Monday, March 30, 2015

Clone Tool Exercise

Select a photo that you have taken and use the Clone Tool to manipulate the photo in some way. You may want to add items, or make them disappear. Post a before and after pic.

Photo-Retouching

Today we will work with a couple of tools to help improve minor imperfections in our photos.
Download the 2 photos below, retouch them, and upload the before and after pictures to your blog.



Use the Clone tool to remove the blemishes from the guy's face.
Here is a video to help you...



Use the Red Eye tool to correct the red eyes....


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Out of Class Assignment - Environmental Portrait

An Environmental Portrait is a personal portrait the you take of someone "on location", or in a setting where they live, work, rest, or play.

According to the website digital-photography-school, environmental portraits:

  • give context to the subject you’re photographing
  • give points of interest to shots (something you need to watch as you don’t want to distract from your subject too much)
  • help your subject relax
  • often give the viewer of your shots real insight into the personality and lifestyle of your subject


Your assignment is to take a portrait of someone in thier environment. You can use any camera, and do not need to keep track of exposure settings. The main point is to be creative as you take the portrait.

Here are some examples of this style of photography:


Valery Mosley

Ami Vitale

Lauren Greenfield

W. Eugene Smith

AP Images Critique

Today you will choose a photo from AP Images to critique. Follow the example below to do your critique.

1. Use the Snipping tool to upload the photo to your blog.

2. Add the link from the AP site to your blog.


3. Paste the description of the photo from the AP site to your blog.
Description: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men pray ahead of the Jewish New Year at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. Israelis happily welcomed the Jewish New Year late Wednesday despite uncertainty and turmoil brewing on both its northern and southern borders. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)


4. Answer the following:


  • Who was the photographer?
  • What country and city was the photo taken in?
  • What event was photographed?
  • Describe the event that was photographed.
  • Why is the event newsworthy? Why is it important to us?


5. Write a Critique. Use the Critique Guide in the link above.

Upload Adjustment Layers - Desaturate - Levels

Upload your Adjustment Layers work from last class.

The original color version
The Desaturated version (Black and White)
The Levels adjusted version





Friday, March 20, 2015

Assignment - Hue/Saturation and Levels Adjustment Layers


Post your examples of your work with Photoshop Adjustment layers. See the examples below to help guide you:


 Here is my original color image





















Here is the Desaturated (BW) Image
























Here is the image adjusted for levels. 
Shadows 21, Midtones .91, highlights 231





















Levesls adjusted toward the shadows

Shadows 156, Midtones .81, Highlights 171






















Levels adjusted towards highlights
shadows 15, Midtones .16, Highlights 65




Photoshop - Adjustment layers

Today I will demonstrate how to use Photoshop Adjustment Layers.

We will practice the following in class:

  • Convert a picture from Color to Black and White using the Hue/Contrast Adjustment layer
  • Adjust Levels using the Levels Adjustment layer
Creating adjustment layers

Do one of the following:
For Hue-Saturation (Converts to Black and White)

1. Click the New Adjustment Layer button  at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Hue/Saturation

2. Move the Saturation slider all the way to the left

3. Click ok

Here is a video showing how to do it.

For Levels (Adjusts Contrast in your picture)

1. Click the New Adjustment Layer button  at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Levels

2. Move the Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights Sliders to adjust the range of contrast in your image

3. Click ok

Here is a video showing how to do it.

This link will take you to a description of using Levels in Photoshop. The photo in the example is in color but it works the same in black and white.

We will try this for ourselves in class and post the results on our blog Friday.