Friday

Review the Photomontage Assignment write-up from Friday.
Create your background first.
Use only pictures that you have taken, and that are on your contact sheets that you handed in.  You will be marking the images that you use and handing in the contact sheets again with your finished composition.
If there is an image that you want....go take it...with your camera!

Great day to catch-up on back assignments:
-Camera Quiz
-Jerry Uelsmann assignment
-Mutant, rubric and back story
-Contact sheets, rubric

Due today: exercise #1 texture wrapping

Not sure what is missing?  Check skyward!  Don't like your current grade?  Figure out what needs to be done to change it!  Follow through and make it happen!  Email me if there are additions to the N drive folders :)

Progress reports will be created this coming weekend and PTV night is March 6 from 4:30 to 6:30.

Artists for inspiration...Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte

Also try looking up Juxtaposition and Surrealism

Starting Uelsmann

What do you find inspiring?

PLACEMENT.
Finding the perfect fit.
The way pieces fit together to produce some kind of peace within the viewing.  
It can also create excitement and suspense.
It can be beyond chaotic but within the constructed chaos we need to be able to find our

connection...
A place.

Like this photo.
Can we relate?  What do we feel, see, find within this image?
What makes a pieces work?

Look back at the photomontage examples.

Find inspiration within your images... if they don't inspire you then take more pictures that DO.  
Be sure to turn in a contact with any new images.

Jerry Uelsmann Assignment

Our assignment is to use images from your first shooting assignment and to create a

photographic collage using nothing except images from the actual contact sheets. You
will not be allowed to download or use any images from the Internet or another 
person’s creation. The work will be based on selected slides of Jerry Uelsmann from
the class presentation. I would like you to be able to master several important 
PhotoShop skills in this project including: layers, filters, transparency, 
scaling, rotating, distorting, feathering, and proper file preparation.

The first step is to analyze your contact sheet and look at all the items you have to 

work with. Many items are not meant to be used as a whole image, just as individual 

parts. Also look for an image to be used as a background. Many of you have some 

beautiful sunsets or other landscapes to use for this. I recommend some kind of 

land/sky or sky/water image that might look good “mirrored”.

Work out some sketches for some compositions. Remember that Uelsmann often 

used backgrounds and settings as the base environment in which several symbolic, 

often mysterious images, were place into the environment. Sometimes they are 

merely placed next to each other, sometimes blended together, often times floating 

(and creating realistic shadows). Use the rule of thirds, or other designed planning 

system. DO NOT JUST RANDOMLY PLACE OBJECTS ON THE CANVAS! You

should limit the number of large objects in your composition. Many objects could 

become small accessories or strange additions to the image. Remember to use 

unnatural size differences to create a sense of the surreal to the image. 

I have gotten you started with the file preparation and canvas creation.

Remember to constantly be aware of the symbolic or metaphor potential in all subject 

matter. Little in art is put into an image without it meaning something or to enhance

 the design of the piece (balance, unity, dominance, etc.).

Recap, Refresh, and Review

Recap, Refresh, and Review

Lets remind ourselves about yesterday.

Shadows are important.  Creating an interesting composition is vital!
Search for differences.  Work to find images that relate and compliment each other.

Ex1 due this friday... Save as a Tiff and in the N-drive folder.

Begin photomontaging.... with your own images and ideas.

Moving into Photo-montage Project

Moving into Photo-montage Project

I have updated in skyward with a few grades.
Mutants will be graded throughout this week, but if I was missing anything in the N-drive 
from you such as: the write up document or the PSD saved mutant that was recorded in
 skyward.....well.

We are going to begin working with a variety of ways to create a composition and work with

 layers that we have in our photo-montage to give us depth, variety, and interest.

Today we work on flipping/mirroring and opacity reminders.

Get on track with your photos.... they are what makes everyday in here worthwhile!

Due this week:
Contact Sheets: Monday
Exercise 1: Displacement: Friday

Due last week:
Mutant, rubric and story: Friday (lots of points!  Don't forget about it!)
Uelsmann Worksheet:  email to me now (include a copy of the picture you are analyzing)

**if you did not take the camera quiz please make that up TODAY.

Creating a Composition...

