P2: Curves (due 10/12)

Project #2: Curves

Assigned: Week #4 9/28/11

Due Date: Week #6 10/12/11

Details:  2 Final flattened TIFF Digital Images from A1

For this assignment, you are going to properly adjust the color and tone of your two favorite Assignment #1: Abstracts images.  Use the step-by-step instructions in the below handout for adding a Curves Adjustment Layer.  Then go to Layer > Flatten Image and save the image as a TIFF file format to your USB flash drive.  Finally, submit the two images into the P2 folder on the class server (copy them from your USB flash drive) labeled as "P2_LastName_1.tif".

How to properly adjust for color and tone in your image

Week #4: Correcting Color and Tone

Understanding the Digital RGB #s 

"As an artist, I work to gain technical skill in order to become more fluid, more expressive and more creative in my craft. Technique is always at the service of creativity". - Evan Chong

Most of the color images you will be working on in PS are 8bits/channel.  And a color image has 3 total channels -- Red, Green, and Blue, which can be viewed independently in the channels palette and in the info palette. 8 bits when multiplied by the 3 channels gives you a total of 24bits of information per pixel, or 16.7 million colors.  This is known as the bit depth, or color depth, of your image and describes how many colors each individual pixel can have!


Back to 8bits/channel though - this means each color channel has 256 tones.  This gives you a tonal scale of 0 to 255 for each channel (RGB).  When all channels are set to 0 and turned off, you have a black pixel.  When all are turned on to 255, you have a white pixel.  And as long as the RGB numbers are equal, you are looking at a neutral gray pixel (darker if the numbers are closer to 0 and lighter if they are closer to 255).  

The RGB numbers for each pixel in your image can be viewed in the Info Palette and the information can be used in Levels or Curves to properly balance the color and tone in your image.  In fact, having an understanding of these numbers is one of the most useful things I can teach you in this class.  With this knowledge, you can almost guarantee yourself proper printing results with most of your images.


Please take a look at the below handout for more information on RGB numbers:

P1: Email (due 9/28)

Project #1: Email

Assigned: Week #3 9/21/11

Due Date: Week #4 9/28/11

Details:  2 Final JPEG Digital Images sent via email to me

For this assignment, you are going to further explore the JPEG file format and how it affects image quality.  For many of you it should be a fairly simple assignment! 

Your homework for this week is to simply email me a jpeg photo.  Why jpeg?...because we are emailing and therefore we need a lower file size for quicker transfer and download times!

 

-       Open your favorite image from Assignment #1 (abstracts) in Photoshop. 

-       Go to Image>Image Size to familiarize yourself with the image resolution.  We will ultimately be resizing the image to 5”x7” for emailing, so determine if you will be downsampling (ok for image quality) or upsampling (degrades image quality).

-       Next, choose the Crop Tool from the toolbox.

-       In the Options Bar, change the image size to 5”x7” and the resolution to 72dpi (because I will not be printing them, simply viewing them on my monitor!). 

-       Inside the image window, click and drag out a Crop Bounding Box.  Adjust using the toggle points as necessary and hit Enter or the Check Mark in the Options Bar to commit the crop.

-       Go to File>Save As, and in the Save As Window, title the image “P1_LastName_” followed by the number 12 (so I know that it is your homework!) and be sure to keep the file extension of “.jpg” at the end.

-       Still in the Save As Window, next direct the computer where to save the new file.  Choose your flash drive and a folder of your choice on your flash drive.

-       Still in the Save As Window, choose JPEG as the file format if it is not already chosen.

-       Click Save

-       The next window will ask you how much you would like to compress the jpeg image.  Choose a quality level of 12, which is very low compression resulting in higher image quality, but a larger file size.

-       Click OK and you are done saving.

-       Now, repeat the process, but this time title the image with your name followed by the number 0 and choose a compression quality level setting of 0 so you see the difference that compression has on image quality.  Remember, jpeg images will always compress your image, but you can control the value!

-       Finally, email your saved images (as attachments) to scott@scottnobles.com.  (And if you would like, send a copy to your own email account as well).

 That’s it – you’re done!

