Monday, August 30, 2010
How To: Image Adjustment Tutorials
Here are three informative videos (all using pets) on image adjustment using Adobe Photoshop. They are made using a windows interface and a previous version of the software, but remember, all the same menu items exist on the Apple computers we are using in class.
How To: Color -> Black and White
Please note. This is one of several ways to convert your images to black and white. We'll be working with other methods later in the semester. For this first assignment, please follow the instructions below.
1. Open your image in Photoshop.
2. Chose Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Black and White...
3. A dialog box will appear. Click OK.
4. Chose File -> Save As.
5. Save your image as a *.psd file. This will preserve the black and white adjustment layer that was created. Make sure you provide your image with a filename that will not overwrite your original file.
Below is a video tutorial that describes using this tool in depth.
1. Open your image in Photoshop.
2. Chose Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Black and White...
3. A dialog box will appear. Click OK.
4. Chose File -> Save As.
5. Save your image as a *.psd file. This will preserve the black and white adjustment layer that was created. Make sure you provide your image with a filename that will not overwrite your original file.
Below is a video tutorial that describes using this tool in depth.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Light - Black and White Assignment
We will be looking at light. Photographing light. What hides in shadows, what makes your eyes squint. Photograph the things in the world that you can't touch, or see. Stop where it's warm or where it's cold and make a photograph. How is the temperature changing the light, if at all? Re-visit the same scene throughout the day.
Make no less than 300 exposures. Bring the images to class on Monday, August 30th. Three 8x10 inch black and white prints will be due at a date to be announced.
Make no less than 300 exposures. Bring the images to class on Monday, August 30th. Three 8x10 inch black and white prints will be due at a date to be announced.
Destructive vs. Non-destructive Edits
Photoshop edits files in the following two ways. They are...
Destructive edits - changes modifying content in a way that it cannot be changed back to its original state. An example of a destructive edit would be to make a levels adjustment to an image by modifying a layer directly, thus altering it's content permanently.
Non-destructive edits - changes modifying content that modifies the edits rather than the original content. An example of a non-destructive edit would be to make an adjustment layer. Changes can be made to that edit, or adjustment layer without altering other layers or original content. A real world analogy would be walking outside and putting on sunglasses. In doing so you make the world appear darker without actually making it darker. Once you remove your sunglasses, everything is the same as when you put them on.
Destructive edits are BAD! They destroy data, which is information, which is ultimately resolution. Use non-destructive editing techniques whenever possible.
Here's a few types of Adjustment Layers you can add to your image using Photoshop. Please note, these are not all of them, we'll get to the rest later! If you only use adjustments layers to edit your images, you will be making non-destructive edits!
Levels - Adjusts the brightness and contrast using a histogram that represents the tonal values in an image.
Color Balance - Adjusts shifts of color in an image. If an image appears too blue you can make it warmer or more yellow using this tool.
Hue Saturation - Hue is the name of a color, saturation is a color's intensity. An image with no saturation contains no color information, only information on the brightness or darkness of each pixel. This tool adjusts the saturation of any particular hue in an image, or the overall saturation of all the hues.
How to make a New Adjustment Layer in Photoshop CS4?
Chose Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels (or any other desired type of adjustment from the list)
Destructive edits - changes modifying content in a way that it cannot be changed back to its original state. An example of a destructive edit would be to make a levels adjustment to an image by modifying a layer directly, thus altering it's content permanently.
Non-destructive edits - changes modifying content that modifies the edits rather than the original content. An example of a non-destructive edit would be to make an adjustment layer. Changes can be made to that edit, or adjustment layer without altering other layers or original content. A real world analogy would be walking outside and putting on sunglasses. In doing so you make the world appear darker without actually making it darker. Once you remove your sunglasses, everything is the same as when you put them on.
Destructive edits are BAD! They destroy data, which is information, which is ultimately resolution. Use non-destructive editing techniques whenever possible.
Here's a few types of Adjustment Layers you can add to your image using Photoshop. Please note, these are not all of them, we'll get to the rest later! If you only use adjustments layers to edit your images, you will be making non-destructive edits!
Levels - Adjusts the brightness and contrast using a histogram that represents the tonal values in an image.
Color Balance - Adjusts shifts of color in an image. If an image appears too blue you can make it warmer or more yellow using this tool.
Hue Saturation - Hue is the name of a color, saturation is a color's intensity. An image with no saturation contains no color information, only information on the brightness or darkness of each pixel. This tool adjusts the saturation of any particular hue in an image, or the overall saturation of all the hues.
How to make a New Adjustment Layer in Photoshop CS4?
Chose Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels (or any other desired type of adjustment from the list)
Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
I came across the COMPLETE list of Photoshop CS4 shortcuts. It's a bit overwhelming. Feel free to use it, but need some endless patience and a magnifying glass. They are almost identical to the shortcuts used for CS5.
