Friday 8/10/12: Printing

The difficulty with color is to go beyond the fact that it's color – to have it be not just a colorful picture but really be a picture about something. It's difficult. So often color gets caught up in color, and it becomes merely decorative. Some photographers use [ it ] brilliantly to make visual statements combining color and content; otherwise it is empty. - Mary Ellen Mark, “Mary Ellen Mark: 25 Years” by Marianne Fulton, ISBN: 0821218387, Page: 5

"I realize more and more what it takes to be a really good photographer. You go in over your head, not just up to your neck." - Dorothea Lange 

"Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible." - Edwin Land

Color Checker Targets (from Mac-On-Campus):

Take a photograph of a color chart and use to set white balance to a neutral color temperature based on the lighting scenario you are shooting under.

Collapsible Reflectors:
Use "flex-fills" or "bounce cards" to fill the shadow areas of an image with additional light/exposure - very helpful for shadow side of portraits.


Adjusting for Color and Tone:

Levels/Curves and Camera Playback Histogram

Sharpening Handout - To be done right before printing!

Today we'll be talking about proper color management workflows and how to take an image from monitor to print with as much color accuracy as possible.

Colors on a monitor are displayed using a combination of RGB light, while printed colors are typically created using a combination of 4 inks CMYK.  Because the RGB and CMYK color models use different methods to display colors, each produces a different gamut, or range of colors. 

The color space for a device is defined by the gamut it can produce. And an ICC profile is a description of a device’s color space.  The profiles are used to help ICC systems communicate properly and translate your color gamut from device to device accurately.

Proper Color Management Workflow diagram:

Color Management Workflow:

STEP 1:  Calibrate your monitor

STEP 2:  Set up the Photoshop Color Management Environment

STEP 3:  Assign a Profile to the image

STEP 4:  Soft Proof your image on screen

STEP 5:  Print your Color-Managed image using ICC Printer Profiles

Below is a handout detailing the proper color management workflow steps for printing to an Epson inkjet printer. 

 

Great links for additional Color Management information:

Digital Photography Best Practices Workflow website

digitalphotopro.com magazine article

A wealth of color management related info can be found at www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm 

And further Epson Inkjet printing and color management instructions for older Photoshop versions, Lightroom, and Windows printing can be downloaded here: files.support.epson.com/pdf/r2880_/r2880_mc.pdf


The end of the class we will be visiting Beth Schiffer Digital Labs to make a Digital-C Print.

Beth has a new website highlighting her large print services.  Please check it out and share your business with her:  PrintBigPhoto.com

It has been an absolute pleasure teaching you during this intensive.  

I wish you all the best in your future endeavors! 

Project #4: Portraits

Project #4:  Portraits

Details:

To be shot in RAW file format and Manual Exposure Mode! 

 For this assignment, you are going to explore portrait photography!

As with any assignment, make the most interesting compositions you can!  Although it’s a technical assignment, you should still concentrate on making a beautiful photograph while illustrating the color temperature concepts.

Part A - Outdoor Portrait (3 total shots):

Experiment photographing fellow students...or maybe even complete strangers on the streets of NYC...or consider shooting a person doing a job in their work environment (called an Environmental or Industrial Portrait)!?  Basically, have fun using the tips and tricks I shared with you in class.  

A few tips and tricks to keep in mind:  

• Use a longer-than-normal focal length lens
• Make the person comfortable by casually chatting with them but still give them direction on expressions and positions
• Have your exposure, white balance, and composition close to final before asking them to pose

Part B – Indoor Portrait (3 total shots):             

          Window light is a very convenient source of light during the day and is excellent for portraits.  The closer your subject is to the window, the brighter the light will be.  Unless you want high contrast from direct sunlight coming through the window, it’s best to find a window with more diffused light coming in.  Also try experimenting with filling in the shadows a bit, whether you use direct or diffused light.  A white fill card, or reflector, positioned opposite the window can lighten shadows by “bouncing” the window light back into the darker side of the subjects face.   

