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.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, September 24, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
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
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
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
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
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
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
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
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.
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