LINK TO EVERY SINGLE PHOTOSHOP CS4 KEYBOARD SHORTCUT
The handout provided in class provides a much smaller list of useful keyboard shortcuts. No magnifying glass required.
LINK TO EVERY SINGLE PHOTOSHOP CS4 KEYBOARD SHORTCUT
The handout provided in class provides a much smaller list of useful keyboard shortcuts. No magnifying glass required.
Monday, August 23, 2010
ASSIGNMENT one PART two
Please turn in the images for #27 along with the three other assignments you chose from the Learning to Love You More website.
Re-size your images to be 800 pixels wide and save them as .jpg. This will be covered in class on 8.23.2010 and again on 8.25.2010. There is also instructions on how to do this below
On the desktop, make a folder labeled with you first name, last name, and LTLYM. Place that folder in DropBoxes -> Sean McFarland. This procedure will be followed to turn in all assignments throughout the semester.
All images are due no later than at the end of class on 8.25.2010.
Re-size your images to be 800 pixels wide and save them as .jpg. This will be covered in class on 8.23.2010 and again on 8.25.2010. There is also instructions on how to do this below
On the desktop, make a folder labeled with you first name, last name, and LTLYM. Place that folder in DropBoxes -> Sean McFarland. This procedure will be followed to turn in all assignments throughout the semester.
All images are due no later than at the end of class on 8.25.2010.
Campus Lab Hours
OPEN LABS FOR ARTDM STUDENTS
Digital Media A303 Lab:
Monday: 6:00PM-7:00PM
Tuesday: 2:00PM-6:00PM
Wednesday: 6:00PM-7:00PM
Digital Media ATC110 Lab:
Saturday: 9:00am-1:00pm
Digital Media Lab in Library:
The lab is located on the ground floor of the library near media services.
NO TECH AVAILABLE IN THIS LAB
Monday: 8:00am -7:00pm
Tuesday: 4:00pm to 9:45 pm
Wednesday: 8:00am -7:00pm
Thursday: 8:00am -7:00pm
Friday: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Digital Media A303 Lab:
Monday: 6:00PM-7:00PM
Tuesday: 2:00PM-6:00PM
Wednesday: 6:00PM-7:00PM
Digital Media ATC110 Lab:
Saturday: 9:00am-1:00pm
Digital Media Lab in Library:
The lab is located on the ground floor of the library near media services.
NO TECH AVAILABLE IN THIS LAB
Monday: 8:00am -7:00pm
Tuesday: 4:00pm to 9:45 pm
Wednesday: 8:00am -7:00pm
Thursday: 8:00am -7:00pm
Friday: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Terms, Downloading, and Resizing!
Terms to know:
Resolution = Information
PPI
DPI
Megapixel
Monitor Resolution vs. Printer Resolution
Bit Depth
Grayscale
RGB
CMYK
JPEG
TIFF
RAW
PSD
Review basic camera operation
Downloading images to the computer
1. Turn on and plug your camera in the computer.
2. iPhoto may automatically launch and ask if you'd like to use it to download your photographs. You don't. Quit iPhoto when it launches.
3. Make a new folder on the desktop named with the date and your name. For example, I would make a folder named "8.23.2010_mcfarland".
4. Click on the hard drive icon on the desktop and navigate to the applications folder. Double click and open the application "Image Capture". It has a camera for an icon.
5. It should recognize your camera. From the "Download To:" drop down box, chose "Other", navigate to the folder you just created on the desktop and click the "Open" button.
6. Click the "Download All" button. Your photographs will begin downloading to the computer, into the folder your designated. You may chose to only download some of the images on the camera. If so, click the "Download Some" button, select the images you'd like to download.
Resizing images for the web using Photoshop
1. Save a copy of your image with a new name. You'll want to do this to avoid overwriting a high resolution image with your new smaller re-sized image. For example, the original file might be named "landscape.jpg", the new file could be called "landscape_for_web.jpg"
2. From the menu, chose Image -> Image Size
3. A dialogue box will appear. In the top of this box is a section labelled "Pixel Dimensions". Change the width to somewhere in between 500 and 800 pixels, make sure the "Constrain Proportions" option is checked.
4. Click "OK" and save your image as a jpg.
Resolution = Information
PPI
DPI
Megapixel
Monitor Resolution vs. Printer Resolution
Bit Depth
Grayscale
RGB
CMYK
JPEG
TIFF
RAW
PSD
Review basic camera operation
Downloading images to the computer
1. Turn on and plug your camera in the computer.
2. iPhoto may automatically launch and ask if you'd like to use it to download your photographs. You don't. Quit iPhoto when it launches.