Creating a Composition...

requires resources.

If you don't have pictures to use.....

1.  You are late.... don't drop the ball!
2.  I have some images for you to borrow in the N-drive...

YAY!!!!

...but they cannot be used in your final!

Contact sheets need to be printed and edited with the rubric stapled to them. By Tomorrow 
any sheets received after this will be considered late, and will be worth 1/2 credit.

Please return your cameras.
Contact sheets & Rubrics due today.
Due Friday: Ex 1. Displacement Layers

I will be grading the Mutants all week.  SO grades will gradually appear.
The Uelsmann worksheet and the camera quiz have been graded and entered.  
If you are failing, you will be scheduled with me for ie at least once a week.  Check your schedule!

Totally Friday....

Totally Friday....

Real Artist ...Real World

Alexander

Check this out!!!

Petals

Today:

1. quiz

2. everything needs to be in

- uelsmann emailed

- mutant/story in n-drive
-printed mutant paper clipped to the rubric

3. contact sheets & rubric stapled by Monday

Your BIG Day!
Love this day!

Alright:
Today..... we are going to focus on images getting printed as contact sheets... we are
going to run through this today and tomorrow to get that down.

Uelsmann assignment should be completed and given to me or shared with me.

Mutant and Story are in the N-drive.
Mutant (with you name on the back) and Rubric printed and handed in to me today.

Lab fees need to be paid by Tomorrow.

Contact sheets will be due Monday from everyone unless
you have chatted with me....

Cameras must be return by Monday!

Saturday is the big GRADING DAY.. so make sure you are communicating with me
on where you are at or the goose eggs will begin appearing! ;)

Wednesday

Wednesday

Obligations:
$5 lab fee needs to be in by Friday!!!

Breakdown of today, Thursday and Friday:

Today: Work time. Study for camera quiz. Load pictures into your 'H' drive, if you have them.

Thursday: 

• Contact Sheet Printing Steps.  
• Uelsmann assignment Due by Friday-email to me.  
• Mutants( changed my mind) save the PSD and the Backstory in N-drive. 
• Title doc with your name and the assignment name.
• complete and print out the mutant rubric and the mutant jpeg turn in together.

Friday: Camera Quiz. Contact Sheets and Contact Sheet Rubric Printed and handed in.  
Lets get things pulled together

Photo-montage examples from yesterday

Camera Modes... And Photomontage examples

Camera Modes... And Photomontage examples

M: manual mode - being smarter than the camera and realizing that at times when our 

auto settings aren't working the way we would like them to that we are able to stop and 

manually control our camera....

          If my lens is struggling to find contrast in a shot, or focuses on the wrong thing, then

 it goes straight to manual. Most digital SLRs will even give you a audible or visual cue 

when you’re manually focused correctly. I try to avoid focusing on my subject center 

frame, and often try to manually keep my focus while re-framing in accordance with 

the rule of thirds. Trusting my auto focus has ruined more shots than I can count. Learn 

to trust your eyes.

A: aperture priority - or seen as Av: Aperture Value
       Start by looking at the available light and get an idea of what aperture range 

to look at. Lots of light means a broader range of choice. Second, think about the 

shot itself and what depth of field to want. If you want lots of detail at all depths, then 

I’ll drop it down as low as f22. If I want a soft background, with a refined range of 

focus, then I’ll open it up to f2.8 or larger. Sometimes you don’t have a lot of choice, so 

the wider (lower number) the better. That’s why lenses with apertures like a fixed f2.8 

are so expensive – because they’ll benefit you in low light. It’s also important to consider 

your subject – fast moving subjects will require lower apertures, so you can achieve 

faster shutter speeds

S: shutter priority - or seen as Tv: Time Value
The length of the exposure has huge bearing on the outcome of a shot. I start by looking 

at my subject and whether or not I want them sharp or blurred. Some subjects like city 

traffic benefit from long exposures, while others suffer. I try to stay at 1/60 of a second 

or faster when I’m shooting handheld, and use a tripod for slower exposures. Stillness 

varies from person to person, and image stabilizers will help. Fast subjects require fast 

shutter speeds.

These definitions and more explanation can be found here.