          I want you to photograph a tight headshot inside using only a window as your source of daylight (no inside lights on!).  Shoot with at least a 1/60 or faster of a second shutter speed - so increase your ISO if necessary to achieve the depth of field you want.

A few tips and tricks to keep in mind:  

• Use a longer-than-normal focal length lens and stay level with the nose 
• While shooting, try to capture different expressions and remember that the subject’s eyes do not always have to be back at the camera   

 

Submit ALL 6 digital files to the class server next class.

Example File Naming = “A4_Name_A.CR2”

© Arnold Newman

© Richard Avedon

© Gregory Heisler

Nils Riedweg

© Andy Batt

© Baker

© Viktoria Sorochinkski

© Bruna Gustavo Marx

© Alena Zhadarova

Thursday 8/9/12: Raw Processing + Curves

"A technically perfect photograph can be the world’s most boring picture." - Andreas Feininger

"The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

"It’s not the photographer who makes the picture, but the person being photographed."  - Sebastiao Salgado

Processing a RAW file:

Movie explaining Adobe Camera Raw basics

0:00-1:47(Raw)  4:50-7:05(Tools/WB)  12-21(Exposure)  35:35-42:20(Sharpen)


Adjusting for Color and Tone:

Levels/Curves and Camera Playback Histogram

Replacing Color and Converting to B&W

Portraits - general tips and tricks:

• Set up shot beforehand if possible (find your background, composition, and exposure before asking the person to sit for you)
• Make the person comfortable - shoot casually and take breaks to chat
• Use a tripod (then you can peek above it to make eye contact and talk while still shooting) 
• Press shutter button half way to lock focus, or shoot on manual focus so you can more easily wait for the right expression 
• Use faster shutter speeds such as 1/125 to avoid motion
• Use longer lenses to avoid distortion (...but not too long which will put you too far from your subject!  85mm is a typical "portrait lens")
• Having the lens level with the face will help avoid distortion as well, but is not necessary  
• Try limited Depth of Field to have more concentration on the model and less focus on the background (or try Portrait Scene Mode)
• Use color to describe your subject's personality or add emotion
• No distracting elements in background (sign coming out of head!)
• Smiling is not necessary and may look fake or forced
• Eye contact is not always necessary for a good portrait
• Try window light
• Try bounce fill to lighten shadows
• Try Fill Flash
• Shoot in shade for more diffusion, or use diffusion between subject and the light
• Consider using a gray card to help with white balance when processing
• Shoot a LOT!  (closed eyes, open mouths, and bad expressions are inevitable)

Light Quality:

Direct Light: (like a sunny day)

• High in contrast
• Crisp shadows
• Saturated colors
• Needs less exposure
• Emphasizes texture (and dimension, especially when side lit!)

Diffused Light: (like a cloudy day)

• Low in contrast
• Subtle and soft or no shadows at all
• Muted colors
• Needs more exposure
• Softens texture (generally good for portraits!)

© Christopher Kim

© Simon Biswas

Rule of Thirds

Project #3: Color Temperatures

Project #3:  White Balance and Color Temperatures

Details:

To be shot in RAW file format and Manual Exposure Mode! 

*You may want to use higher Digital ISO settings, as well as a tripod.

 For this assignment, you are going to explore color temperatures using your digital camera as your tool.

As with any assignment, make the most interesting compositions you can!  Although it’s a technical assignment, you should still concentrate on making a beautiful photograph while illustrating the color temperature concepts.

Part A - Color Temperatures (4 total shots):

I would like you to shoot multiple subjects illuminated by light sources that each have their own unique color temperatures.  Please set your camera to the daylight white balance preset (the sun icon which presets your camera to around 5000K).  Then shoot at least 10 images lit by different types of light sources from fluorescent to tungsten to floodlamp to neon, etc.  Explore multiple light sources in the same shot to further understand the concepts of white balance.