Week #3: Adobe Bridge and Photoshop

"Photoshop – that which produces a great photograph from an average photographer." - Frank Karycinski

"Photoshop is not a verb. It is a noun. It is the means to an end, not the end itself." - Vincent Versace  

Today we'll be learning about how to download images from our digital camera.  This will require knowledge of the Adobe Bridge software, which you will be introduced to.  From there, we will proceed to dabble with the Adobe Photoshop interface.  At the end of class a small project will be submitted for grading (see blog post for Project #1 for instructions should you need them).

Below are some brief notes and handouts in reference to today's lesson.  Please check them out at your leisure.

Focal Lengths

Normal Lens = 50mm for 35mm photography...but may closer to 35mm for your camera due to a crop factor!  This is because the sensor size is smaller than a 35mm film frame, resulting in a lens factor to be multiplied (such as 1.6x) dependent on your camera.

Short FL = Lower mm # = Wider angle of view = zoomed out to see more = "Wide Angle Lens"
Long FL = Higher mm # = Narrower angle of view = zoomed in to see more = "Telephoto Lens"

© www.digital-photography-school.com

Black = Full Frame

Red = 1.3x Crop Factor

Yellow = 1.5x Crop Factor

Green = 1.6x Crop Factor

Lens Conversions © www.digital-photography-school.com

Output Resolutions

Optimal Output Resolution for PRINT = 300dpi
Optimal Output Resolution for MONITOR = 72ppi

Great article explaining the differences in File Formats:
http://www.digitalphotopro.com/business/hi-tech-studio-file-format-decoder-ring.html

Digital Camera Settings Handout

A1: Abstracts (due 9/21)

Assignment #1: Abstracts

Assigned: Week #2 9/14/11

Due Date: Week #3 9/21/11

Details:  20 Final Digital Images

Shoot as Large Resolution and Low Compression Jpegs, Auto WB, and in Program Exposure Mode.  Change ISO and EV +/- settings as needed.

For this assignment, you are going to photograph abstract scenes that will help to train your eye to find photographs everywhere you look.

  

With your camera set to Program Exposure Mode, shoot at least 20 images of shapes, lines, textures, etc.  Concentrate on the basic, simple abstract forms found in everyday scenes.  Start to look at the small, everyday details of life and capture them with your camera.

While shooting in Program Exposure Mode, be sure to experiment with your ISO (to avoid camera shake caused by a slow shutter speed) and your EV +/- settings (for better image exposure). Also be sure your "Image Quality" Menu setting is set to Large Resolution and Fine Compression (L with pie wedge icon).  Finally, try to shoot outside with the flash setting off, and use an Auto White Balance setting.

I will be checking the assignment on your camera at the beginning of next week’s class.  Then we will proceed to learn how to properly download the images to your computer and back them up on your flash drive.

Read your user manual to familiarize yourself with the controls on your digital camera.  

Purchase the required supplies and come to class next week excited to use them!  

SYLLABUS

Below are some excerpts from the course syllabus.  

Images of the full syllabus can be clicked on and viewed below.

LIU MA 118-002 Digital Photography I

Course Description: 

This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of photography in an entirely digital environment.  Lectures and hands-on activities will enable each student to discover, explore and understand the applications of digital photography.  In addition to digital shooting assignments and Photoshop lab exercises, there will be discussions and presentations on the basics of digital imaging technologies. There will also be historical examples that provide background for understanding this new and evolving digital medium.

Assessment: 

10% Attendance and Class Participation

20% Quizzes and Final Exam

20% Final Project

50% Assignments

 

 

 

 

Week #2: 9/14/11 Welcome!

Welcome to Fall Semester 2011!

MA 118-002 Intro to Digital

I'm very much looking forward to sharing my knowledge of digital photography with you, and I can only hope you are just as excited to utilize and explore the tools and techniques I'll teach you!

Before getting started, I wanted to point out that I like to begin each class with a quote that relates to that week's discussion material.  I think it's a fun way to introduce the lecture and I hope you enjoy them.  Below is our first quote that I hope will set the tone for the semester and shed some light on my approach to teaching the course!

"I have never taken a picture for any other reason than that at that moment it made me happy to do so". - Jacques-Henri Lartigue