The variety of our camera modes can vary...
Lets check this site out!..... CAMERA MODES

Expectations: These will be a known for all of us in class.
Friday will be a BIG day for you.... HINT HINT HINT!!!
I am wanting you to know some of the main modes that we may be utilizing:
Macro... why you would use it.
Manual... why you would use it.
Shutter/Aperture... what they exactly are.
White Balance
Optical Zoom vs Digital Zoom
ISO... film speed

Resource the blog and the links available for you to study.
It is important for you to go and seek out information for yourselves... as much as 
I want to inform you on everything, you need to be able to read some material on
 your own so we can continue chuggin on in class...

Tutorials

Tutorials

For your first tutorial there are some images in the tutorial helper 

folder in the N-drive.  It is due by March 1st.
These images will correlate with the TEXTURE APPLICATION tut #2.
We also call this displacement.
This tutorial can also be found on your digital imaging tutorial tab... there 

are others... I give you options.
OH, THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CHOICES!

This is due 3/3/13.
Hopefully you are doing well with your first shooting assignment.  

Remember to bring them in as soon as possible, but no later than Monday.  They
can be brought in using either a flash drive, memory card or disk.

These pictures will be used on your next project.  All the images used for your next 

assignment will be taken by YOU!.  And ONLY you :)

Equipment waivers!
Lab Fee.

NOW.....

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

JERRY!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Jerry Uelsmann.

Worksheet found in N-drive.

Get It Done.

Will be done online and can be saved in your 'H' drive, and emailed to me.

Uelsmann Inspiration

Tired of Talking

THE digital camera

THE digital camera

The Ins and Outs of the Digital Camera...

A general introduction.
-go to the 'N' drive reference guides folder
-read camera function 1
-read camera functions-1

A knowledge based deep enough for you to utilize
what is necessary in order 
to take quality pictures that will be manipulated/distorted/controlled in PS.

 And the camera...

Monday we will get to.... A/S/P/M and some of the personalized settings

BUT TODAY...

Aside from the dial you may find these symbols together:

Macro- flower

Landscape- mountain

MF- manual focus

The macro mode will be used for close-ups.

These close-ups can be anything within 10cm.

Say we are taking pictures of a flower.

When you start to use macro mode you'll notice a few things. First 

it's harder to focus. Your camera may struggle especially when 

you've just taken a shot at infinity, because the focusing system 

has to work out that the really blurred object is actually what you 

want to shoot. This is worse when you've moved too close and the 

camera then couldn't focus on the subject even if it wanted to. So 

don't expect to see a bee and get an instant shot before it buzzes 

off. In such instances it's safer to focus up on another similar distance 

subject such as your hand close up or nearby flower then at least 

you'll have the camera prepared. Also the amount of focus is 

reduced, so when you look at a flower the front petals may be in focus, 

but the back won't be. This is known as depth-of-field. The more of the 

subject that's in focus, the greater the depth-of-field. Depth-of-field 

is controlled by the camera's aperture. Most digital cameras are fully 

automatic and you cannot change this. If your camera has an 

aperture-priority mode (look at the dial above.. does yours have 

this?) you can switch to that and select a smaller aperture, and 

on many cameras you'll notice the LCD view change so that the subject 

appears sharper from front to back. 

Go to these links and read about the following topics:

Optical vs Digital

Shutter Speed

White Balance

Film Speed

Aperture

Shutter Speed

What happens when you take a picture

White Balance

SHOOTING assignment!

In the 'N' Drive under Jerry Uelsmann.  Print it out and be ready to go!

What you are shooting.... TAKE NOTES on your sheet.
Pretty well laid out for you.
This is what you will be graded on... did you follow through with all the images?  you need
 variety... and variety we will get! White balance?  You should be adjusting as needed.

P.S.  I LOVE YOUR MUTANTS!!!  Can't wait to read their stories!  Everything, Mutant, story
and rubric, is due February 21, 2014.

Backgrounds, Burn Dodge & some Creative Writing

Lets talk a little bit about our burn and dodge tools:
Burn~ darkening edges and shadowing
Dodge~ lightening areas and highlighting
Gradient~any color gradient can be made over a image

Creative Writing:
Story for Mutante.
A bit yes, is this normal and will this happen on a consistent basis, no.
You are going to be writing a short story about your mutant.
Story should include an introduction, body, and conclusion paragraph.
Simple.
Be dramatic, simple, or totally off the wall.

