Project: A web gallery

Continued...

I have looked at a number of photogrpahers' websites and it's been a really good learning experience. My observations:

1. I was shocked to see that a number of 'not so well' designed websites  seems to be much higher than a number of well-desinged and well-presented websites.
2. Some companies provide domain hosting and website development services specifically to photographers but I've noted with regret that many websites that they produce look very similar (probably because they keep using the same templates over and over again).
3. It's important to think of who the website is for (who is the customer), who will be using the website and for what purpose before committing to anything. It's also helpful to try and imagine yourself being this customer/ end user and try to re-create their experience. Testing an idea of a website or a pilot website on people that might be the customers in the future, might be useful. Their feedback might change the way the site is developed and used.

Below are some websites that I've looked at this week:

This website offers a lot of good pictures, carefully catalogued into separate folders. The person who created the site was quite methodical but I found the number of images included was just too overwhelming for me - I did not know where to look and felt like in a big supermarket with too much choice. Maybe limiting the choice is not such a bad idea?

Project: A web gallery

A link to my portfolio of work displayed on the Royal Photographic Society's website:

http://www.rps.org/portfolio/6615-Anna-Allen/

My flickr photostream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63191587@N07/sets/

Project: A web gallery

Learning points:

At this stage I am not yet ready to create a website but the leaning points from this exercise will help me to develop one that displays my work in the best possible ways.

It is possible to generate web galleries and contact sheets in Photoshop and Lightroom. I practiced generating web galleries in both programmes and found the whole process easy and intuitive. The web gallery output has two main functions: it is used to select the images that will be displayed online and also for generating the HTML codes that will be necessary for building the website. There are many output options available now, including one for Bridge. 

The web gallery converts all colour modes into sRGB so there is no need to worry about changing the colour modes. There is no need to resize each image to the viewing size either as this could be done automatically. It is easy enough to change the position / the order of the images by just dragging them to a new location. 

Real or fake: continued...

Skills and learning

This exercise gave me an opportunity to practice the whole range of selection and adjustment tools available in Photoshop. It also helped me to practice and further develop my workflow that I designed in the assignment one.

Through this assignments and the Part 4 exercises, I‘ve learnt to use the clone stamp tool more effectively and I also experimented with brushes of various hardness and size.

I was also able to practice removing and adding an object, as well as altering or replacing the background.

Real or fake: continued...

Techniques considered and used

For the exercise I selected:

1)     Two long-exposure images of passengers waiting for a train at a train station.

2)    Two separate images of CCTV cameras taken on a bright day against a blue sky background

I started by thinking about the positioning of the elements on the cover sheet. I decided that the best place for the book title will be at the upper part of the cover (I will need to leave some space for it). The author’s name might be best placed at the bottom of the cover sheet. I wanted to place my two images of the CCTV cameras against the blue sky at the top corners of the cover sheet – to make an impression of the cameras overlooking the scene.  The torn/ distorted paper will be at the central part of the sheet, between the cameras.

I considered using  the following tools and techniques for this assignment:

Real or fake: continued...

Ethical considerations

This assignment raises the dilemma between using some altered content and only including true unaltered images. In doing so, it raises the question about the validity and ‘truthfulness’ of an image that has been altered.

On the basis of the previously completed exercises, my view is that the answer will depend on the circumstances of an individual assignment and the use of the image. My personal preference is to keep the image adjustments and corrections to the minimum where possible; however, this often depends on the assignment and how well it is possible to convey the key message without altering the image content. In some circumstances it might be necessary to make some changes to the image.

Drawing inspiration from Maurizio Cattelan

A retrospective of Maurizio Cattelan's work  at the Guggenheim Museum is trully inspiring! I had a similar idea for a photographic installation so his work seems close to my own yet unrealised ideas.

Real or fake: continued...

Continued...

Reviews
It was helpful to look up some book reviews online. These reviews convinced me to look beyond the main plot of the book and explore the Power and Control relationships unpacked by the novel.
I found one of the reviews from a book club particularly encouraging. “This novel has so many layers that our group was able to have its longest-running discussion over what has been our shortest selection to date. There’s women’s lib, race relations, man versus the Man, man versus machine, what it means to be crazy, treatment of the mentally incompetent, and much, much more.”

Real or fake?

My chosen task for this assignment is to design a front cover for the ‘One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest’ novel by Ken Kesey.

There were many reasons as to why I selected Ken Kesey’s book at my topic for this assignment. Firstly, I wanted to take part in the real book cover competition and, after a brief research on the internet, I found out about the competition to design the cover for this novel. Unfortunately the competition was aiming specifically at design students and the entry level was set higher than a foundation degree. Despite that, I decided to take up the challenge and have a go at designing this book cover although I knew I would not be able to submit it for the competition.   

Sharpening: lessons learnt

I printed out all four final images and compared the results with the respective images on the monitor screen.

The image that was sharpened using Martin Evening’s technique, came out very well – in fact, the best out of all four images that I printed.  The image 3 that I expected to be too sharp, was not as harsh as the same image on my computer monitor. I noticed that the threshold setting is really important to get right in portraiture to make sure that the skin remains smooth (unless a rough effect is required).