3. Make a new folder on the desktop named with the date and your name. For example, I would make a folder named "8.23.2010_mcfarland".
4. Click on the hard drive icon on the desktop and navigate to the applications folder. Double click and open the application "Image Capture". It has a camera for an icon.
5. It should recognize your camera. From the "Download To:" drop down box, chose "Other", navigate to the folder you just created on the desktop and click the "Open" button.
6. Click the "Download All" button. Your photographs will begin downloading to the computer, into the folder your designated. You may chose to only download some of the images on the camera. If so, click the "Download Some" button, select the images you'd like to download.
Resizing images for the web using Photoshop
1. Save a copy of your image with a new name. You'll want to do this to avoid overwriting a high resolution image with your new smaller re-sized image. For example, the original file might be named "landscape.jpg", the new file could be called "landscape_for_web.jpg"
2. From the menu, chose Image -> Image Size
3. A dialogue box will appear. In the top of this box is a section labelled "Pixel Dimensions". Change the width to somewhere in between 500 and 800 pixels, make sure the "Constrain Proportions" option is checked.
4. Click "OK" and save your image as a jpg.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Some Hints and Rules for Students and Teachers
Rule 1
Find a place you trust and then, try trusting it for a while.
Rule 2
General Outline of Duties of a Student:
Pull everything out of your teacher.
Pull everything out of your fellow students.
Rule 3
General Outline of Duties of a Teacher:
Pull everything out of your students.
Rule 4
Consider everything as an experiment.
Rule 5
BE SELF DISCIPLINED. This means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
Rule 6
FOLLOW THE LEADER. Nothing is a mistake. There is no win and no fail. There is only MAKE.
Rule 7
The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It is the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things. You can fool the fans – but not the players.
Rule 8
Do no try to create and analyze at the same time. They are different processes
Rule 9
Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It’s lighter than you think.
Rule 10
We are breaking all the rules, even our own rules. And how do we do that? By leaving plenty of room for X quantities.
HELPFUL HINTS:
Always be around. Come or go to everything.
Always go to classes.
Read everything you can get your hands on.
Look at movies carefully and often.
Save everything. It may come in handy later.
Learn more about John Cage here...
Find a place you trust and then, try trusting it for a while.
Rule 2
General Outline of Duties of a Student:
Pull everything out of your teacher.
Pull everything out of your fellow students.
Rule 3
General Outline of Duties of a Teacher:
Pull everything out of your students.
Rule 4
Consider everything as an experiment.
Rule 5
BE SELF DISCIPLINED. This means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
Rule 6
FOLLOW THE LEADER. Nothing is a mistake. There is no win and no fail. There is only MAKE.
Rule 7
The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It is the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things. You can fool the fans – but not the players.
Rule 8
Do no try to create and analyze at the same time. They are different processes
Rule 9
Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It’s lighter than you think.
Rule 10
We are breaking all the rules, even our own rules. And how do we do that? By leaving plenty of room for X quantities.
HELPFUL HINTS:
Always be around. Come or go to everything.
Always go to classes.
Read everything you can get your hands on.
Look at movies carefully and often.
Save everything. It may come in handy later.
Learn more about John Cage here...
Assignment ONE
Go to http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com.
Look over the assignments. Complete assignment #27, along with 3 others of your choice. Document the results using your digital camera.
DO NOT alter or adjust your images before we meet in lab. Instead, spend your time and effort on photographing! Remember to bring everything you need to get your images off your memory card/camera and onto the computer.
Please bring your images to class on Monday 8.23.2010.
P.S. this one is really amazing.
http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com/reports/47/hearn_kara.php
Look over the assignments. Complete assignment #27, along with 3 others of your choice. Document the results using your digital camera.
DO NOT alter or adjust your images before we meet in lab. Instead, spend your time and effort on photographing! Remember to bring everything you need to get your images off your memory card/camera and onto the computer.
Please bring your images to class on Monday 8.23.2010.
P.S. this one is really amazing.
http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com/reports/47/hearn_kara.php
Monday, August 16, 2010
Syllabus
Diablo Valley College – Fall 2010
ARTDM 136 – Beginning Digital Photography
Location: A-303
Meeting Time: 7:00pm – 9:50pm
Instructor: Sean McFarland – mcfarland.sean@gmail.com
Office Hours: TBA
Course Objectives
1. Identify, discuss and apply the basic principles of digital photography, as well as comparable concepts in traditional photography
2. Acquire skills necessary to capture images digitally
3. Evaluate creative content development
4. Critically evaluate and interpret digital photographs
5. Apply creative visual communication using digital photographic images
6. Acquire necessary skills for resolution management and output of digital files to print
7. Apply lighting techniques for digital photography
Expected Course Outcomes
1. Students completing the course will be able to apply lighting techniques for digital photography.
2. Students will be able to critically evaluate and interpret digital photographs.
3. Students will be able to acquire necessary skills for resolution management and output of digital files to print.
Required Text
There is currently no requirement for purchasing a textbook. Most, if not all readings throughout the semester will be provided.
