongest 3-5 images (these will be projected at the critique). If you shoot in RAW format and upload your images via Bridge, they will automatically be converted to JPGS for Flickr. Save the RAW files on your hard drive for future use and editing.

Nice write up on DoF that we looked at in class

DoF article with nice illustrations

Stopping Action - suggested shutter speeds

Stopping Action
Adapted from The Nikon Field Guide by Thom Hogan

Suggested shutter speeds to stop action when using a wide angle or normal lens:
If you desire to show some motion blur to provide a sense of motion, use a shutter speed slower than indicated.

Type of Action Moving across frame / Moving head on
People walking 1/125 1/30
People jogging 1/250 1/60
Horses trotting 1/250 1/60
Medium paced sports 1/250 1/125
Swimmers 1/250 1/125
Slow moving vehicles 1/250 1/125
People sprinting 1/500 1/125
Cars or bicycles in traffic 1/500 1/125
Horses galloping 1/1000 1/250
Diver 1/1000 1/250
Low flying planes 1/1000 1/250
Skiers, skaters 1/1000 1/500
Train 1/2000 1/500
Race cars 1/2000 1/500

Shutter Speed Assignment

Shutter Speed Assignment

We will begin this in class - possibly complete it then

Here are some nice examples of how a change in shutter speed changes how motion is rendered.

You are to take the same photo (as much as possible) using all the shutter speeds that your camera offers. You can go by full stops; you don’t have to include fractions stops. So, it is likely that you camera has a range of 30 seconds - 1/4000 of a second.

You may have to complete this as two different sets of images. One set that includes the very fastest shutter speeds to a normal working range and another that includes the very slowest shutter speeds to the normal working range.

Let’s say you want to start with your slowest shutter speeds. Let’s say you have 30” as you slowest shutter speed. It is going to have to be pretty dark to use that shutter speed and not overexpose even when using your smallest aperture (likely f32) and your lowest ISO (likely 100). Since you can’t hand hold your camera at that speed and expect an image that isn’t blurry, you should set the camera up on something stationary and use the self timer to release the shutter. Been bags/ cornhole bags work well to position your camera. Of course, if you have a tripod, use that.

Determine the correct exposure. You need to change your aperture and/or your ISO each time you change your shutter speed. For example, let's say you start with f32 @ 30” using ISO 100. When you change the shutter speed to 15”, the camera only requires 1/2 the amount of light so you must either change your aperture to f16 or your ISO to 200.

Your exposures must be reciprocal (they should all be the same in terms of brightness). As such, the histograms should be nearly identical for all the shots.

Most of you will have a subset of the following shutter speeds. Just worry about these standard whole stop shutter speeds (don’t worry about the fractional stop shutter speeds such as 1/50, 1/40, etc.)

1/8000

1/4000

1/2000

1/1000

1/500

1/250

1/125

1/60

1/30

1/15

⅛

¼

½

1”

2”

4”

8”

15”

30”

Do not use a car or other automobile as your subject. Any other subject is allowed. Be creative with this.

Introduction to photo sharing using Flickr

Here is a nice tutorial on setting up Bridge CS5 for export to social media sites including Flickr.



If you don't have the Adobe CS5 suite at home, but you want to quickly upload your images to Flickr, there are a number of tools available including a stand alone upload application and a plugin for iPhoto. Here is a link to a number of the upload tools.

When is the last time that you had prints from your photographs made?
In 1998, I managed a chain of camera stores that offered photofinishing services. At that time, only the very tech savvy, early adopters were purchasing digital cameras. Even so, it was clear that the experience of sharing photos had begin to change.
Today, as I am sure you are well aware, most people share their photos in digital form; primarily on the internet. I think it is safe assumption that most, if not all of you, have a Facebook page.