Work day.

Tomorrow starts tutorial intros and be ready for our first photo shoot assignment!!!  

This will begin this week so you have the weekend to work!

COMPOSITION!

COMPOSITION!

Composition...is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or 

ingredients in a work of art

Lets analyze a few examples.

WE ARE LOOKING AT INTERESTING PEOPLE.

S-Curve.

Rule of Thirds.

Perspective. 

Forced Perspective...

Now. Lets make some Magic... happen.

Happy Friday!

Work on...

• Your mutant-use adjustments to help with your blending.  The cloning stamp can be very helpful as well.
• Start thinking about a background for our Mutant. 
• This could be a photo of your own or photo from the net (this time only).
• We'll talk composition on Monday.
• You will be writing a backstory of image, so start thinking about it.

Perfectly Timed Photos-these are really worth checking out!

In case you missed it... Here is to growing things in the garden of our minds!

Thursday

a few more tools.... and some work time.

Today is a day to look into a few other tools for the moment...

AND to them JUST have the HouR to WORK!!

Take advantage of this time.  I am here to help.. SO LET ME KNOW!

Monday we talk about composition and background.

Wednesday

Copyright Quiz
This was due last Friday.  It will be graded by Friday of this week.  Did you turn it in?  If not, it will be only worth 50% credit if it is turn-in after I grade them.
New student?  Look in the 'N' drive for this quiz.  Save a copy into a digital folder in your 'H' drive.  Go back to the January 30th post to find the link to the reading for this quiz.

Waivers and Lab Fee
Please turn this in ASAP.  Poor memory?  Use your planner.

Mutants & File Types

Photoshop is an image processing program.
It is also considered a pixel management system.
Meaning: it is going to give each pixel an assignment... If you zoom in 
really close you will see the individual pixels.  Photoshop tells the pixels 
what to do and controls the pixels.

It is also a file management organizing system.
We are able to save the works you produce in Photoshop as various file 
types that correlate with what you are planning on doing with the production.

Save As:
-file name / -format

4 main formats:
1.  Photoshop  (PSD/PDD)
This is a native format to adobe photoshop.. while you are working in
 class you will be saving under this format.
2.  Jpeg
DON'T save as a jpeg while working.
Jpegs are compressed files.. meaning it will have information thrown out
 overtime.  This continuation of the file will lead to a production that no
 longer holds its clarity and value.
You will use a jpeg file format when wanting to have easy and quick 
uploads... emailing/facebook.
Use only when completed and Saved As: to have a copy.
3.  Photoshop PDF (portable document file)
This is the format to use to send your productions to staples, photobucket, 
walgreens... online printing sites.
These companies can open the file but they will not be able to alter or change
 the picture & this format is not compressed.
This format is a bigger file but it gives you the best printing!
4.  TIFF  (tag image file format)
This is also a portable, uncompressed format that allows you to get all the data.
They are good for transferring a picture done on an older photoshop program 
or if using photoshop elements.
This format also works well with pagemaker & printshops for brochures.

There are so many others... but for our specific use: This is enough for you. ;)

Lets talk more tools and Mutants.
-write-up of the assignment is in the 'N' drive for you.
-healing tools reference

MUTANTS....

MUTANTS....

Confused?  Maybe, but it isn't helpful to discuss something you may not have tried.

Lets build your background knowledge and start getting acquainted 

with PHOTOSHOP!

Starting and SAVING.  While building your piece, always save as a PSD (PhotoShopDocument).
SUPER important.

Tools: the beginning.
Selection Tools.  Feathering adjustments.  Move tool.

Other tools:

adjustments: Levels in particular

cloning
These help you build your layers and your Mutant.

In case you were wondering:

Mutant defined as 1. An individual, organism, or new genetic character arising or 

resulting from mutation

-freedictionary.com

Practice copying and flipping with a new pair of pictures.

Practice saving this document.

Remember that related layers such as the eyes can be merged once the placement is set.