Attendance and work expectations
Regular, on-time attendance and active participation in class discussion and critiques is required of all students. Expect to spend an average of at least 1-3 hours a week outside of class time photographing and working in the lab. If you miss a class you are responsible for obtaining all notes and handouts from that day – you must let me know if you have to miss class.
All handouts can be found at the class blog: http://artdm136fall2010.blogspot.com
If you miss a lab, you are responsible for finding the time to make up the work on your own. Absences and lateness can result in a lower participation grade, potentially lowering your final grade. Please show up for class on time and come prepared. Students are expected to produce original, independent work. Plagiarism is against school policy and will not be tolerated.
Assignments
All assignments must be handed in complete and on time. In the rare case that work is handed in late your grade will be lowered by 20% for each full week it is late. Work handed in more than two weeks after the due date will not be accepted and/or graded as an F.
Grading
75% - Participation and Studio Project Assignments (all equal in weight)
25% - Final Project
A Inspired Growth and/or consistent excellence, strong contribution to class critiques, punctuality and appropriate class behavior
B Consistent, high quality response to assignments, active participation in critiques, punctuality and appropriate class behavior
C Average response to assignments, average attendance and participation
D Unsatisfactory or missing assignments, unsatisfactory behavior, poor attendance
F None of the above
Required Equipment
Digital SLR or Equivalent – must be able to perform manual adjustments of focus and exposure.
Flash Drive – at least 1GB of portable storage. If you already have a portable hard drive, you are welcome to use it.
Email Account and Blog – you will need to set up a blog that will be used specifically for this course. We will be going over this in our second class meeting.
Tripod and Cable Release – these are not required but are highly recommended.
Lab
Open lab hours are Monday and Wednesday, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
ARTDM 136 – Beginning Digital Photography
Location: A-303
Meeting Time: 7:00pm – 9:50pm
Instructor: Sean McFarland – mcfarland.sean@gmail.com
Office Hours: TBA
Course Objectives
1. Identify, discuss and apply the basic principles of digital photography, as well as comparable concepts in traditional photography
2. Acquire skills necessary to capture images digitally
3. Evaluate creative content development
4. Critically evaluate and interpret digital photographs
5. Apply creative visual communication using digital photographic images
6. Acquire necessary skills for resolution management and output of digital files to print
7. Apply lighting techniques for digital photography
Expected Course Outcomes
1. Students completing the course will be able to apply lighting techniques for digital photography.
2. Students will be able to critically evaluate and interpret digital photographs.
3. Students will be able to acquire necessary skills for resolution management and output of digital files to print.
Required Text
There is currently no requirement for purchasing a textbook. Most, if not all readings throughout the semester will be provided.
Attendance and work expectations
Regular, on-time attendance and active participation in class discussion and critiques is required of all students. Expect to spend an average of at least 1-3 hours a week outside of class time photographing and working in the lab. If you miss a class you are responsible for obtaining all notes and handouts from that day – you must let me know if you have to miss class.
All handouts can be found at the class blog: http://artdm136fall2010.blogspot.com
If you miss a lab, you are responsible for finding the time to make up the work on your own. Absences and lateness can result in a lower participation grade, potentially lowering your final grade. Please show up for class on time and come prepared. Students are expected to produce original, independent work. Plagiarism is against school policy and will not be tolerated.
Assignments
All assignments must be handed in complete and on time. In the rare case that work is handed in late your grade will be lowered by 20% for each full week it is late. Work handed in more than two weeks after the due date will not be accepted and/or graded as an F.
Grading
75% - Participation and Studio Project Assignments (all equal in weight)
25% - Final Project
A Inspired Growth and/or consistent excellence, strong contribution to class critiques, punctuality and appropriate class behavior
B Consistent, high quality response to assignments, active participation in critiques, punctuality and appropriate class behavior
C Average response to assignments, average attendance and participation
D Unsatisfactory or missing assignments, unsatisfactory behavior, poor attendance
F None of the above
Required Equipment
Digital SLR or Equivalent – must be able to perform manual adjustments of focus and exposure.
Flash Drive – at least 1GB of portable storage. If you already have a portable hard drive, you are welcome to use it.
Email Account and Blog – you will need to set up a blog that will be used specifically for this course. We will be going over this in our second class meeting.
Tripod and Cable Release – these are not required but are highly recommended.
Lab
Open lab hours are Monday and Wednesday, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
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