Keep in mind that you may be shooting outdoors at night, dusk, dawn, or indoors in order to have a majority of your scene illuminated by artificial sources.  Therefore, I highly recommend shooting with a high ISO (so sensor is more sensitive to the light) and/or using a tripod (because you may be shooting with slow shutter speeds!).

Part B - White Balance Presets (4 total shots):

I would also like you to shoot the same exact daylight balanced photograph using at least 4 white balance presets.  Find a scene that is outdoors and lit by natural daylight.  Capture the same exact scene using auto, daylight, fluorescent, and incandescent white balance settings.  (If you would like to experiment with additional presets that your camera may have, go for it!).

Optional Part C - Time of Day (4 total shots):

To further illustrate the concepts of color temperature, you are going to shoot the same scene at different times of the day.  I want you to pick an outdoor landscape scene that you can go back to multiple times on the same exact day.  Shoot the same subject at least 4 times during the day ranging from early morning to late evening (concentrate on the "golden hours").  For example, shoot at 6am, 7am, 7pm, and 8pm.  Make sure you document what time of day your shots were captured at.

You are welcome to capture the same exact framing, or shoot a couple different angles of the same scene while you are there each time.  Be sure it is an interesting image though and be sure to bracket your exposures. 

Submit all 8 or 12 shots, labeled appropriately, to your student folder on the class network

© J Bryan Kramer

© Breun and Grega

© Elliott Kaufman

© Elliott Kaufman

Wednesday 8/8/12: White Balance

"..Why would anyone want to photograph an indisputably colourful world in monochrome? If colour film had been invented first, would anybody even contemplate photographing in black and white?” - Russell Miller , Magnum: Fifty Years at the Front Line of History by Russell Miller , ISBN: 0802116310 , Page: 4

"…the art is in selecting what is worthwhile to take the trouble of photographing…" - Berenice Abbott

Motion is controlled by these factors:

1.     Shutter Speed: 

Faster SS = Less Motion (Frozen)

Slower SS = More Motion (Blurred)

The longer the shutter stays open, the more motion will be shown in the image.  (Even if your subject is moving at a slow rate! – Remember, it’s how much of the image sensor plane is covered during exposure that shows motion.  So, with a shutter speed of 1 second and a person walking you will have just as much motion blur as a person running with a shutter speed of 1/30!).

2.     Focal length of lens:

Short FL (zoomed out) = Less Motion (Frozen)

Longer FL (zoomed in) = More Motion (Blurred)

3.     Subject distance: 

Far Subject = Less Motion (Frozen)

Closer Subject = More Motion (Blurred)

4.     Speed of Object:

Slower Speed = Less Motion (Frozen)

Faster Speed = More Motion (Blurred)

5.     Direction of Motion:

Moving towards lens (into camera) = Less Motion (Frozen)

Moving parallel with lens (across picture) = More Motion (Blurred)

The important factor is how much the image actually moves across the image sensor.  The more of the sensor that your image crosses while the shutter is open, the more the image will be blurred.

 

White Balance and Color Temperature

The color temperature of a light source is measured in degrees Kelvin and it describes its color exactly.  The lower the color temperature, the more “warm” red wavelengths are in the light.  Higher color temperatures have more “cool” blue wavelengths.

Cool = above 5500˚K (like shade at 6000˚K) 

Neutral = 5000-5500˚K (like midday daylight)

Warm = Below 5000˚K (like Tungsten at 3200˚K)    

In a digital camera, white balance is a setting that compensates for the differences in color temperature of the surrounding light. The white balance must be adjusted to ensure that all colors in the scene will be represented faithfully. It can be adjusted automatically by the camera or manually, by selecting presets (tungsten, fluorescent, etc.) or by aiming the lens at a totally white surface (the white card) and selecting "lock white balance." Alternatively, a gray card with 18% gray is sometimes used.

White Balance Presets and Color Temperature Scale 

 

Shot with Manual White Balance Settings.  Notice it's the opposite of what you would think - 3000˚K is Cool - It's more like adding a color filter to adjust for the color temperature the camera thinks it is capturing!