For this Assignment, you are going to really immerse yourself in Flickr; the most popular and feature rich photo community and photo sharing site. I would like you to begin by reading all the following articles so that you get a sense of what Flickr is really all about:

1. Digital-Photography-School.com article titled My Three Favorite Things about Flickr
2. PBS Media Shift article titled Flickr Changes Lives, Launches Photog Careers
3. Interview with a photographer what found success on Flickr. Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir’s Tips For Flickr Success
4. New York Times article on one of the world's largest stock image agency looking for talent on Flickr, Great Photo on Flickr? Getty Images Might Pay You for It
5. Telegraph newspaper article titledFlickr and Getty Images buy your photos
6. American Photo article on photographers getting commercial work via Flickr, Flickr Creative Showcase: Vision Quest
7. Photopreneur blog entry titled How to Get Paid for your Flickr Photos

Then, I would like you to start learning how Flickr works by going through the Flickr tour.
Then go through this Flickr Tutorial.
Then read through the Flickr page How To Get the Most out of Flickr. There you will find links on how to perform many common tasks. Here, you will find information on setting up Flickr so that you can send it images directly from your phone.

After you have completed all the reading and gone through the tutorials, I would like you to create a Flickr.com account. It is owned by Yahoo, so if you already have an a Yahoo account for any reason, you can use the same Yahoo account user name and password. Since Flickr and Blogger are both owned by Yahoo, they integrate very well with one another. For that matter, since Flickr is so popular and well supported, you can export directly from Adobe Bridge to Flickr. Since you will be editing your images in Photoshop and sharing them via Flickr, this will make things flow well.

As you set up your Flickr account, I want you to consider if you want your photos to be public or private. You can change the settings of each photo individually and you can set the default for all photos. Since a huge part of the Flickr is about sharing your photos, it seems kind of silly to keep all your photos private. However, you may take photos that you don't want the whole world to see. If you chose to set your images as private, you can still share with with fellow Flickr members that you have either indicated as Friends or Family. Here is a Flickr article about configuring the privacy settings.

Due before next class 

* For this assignment, you are to upload the 50 best images that you shot over the weekend to your Flickr account. Please don't edit them beforehand.
* Use the Organizr feature to create a set named Assignment 1.
* Privacy settings are a common concern on the web. Flickr allows you to easily control who you share your images with. I would like you to set the privacy settings for Flickr however you wish.
* Geo tag all your images.
* Join the class group. Share the Set with the Group.
*Explore other groups. Join any other relevant groups that you are interested in and submit your images to those groups. Be sure to do some searches to see the number and variety of groups out there. Please be sure to read the rules of each group. Only submit images that will meet the group’s criteria.

Flickr app for Android Phones now available

Here is a good article about it.

Course Re-cap / what's due Wednesday

Students uploaded their photos to Flickr via Bridge then added them to the course group within Flickr.
We reviewed some students images withing Flickr.

Homework due W/R:
15 photos to be uploaded to Flickr. Must be shot in Manual Exposure mode and demonstrate appropriate exposure determination with emphasis on the highlights.

1st weekend shooting and reading assignments - due M/T

Please read Chapters 1&2 of your textbook. Also read your camera's instruction manual fully (I know you won't understand it all, but it will at least make you aware of your camera's features).

Over the weekend, you are to shoot at least 50 photos as discussed in class.

For this first outing, I suggested that you start with your ISO at 400. This 'medium speed' ISO will insure that you have a better chance of being able to get a sharp image in lower light conditions.
Begin with your shutter speed at 1/60. Adjust your aperture in order to get the meter to indicate a correct exposure (usually this is by indicating a marker at 0 on a numerical scale visible through the viewfinder). If it nice outside, you should be able to to this with no problem. If you find that you don't have enough light (you can't get it to out of the - numbers to read 0) even with the aperture at its largest (numerically lowest number), then you should increase your ISO until the meter indicates a correct exposure. Remember you must use 1/60 or faster when hand holding the camera.

Shoot RAW files only.

Be sure the date and time are set correctly. 

In the future, I suggest you start with your ISO at is lowest, (100 or 200 depending on your camera) 

First class re-cap

Overview of the course.

Due Wednesday/Thursday.

Create a Flickr Pro account.

Watch the video in the Welcome to Class posting.

If you have a camera, bring it to class along with the instruction manual.

Camera Instruction Manuals

Okay, first of all I realized that there are a number of printed copies here that you could have checked out. Sorry, I didn't realize that.

Here is the Nikon D60 instruction manual

There are two versions of the manuals. One is a PDF that doesn't allow you to print it. The other is a PDF that can be printed, but you have to register to download it.

Here is the Nikon D40 instruction manual.
Here is the Nikon D3000 instruction manual.