Original image

Sharpened Image 1

Sharpened Image 2

Sharpened Image 3

Sharpened Image 4 (Martin Evening's method)

Lessons learnt from this exercise:

This exercise demonstrated that it is very hard to estimate how much sharpening would need to be applied just from looking at the image displayed on the monitor.

To my surprise, the sharpening that looks harsh on the screen, does not appear as harsh when the image is printed out.

I’ve learnt that the image viewed on the monitor at 100%, is likely to look too sharp on the screen but would come out just fine when printed out.

The amount of sharpening applied to an image depends on the specification of the printer, the type of paper used for printing and the output resolution applied to an image.  

Amazingly, the maximum amount of sharpening adjustment that could be applied in Photoshop (Unsharp Mask) is not 100% but 500%!

Images that are printed at a higher resolution, are likely to need a higher pixel radius sharpening.

I ‘ve learnt to use the Unsharp Mask more effectively and was able to further develop my digital workflow.

The more you practice, the more you learn! 

 

Sharpening: trying Martin Evening’s method

Continued...

I also decided to try the method offered in Martin Evening’s “Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers” manual (pp. 614-615).

The images below shows the steps I followed for this exercise.

Picture 7: Step 1: Unsharp Mask Settings: A 320, R 0.6. T 4

Sharpening: continued

Continued...

It is always challenging to know where to start with sharpening unless you have some practical experience. I usually start looking at the values around Amount 100, Radius 0.8 and Threshold 6 for portraits. It’s also important to experiment!

So, let’s practice.

Picture 4: A100; R0.9, T6

Sharpening for print

Sharpening is the tool that everyone seems familiar with – at least to a degree. We looked at the noise reduction techniques earlier in this course and now it’s the time to consider how to maximise the look of the final image. Today I am looking at how to achieve the best results from sharpening for print.

For this exercise I am using a portrait image. I first open it in Photoshop and after a slight tonal adjustment; I am ready to start working on sharpening.

There are many tools in Photoshop that would allow to perform some sharpening adjustments. It is important to remember that some sharpening can be done with Camera Raw and Adobe Lightroom. However, we are now at the final stage of the process and, as we are getting ready to print out the final image, the sharpening adjustments might be quite specific and distinct from the noise reduction techniques used at the beginning of the digital workflow.

To start my exercise, I am going to open the file in Photoshop and go straight to Filter – Sharpen – Unsharp Mask. The Sharpen section contains more than one tool; these tools are: Sharpen; Sharpen More; Sharpen Edges; Smart Sharpen, and Unsharp Mask.  My usual preference is to use the Unsharp Mask tool. It seems to offer a wider range of controls than the first three tools mentioned here. Smart Sharpen filter has two modes: basic and advanced. The Advanced mode is useful, for example, when there is a need to sharpen the shadow and highlight detail differently. However, there are similarities between the Unsharp Mask and the Smart Sharpen filter. The latter also is likely to work slower so I usually prefer to use the Unsharp Mask.  

Picture 1: Unsharp Mask controls

Alteration: now you see it, now you don't!

Finally,

the final image

Alteration: now you see it, now you don't!

Continued...

I started with using a larger size of the brush, gradually moving to smaller sizes to deal with small details and edges.

I usually work on a 50 to 100% enlargement of an image to help see small details – it is amazing how much detail can be missed when working on an image without the enlargement.

  

Picture 4: Using the Clone Stamp Tool to remove the figure

Alteration

It’s probably true that for many people the clone stamp tool becomes the first introduction to Photoshop - this might be because the first task that many people try to do when start using Photoshop is often about removing an unwanted object or a person from an image.

My task for today is to make alterations to an image shot at Peterhouse in Cambridge. The image was shot in the late October afternoon and aimed to capture the atmospheric moment and the quality of light passing through the arch and reflecting on the masonry. I had to be very quick to catch the light as the sun was about to hide behind a cloud. I wanted to have a picture without any people in the frame but I could not risk waiting for the young woman to pass outside the imaginary boundary of my picture. I took a shot noting that I would probably need to remove the figure in Photoshop at later stage.

Today I am going to do just that – to remove the figure of a young woman that happened to be in the shot at that moment of time. Below is the original image displayed in Photoshop.

I used the Blur tool to soften the face features to protect identity of the person.  

Picture 1: Original image displayed in Photoshop

Addition

Continued...

Final image

Addition

Continued...

For my final image, I used the sky from a different image to enhance my image of the abbey altar. I wanted to try a blue sky with just a hint of a cloud in this image to see if it complements the idea of this picture. Below is my original image.  

Picture 16: Original image before adjustments

I first selected the area of the sky in the main original image. I saved the selection. I then pasted the sky from the desert scene into the original image.

Addition

Continued...

Final image

Addition

Continued...

Picture 11: Dropping in the sky

Picture 12: Lightening selection before joining the two parts of the new image

Addition

Continued...