Project #2: D of F & Motion

Project #2:  Depth of Field and Motion

Details:  20 Digital Images (10 for each Part)

Shoot as Raw files, Auto WB, and in Manual Exposure Mode using your in-camera light meter to find the proper exposures for your scene and composition.
Shoot outside only during the day with an ISO of 100 to start with, but change ISO if necessary to achieve the desired exposure settings.  (If your SS is too slow, then increase your ISO!)

Part A - Depth of Field:  To illustrate the concepts of depth of field, choose a subject with a distinct foreground(s) and background(s). Always focus on just your foreground subject and do not change focus.  Then follow the below steps:

1. Set your lens at its widest aperture (lowest f-stop # such as f5.6 for less D of F) and a long zoom
2. Compose your photograph and focus on a foreground object that is no more than 5 feet away
3. Use your in-camera light meter to find the shutter speed for proper exposure, and shoot a frame
4. Now, close down your aperture at least 3 stops (to an f-stop such as f16 for greater D of F)
5. Compose the same exact shot as your first frame and focus again on the foreground object
6. Use your in-camera light meter to again find the proper exposure (you’ll have to use a slower SS!) and shoot another frame

Repeat this exercise with other subjects illustrating both limited and greater depth of field following the above steps.  Shoot different foreground subjects and compositions, for a total of 5 subjects (10 shots at the very least).

Part B - Motion (HW for NEXT WEEK!):  For the second half of the assignment, I want you to illustrate the concepts of motion.  Find a subject with motion and capture the same motion with both a slow shutter speed in one frame (to show blurred movement) and a fast shutter speed in another frame (to show a stopped, crisp action).

Try to find interesting subjects and compositions and make the most appealing photograph you can!  (In other words, cars driving down the road are not the most interesting subjects!).  Some better subject ideas include waterfalls or quick moving rivers, people moving (runners, children on swings, skateboarders).   Remember subject distance is important as well so do not have your main subject too far away from you - Fill the frame with the motion!  Follow the below steps:

1. Set your lens to 1/30s to capture blurred motion (or slower if you have a tripod)
2. Compose your photograph filling the frame with the motion and focus on the object
3. Use your in-camera light meter to find the aperture for proper exposure, and shoot a frame
4. Now, close down your shutter speed at least 3 stops to freeze motion (such as a SS of 1/250s)
5. Compose the same exact shot as your first frame and focus again on the foreground object
6. Use your in-camera light meter to again find the proper exposure (you’ll have to use a wider aperture!) and shoot another frame

Repeat this exercise with other subjects illustrating both blurred and frozen motion following the above steps.  Shoot different moving subjects and compositions, for a total of 5 subjects (10 shots at the very least). 

After downloading the images from your storage card, select your favorite matching Depth of Field and Motion shots.  Submit 4 images (Greater and Less DofF, Blurred and Frozen Motion of same subject) to the proper folder on the class network with your name somewhere in the title.

 (Ex = P2_Nobles_BlurredMotion.jpg)

Depth of Field

Motion

Tuesday 8/7/12: Bridge + Manual Exposure

" What use is having a great depth of field, if there is not an adequate depth of feeling?" - W. Eugene Smith

"Cartier-Bresson has said that photography seizes a 'decisive moment', that's true except that it shouldn't be taken too narrowly...does my picture of a cobweb in the rain represent a decisive moment? The exposure time was probably three or four minutes. That's a pretty long moment. I would say the decisive moment in that case was the moment in which I saw this thing and decided I wanted to photograph it." - Paul Strand 

Bridge

Adobe Bridge is an organizational software that comes bundled with Photoshop and the Adobe Creative Suite package.  Think of it as a more robust file browser...like a basic mac window that's been spiced up!  Among other things, Bridge allows you to rename and organize files, assign colored labels or star ratings to images, edit the embedded metadata, and output to a pdf or web gallery.  Image files can also be shown in different sized thumbnails, slide shows or lists - making it more advantageous than a basic mac window for photographers and designers.