Syllabus

Here is a link to your course syllabus. If I need to modify it, it will automatically be updated there.

Welcome to Photography Class!

This blog will serve as a resource to you throughout the semester. The syllabus, assignments, and numerous other materials will be posted here. I will post course re-caps here from time to time.

It is but one of the numerous online resources that you will be utilizing throughout the course. The photo sharing site Flickr is another such resource. Below, you will find a video describing how Flickr was used in a similar fashion elsewhere.

Final meeting session Friday, May 4th, 12:30-2:30

We are going to have the final critique on Friday, May 4th, 12:30-2:30

Please note that all photo equipment belonging to the department must be turned in by Thursday, April 26th.

Practicioners and resources on night photography

Excellent Aperture web feature on Gregory Crewdson. His work is amazing. I thought my process of shooting my Three Minute Series was complex, but his process makes me feel inadequate.

Equally fantastic is the night series by Jan Staller. Check out the Frontier New York series. Like Crewdson, they make images as opposed to taking them. Unlike Crewdson, he doesn't physically construct the scene. Rather, he explored the familiar areas around him and photographed them in a manner which makes them seem simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. One of the significant things about Staller is the seeming insignificance of what he photographs. He doesn't seek out the most obvious chooses. There are no photos of the Statute of Liberty or Times Square. In most of his photos, there aren't people. This adds to the otherworldly nature of his photos. The color is amazing. Most of his images contain large elements of neutrality to which the colors offer a counter point.

Here is a link to a guy who blogs about night photography. There are some links to some really good work from here.

Julian Faulhaber- very bold use of color. Great compositions and shots from everyday places that are transformed due to their absence of people. I love the basketball court image. Some are at night, others not.

Darren Soh - Check out his series While You Were Sleeping. Night shots of Singapore.

Harold Davis- He has written a boatload of books on photography. This is his site dedicated to night photography.

The Nocturnes - A group dedicated to night photography. I linked directly to their resources page. Be sure to also check out their image gallery.

DarknessDarkness - a site in conjunction with an exhibit of the same name. I showed you the PDF of the exhibit in class.

Steve Harper - Some really great stuff here. He taught a course on night photography for over 11 years or something crazy like that.

Link to an article about photograping the night sky and creating star trails.
Series of work on the flight path of planes.

Firefly images.


flight patterns from Charlie McCarthy on Vimeo.


PClix is a programmable timer for digital cameras.

2003 Documentary on Night Photography - FYI-All film work as it was shot in 2003.







Nice videos about digital night photography by Harold Davis. Audio quality is poor in the first one. Terrible in the second one.

Reiteration of the Attendance Policy

As clearly stated in the syllabus and in compliance with the University Missed Class Policy (part of which is copied below), after 3 unexcused absences, your final grade will be reduced a fractional letter grade for each additional absence. A surprisingly large number of students have missed more than 3 classes. If you miss a total of 7 'unexcused' classes, you will automatically receive a failing grade. Please review the missed class policy so that you fully understand what qualifies as an 'excused' absence.

Students are expected to attend every class meeting of courses in which they are registered. Only in specific, unavoidable situations does the University excuse absences from class: 1) personal emergencies, including, but not limited to, illness of the student or of a dependent of the student [as defined by the Board of Trustees’ Policy on Family and Medical Leave], or death in the family; 2) religious observances that prevent the student from attending class; 3) participation in University-sponsored activities, approved by the appropriate University authority, such as intercollegiate athletic competitions, activities approved by academic units, including artistic performances, R.O.T.C. functions, academic field trips, and special events connected with coursework; 4) government-required activities, such as military assignments, jury duty, or court appearances; and 5) any other absence that the professor approves.

Reading

Please re-read Chapter 7: Color in your textbook. You can skip the latter section about Developing Color film and such.

I want you to read the following book:
Creative Night: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques by Harold Davis
It is 90% photos, 10% text. I want you to read it all. Much of it we covered in class, but it will only help you to hear it again. There is information on creating star trails, painting with light, etc.
The only part I don't agree with is his section on histograms. He suggests trying to place the tone of the values at the time of shooting. I have continously told you to expose for the highlights, taking in as much as possible, then moving/mapping the tones to where you want them using your image editing application (in your case Adobe Photoshop CS5 Adobe Camera Raw). The method I have taught you will result in cleaner images. Please stick with it. Just keep in mind generally, you will not try to retain detail in a light source. This is to say, let the light sources get blown out.

