Exercise 2: Making color the main thing, Part I

Color. For the second looking and shooting exercise, create a set of images, where you are exclusively looking for color. Find or create your subjects, where color is the main thing. At first, keep it simple, perhaps limiting yourself to one color. Relax and respond to the perceptions that grab your attention.

Work with composition. Get close and use your frame to isolate the color. Do all "cropping" in camera at the time of shooting. Eliminate all distracting elements that detract from the main subject of color. How many strategies can you discover, to isolate the color? Push beyond placing the color in the middle of the frame (although that can sometimes be okay...challenge this).

Please avoid flowers, for now...too easy! Other subjects, whether people, places or things are fine. Before you decide to make the picture, ask yourself... how am I supporting the color in this image?

Due: Wednesday 2/1, bring files to class

Rules of the Game: 

• Natural light (window or outside), during daylight hours
• No flash (so please use plenty of light)
• Shoot JPEG (Large File, Highest Quality) or RAW
• Auto Exposure and Auto Focus is okay for now
• Shoot 50-100 images
• No camera phones (for now)

© Mark Cohen (for educational purposes) COLOR version

© Mark Cohen (for educational purposes) B&W version, to demonstrate the importance of color with this image.

© Mark Cohen (for educational purposes)

© John Rawlings (for educational purposes)

© Guy Bourdon (for educational purposes)

©Thornton (for educational purposes)

© Matthew Tischler (for educational purposes)

© Jordan (for educational purposes)

© Jordan (for educational purposes)

© Jordan (for educational purposes)

Reading and Discussion

For Wednesday 2/3

Read Chapters 1 and 3 in the textbook, Light and Lens.

Prepare discussion points for the following. Everyone will have a chance to speak and share what they have learned.

Chapter 1: From the history of photography section (pages 1-17), please choose a historic movement or approach to the medium that personally resonates with you (such as "modernism" or "pictorialism"). Be able to explain how this is pertinent to you as a photographer. Where might you go with this inspiration? Be prepared to discuss.

Chapter 1, regarding pages 18-30. Pick at least 2 question/answer combinations that you resonate with the most (in a positive way). Then pick 1-2 that you agree less with. Be prepared to discuss your reasoning in class.

Chapter 3: Generate 1-2 points about camera technology from the reading that you found intriguing, or have a question about. Be prepared to discuss.

In Class, 1/25

A.

From the images you shot for last week (isolated, in-camera crops), please choose five more images for processing in Photoshop, beyond what you have already completed for homework.

For each image:

1. Open in Photoshop, creating a saved, Photoshop file (.psd)
2. Global Adjustment: WP/BP Curve Adjustment Layer
3. Global Adjustment: Curve Adjustment Layer to optimize brightness. Fine-tune with Opacity.
4. Global Adjustment: Curve Adjustment Layer to optimize contrast, Fine-tune with Opacity.
5. Local Adjustment: Dodge and Burn layer (basic method). Use big, soft brush to blend edges. Gaussian blur also can be used to feather edges.
6. Global Adjustment: Sharpen with High Pass

For 1-2 of the files, try this new technique, instead of #4

1. Global Adjustment: Adjustment Layer with blending mode of "Soft Light" or "Overlay" to optimize contrast. Fine-tune with Opacity.

B.

1. Archive/save all of your work (as layered PSD files) to external drive and/or server
2. Go through all the images you have edited. 
3. Choose the strongest five, isolated, in-camera crop images. Preferably, they should be of different scenes/subject matter. (Total five files)
4. Also, locate the general initial "non-isolated" views you captured these subjects. (Total five files) These do not have to be edited.
5. Using Image Processor, create 1600 pixel PSD and JPG copies of these 10 files...three general views, plus their isolated, in-camera cropped views
6. In the drop box, under the folder for Assignment 1, create a folder with your last name
7. In this folder, create two subfolders called PSD, and JPG
8. Place your ten PSD files in the PSD folder, and JPG files in the JPG folder

Examples:

general

isolated

general

isolated

general

isolated

general

isolated

general

isolated

Exercise 1: In Camera Cropping

Due: Wednesday 1/20, bring files to class

The idea for his exercise is to practice seeing, in both a general and concentrated way. Photography is largely an art of selection. What happens when you get very specific about what you share with your camera? A photograph tends to be democratic...if its in the frame, it counts! Include too much and the viewer might not know what is important. A good practice is to isolate exactly what you wish to share...no more, no less. Build emphasis into the photograph through framing, or in-camera cropping.

Rules of the Game: 

• Natural light (window or outside)
• No flash (so please use plenty of light)
• Shoot JPEG (Large File, Highest Quality) or RAW
• Auto Exposure and Auto Focus is okay for now
• Shoot 50-100 images
• No camera phones (for now)—use a proper camera

Directions:

1. Look for unusual or surprising subjects that strike your eye as interesting. It really doesn't matter what the subject is, but how it looks. The subject could be a scene or landscape, an object or a person. Caveat: No pets, flowers, beer cans or cigarette stubs...be adventurous, seeking something exciting, original and/or unusual.
2. Make an initial picture of your subject 
3. In Camera Cropping. Get more specific or come closer in. What exactly grabbed your attention in the first place? Be very specific. Was it a detail? A shadow? A color? A facial expression? Isolate this specific thing by moving in closer to your subject, so that one specific thing  primarily appears in your frame, and little else. Make a picture of that.
4. Move on to your next subject

Examples:

general

isolated

general

isolated

Textbook and Supplies

Required equipment:

• Digital SLR or prosumer-level camera (point and shoot). 
• Memory card(s)
• Batteries and charger
• card-reader or USB tether*
• External hard-drive, jump drive or cloud-based storage to back up and transport work.

* It is preferable to use a card reader when downloading images from your camera. It’s faster and uses less battery power.

Textbook:

• Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age, 2nd Edition, Robert Hirsch.

Digital Inkjet Papers:

Choose one, two or all three...

• Epson Premium Luster Photo paper

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?N=10219807&InitialSearch=yes&sts=pi

• Epson Premium Glossy Photo paper

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?N=10254312&InitialSearch=yes&sts=pi

• Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte paper

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/203721-REG/Epson_S041341_Ultra_Premium_Presentation_Paper.html

Welcome

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