Adobe Bridge Interface

File Formats

• PSD (.psd = Photoshop Document):  Good for layers, but large file size and can only be opened in PS.
• JPEG (.jpg = Joint Photographic Expert Group): Compresses photos into a smaller file size, but degrades photo quality.  Good for email or web and is recognized by almost all software programs.
• TIFF (.tif = Tagged Image File Format): Larger file size, but good image quality.  Best for printing.  Tiff file can be saved with or without layers and is recognized by many software programs.
• RAW (.raw/.cr2/.nef/... = Raw) = Most flexible file format for photographers since no data has been processed.  But you must process a file into a workable file format before using...which requires more skill and knowledge.

Saving Image Files Recap:

•  For Print = Tiff @ 300dpi
• For Web or Email = Jpeg @ 72dpi
• With Layers = PSD @ optimal resolution (usually 300dpi)

Great article explaining the differences in File Formats:

http://www.digitalphotopro.com/business/hi-tech-studio-file-format-decoder-ring.html

Manual Exposure Mode

Metering the light for proper exposure:

For more advanced digital cameras, when shooting in manual mode you will be setting both the aperture and shutter settings while using your in-camera light meter to give you a proper exposure.

Built-in light meters read the reflected light of your subject and give you an averaging of the scenes exposure.  To take an exposure reading, point the camera at your subject and while depressing the shutter button half way, look through the viewfinder for the light meter (or onto your lcd screen, depending on your camera).  With the aperture on any f-stop, inside the viewfinder, some cameras will give you a reading for the proper shutter speed that correlates with the set f-stop to give you a properly exposed scene.  For other cameras, there may simply be an under and overexposure scale as the light metering system.   Check your camera and determine which metering display you have.

In camera metering displays:

-Data panel:  Modern, digital read-out cameras.  Will show on LCD panel.

-Over/Under triangles or arrows: up and down lit triangles with center dot representing proper exposure when lit.  Found on a lot of digital panels.

-Through the viewfinder:  The set aperture is on the bottom and the proper shutter speed is selected with a small light dot next to a list of speeds.

-Over/Under panel.  -2…-1…0…+1…+2  Normal exposure is “0”

-Needle-centering display on older cameras.  Change Shutter and Aperture until needle is centers between over (+) and under exposure (-) for proper exposure.

One stop of exposure = either a doubling or a halving of the amount of light!

 Law of Reciprocity:  E = I x T (Exposure = Intensity x Time)

 Doubling I, means we have to half T  

1s@f8 = 2s(2x)@f11(.5x)  

Exposures are reciprocal – they yield the same density in your image.

f16@1/30  =  f11@1/60  =  f8@1/125  =  f5.6@1/250  =  f4@1/500

Depth of Field

When you focus a camera on an object, the distance between the lens and the image sensor is adjusted.  In theory, you can only focus on one single distance (the plane of critical focus) and the objects at other distances will be less sharp.  But, in most cases, part of the scene will be acceptably sharp both in front of and behind the most sharply focused plane.  The further an object is from the plane of focus, the more it will fall out of focus.  This region within which objects appear acceptably sharp is called the depth of field.

 

Depth of Field is controlled by these factors:

1.       Aperture size (lens opening):

Larger Aperture (Small f-stop #) = Less Depth of Field (Background more out of focus)

Smaller Aperture (Larger f-stop #) = More Depth of Field (Background more in focus)

2.       Focal length of lens:

Longer FL (zoomed in) = Less D of F

Short FL (zoomed out) = More D of F 

3.       Lens-to-Subject Distance (focus distance): 

Close Subject = Less D of F

Far Subject = More D of F

© http://regentphotograpy.spruz.com/

Project #1: Abstracts

Project #1: Abstracts

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. 

Digital Camera Settings Handout + others