Exposure Photo Workshop - A nice introductory book all about the basics of exposure. Chapter 9 is on night photography. Chapters 2-5 are about the basics of exposure. Good refresher material. Plus, its presented in a manner other than my own. Chapter 6 talks about all the other modes on your camera dial that I haven't addressed. I want you to read Chapter 9 by Wednesday and the other chapters over the next week or so.

An Introduction to HDR **OPTIONAL READING**

**I AM POSTING THIS HERE FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY. YOU DON'T NEED TO READ THIS OR CREATE HDR IMAGES. SOME PEOPLE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THE PROCESS, SO I AM POSTING THIS HERE. I TEACH THIS STUFF IN THE DIGITAL PHOTO CLASS. **

All cameras are limited in their ability to capture detail across a wide range of brightness values. The range of brightness values that a camera captures detail in is its dynamic range. In general, most digital cameras have about an 8 stop dynamic range. This is debatable though as it is really governed by how much noise you are willing to put up with. The darkest tones in a digital image are always the noisiest. So, your measure of dynamic range depends on whether or not you want to include the noisiest values recorded. Any case, there are innumerable situations in which the camera is not able to capture detail across the entire range of tones that we would like it to.
A classic example would be trying to take a photo of your living room in which you retain full detail in the scene through the windows and inside the room. Unless you are shooting on a very overcast day and your house is extremely well lit, the contrast of the scene is simply too great for the camera to capture detail throughout. This leads to compromises. You could expose for the windows and lose detail in the room, expose for the room and lose detail in the windows, or split the difference and lose some detail in both. None will result in the image that you really want.
In the past, I would suggest that you take two photos; one exposed for the windows and one exposed for room. You could then mask the two together. Depending on the image, this could take a great deal of time. However, you can get really great results doing this. Another problem with this technique is light spill. I you have some light source creating a gradient of light across the floor or wall, it is very hard to mask that in such a way that it will look natural.
Enter HDR. HDR is an acronym for High Dynamic Range. An HDR file is made by combining the detail from multiple exposures into one 32bit image containing far more information than a single shot could. Basically, you take the same photo multiple times while varying the exposure between each shot. This insures that you have data over a larger range than you could capture with a single shot.
This expanded range of tones contained in an HDR file is then mapped down to a range that you can work with in your image editor. I would suggest you tone map it down to a 16 bit per channel image.

How to shoot a scene to be combined into an HDR image
Let me begin by saying that this technique is only applicable to a scene of high contrast such as your living room during the day. Other examples would be a scene with containing deep shadows and open sunlight. HDR imaging also lends itself to the night photography very well as it allows you to retain detail in those areas that are not directly lit.
How do you know if the scene is high enough in contrast to warrant HDR techniques? If you have significant data climbing the left side of the histogram when you properly place your highlights as far to the right wall as possible without touching, then you should consider HDR techniques.
I you should begin by determining your initial exposure for the highlights that you wish to maintain detail in. Then change your shutter speed to allow in one stop more light. Repeat this until you are certain that you have captured all the detail in the shadows that you wish to maintain. Basically, the last histogram should show a ton of data climbing the right wall and nothing should be on the left wall. In fact, you should have a sizeable gap between the left wall and where the data begins. This will insure that the darkest areas of the image are recorded with ample light and will have little or no noise in the resulting combined image. I would suggest at least 5 shots. I think I have done up to 10. It can't hurt you to take too many. You can always clip some unwanted data when you tone map the HDR image down.


Here is a really great video on exposing for HDR by the makers of HDR Expose.

HDR photography is an advanced technique and accordingly requires good technique.
Things to keep in mind when shooting your images:

●You need to use a tripod. I have taken images without a tripod and then tried to combine them into a HDR image using multiple different programs with no success.
●You should set your white balance manually so that it doesn’t change between shots. I suggest you use the daylight setting when shooting at night. This insures that the funky colors of lights are recording as funky colors.
●Focus once and then don’t refocus. If you don’t have the best vision, you can always allow auto focus to determine the focus for the first image and then turn if off. If you are using a compact digital camera that doesn’t allow you to manual focus, then just be sure that it achieves focus at the same distance each time.
●Capture RAW files if your camera supports them. If not, capture using the highest quality JPEG option.
●Use a remote release or self timer to trigger your camera. If you shake your camera when pressing the shutter release button, then you risk blurry images and images that don’t register correctly.
●Use a lenshood to reduce the chance of lens flare
●Turn on your camera long exposure noise reduction feature. You are likely going to end up with some longer exposure times. This feature helps keep your images as noise free as possible
●Use manual exposure mode. You will need to change your shutter speed rather than your aperture for each shot. Manual mode will allow you to do this. If you want to try this with a compact camera that lacks manual exposure capability, then you have to use exposure compensation to vary your exposures. This should still work fine even if it changes the aperture as compact cameras always have great depth of field due to their small sensor and optical system.
●Use your lowest ISO. Since this technique requires that you take multiple exposures, it really lends itself to non-moving subject. Thus, the long shutter speeds necessitated by using a low ISO isn’t an issue. This will keep noise levels down even further.

Creating an HDR image and tone mapping

There are a number of programs available to create an HDR image from your multiple exposures. I suggest you start with Photoshop CS2 or CS3 if you already have it. If you don’t, try one (or all) of the free programs. They do a great job without all the bells and whistles that you may not need or want initially (or ever for that matter). Each program uses its own algorithms for tone mapping. It has been my experience that some types of images work better with some than others. I have categorized them by cost:

Free programs:

●Picturenaut
Freeware. This a full featured HDR generator with tone mapping capabilities. Most featured of the free programs.
Here is little write up on the application which includes a video tutorial.
Here is a comparison between Picturenaut and Photoshop.

●FDR Tools Basic. Freeware. This a free version of the extremely full featured FDR Tools Advanced. As such, it is very basic. Just enough to let you see the possibilities. No options to speak of in terms of tone mapping. Very easy to use though.

●EasyHDR Basic. This a free version of the extremely full featured EasyHDR Pro. Offers some tone mapping controls. Only supports JPEGs.

For a fee programs:
●Adobe Photoshop CS2-CS5. I begin with Photoshop as many of you already have it. Navigate to File > Automate > Merge to HDR. Once you generate the HDR image, four different methods of tone mapping become available when you opt to go down to 16 bit or 8 bits per channel. The Local Adaptation options offers the most control. Don’t be put off by the initially terrible preview. Enable the advanced options and you are presented with a curve. Begin by setting your black and white point. It will already look much better. Generally, your image will benefit from bringing down the three quarter tones. Then edit the rest of the curve as desired. There are numerous more options for tone mapping in CS5 than in previous versions.

Here is a nice little write-up on what all the new sliders in CS5 mean and do.

Here is a summary of the new sliders in CS5.


Video on how to use the Merge to HDR Pro feature in Photoshop CS5. Her shooting advice is not so good though; she encourage you to shoot in 2 stop increments and suggests it is okay to hand hold the camera. Don't do either.

●EasyHDR Pro. 25 English Pounds. (around $40 dollars). Full featured program with a nice user interface. Trial version is available.

●FDR Tools Advanced. USD 57.69 Full featured program. It is supposed to support masking which would allow it to be used with scenes with moving subjects. Haven’t had a need for that yet, so I don’t know how well it works.

●PHotomatix. USD $99. Well established and full featured application. Good website. Some good resources. Feature rich. Also features the ability to tone map just two images together. This is the most popular third party HDR application. They offer 75% for students and educators.

●HDR Expose. USD $149. They offer an academic discount, but I don't know what it is. It claims to be designed for realistic looking HDR images. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I am going to as I am so impressed by their video tutorials. You can check them out here.

●HDR Efex Pro. Nik Software the maker of many fine plugins such as Nik Sharpener, just released this program. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet.

Software summary:
While I have used Photomantix for HDR, I generally use Photoshop CS4 and CS5 as it is the program that my students are most likely to have or have access to. PS is really quite capable of stunning results. It gets a bad rap for its HDR capabilities, but I think that is because you have to be able to edit the tones using a Curve and many people can't pull it off. Photomantix is simpler to use. If you don't have PS or just want to try a free program, I would go with Picturenaut.