For the second part of this exercise, I chose an image of this desert scene and decided to combine two different versions of it (one exposed for the sky and the other exposed for the foreground) using Photomatix. I like Photomatix and use it occasionally though my personal preference remains with performing a manual conversion in Photoshop.

Picture 9: Two images combined in Photomatix – version one

Picture 10: Two images combined in Photomatix – version two

The conversion in Photomatix was easy to manage but I was not too satisfied with the outcome.  I think that the sky is still slightly overexposed and I decided to use this image to practice dropping the sky in.

I followed the process used with the first two images though I had to use some extra steps to combine these two images. These extra steps were:

1)    Making multiple selections (lighter foreground rocks; then darker rocks at the back of the image; the sky)

2)    Using Select / Deselect function to define the area to be moved

3)    Using eraser, Blur, Dodge and Burn tools to adjust the tone, the edges and the shape of the cut-out

4)    Using eraser to join and burn/dodge tools to join the two parts of the new image

5)    Using Ctrl function to move parts of the image around

6)    Using the Curves tool to adjust the tonal range of the selection.

Addition

Continued...

Final image

A quote for the day: William Albert Allard

I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don't find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges. 
William Albert Allard, "The Photographic Essay"

Addition

For my first image I selected this scene of Scottish highlands. Two shots were made – one exposed for the sky and the other for the foreground. My aim was to combine these two images in Photoshop, replacing the sky in the image with properly exposed foreground.

Picture 1: Two images are saved as separate layers.

I started by copying the lighter image onto the darker image. I used the quick selection tool to define the area of the sky. I then used the Eraser tool to erase the overexposed sky in the top image. I used the clone stamp tool to remove some dust specks. Finally I flatten the layers and saved the image on the drive. The sequence below demonstrates the process that I followed.

Addition

Is there anyone in Britain who is involved in photography and does not wish that we have more blue sky days?

There is a good reason as to why British people seem obsessed with the weather forecast and often pass time in conversations about the weather. I am sure every photographer is aware of this reason. Bad weather, dull weather, grey sky and flat light are the likely obstacles for anyone trying to snatch a nice and bright shot of the beautiful British countryside.

A modern digital darkroom offers some solutions to this problem. As the solution is associated with adding an element (blue sky) to an image, I believe that this requires some careful thinking about the ethics of digital manipulation and how far can it go before the image loses its integrity.

Nevertheless, this time I geared up to practice adding (or ‘dropping’ as most photographer would put it) the blue sky to some of my images. Whilst I intend this exercise to be a session to practice some ‘digital manipulation’ skills , my personal preference remains with having patience and waiting for the blue sky to appear for real. Nothing is more beautiful than the blue sky in England when it finally arrives!

Enhancement

Finally...

For my final image, I combined the two approaches and made some adjustments to the face and the eyes. Finally, I adjusted the tonal range slightly. I used the Blur tool to work on the background. I used the clone stamp tool to take out some blemishes and specks of dust from the face and the clothes. I then used the clone stamp and blur tools to lessen the look of the laughter lines around the eyes. The final image is below.

Are these adjustments legitimate and realistic?

I think that lightening the face for visibility is a valid and necessary adjustment and I don’t think it means tampering with reality.

Adjusting the tone range of the image, including taking out or reducing any colour cast, is acceptable.

Removing any dust specks (particularly those that are sitting on the lens rather than the subject / object photographed) could be necessary and it does not usually undermine the truthfulness of the image.

When it comes to removing any blemishes, skin defects and wrinkles, adjusting eyes colour or similar drastic changes, the integrity of the image can be compromised. I believe that these adjustments need to be used with caution and only when appropriate. Before these enhancements are considered, follow this simple good practice check and ask yourself:

1)    What is the rationale behind making these adjustments and why are they needed?

2)    Is the reason strong enough to justify compromising the truth?

3)    What is the smallest level of enhancement that the image requires?

A quote for the day: Ansel Adams

“There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept.” Ansel Adams

Enhancement

Continued...

For the second part of this exercise, I made a smaller selection (the pupils and the irises of both eyes) to experiment and make enhancements. First, I played with the colour palette to select various colours. Having settled on two different colours for the eyes of my imaginary person, I made two different versions of the image.  

Enhancement

Continued...

I started by making a selection of the face to make some enhancement. The idea is to make some gentle adjustments to draw attention to the face, without it looking unnatural.

I decided to use a quick selection tool as the face is lighter than the surroundings. The original selection included some of the background near the top of the image – this happened because the tonal range of the background is similar to the average tone of the face. I used the Alt- function to deselect the extra background area.

Picture 1: Image before adjustments

Enhancement

Digital image enhancement has received a lot of negative publicity over the last few years. It seems that after the initial period of fascination and excitement about almost limitless possibilities of the modern digital editing software, general public started getting weary of the unnatural looking images that flooded the marketing scene. Reading people’s letters and comments posted online and in magazines, it’s easy to pick up a sense of a backlash against the spotless and perfect –looking images that are often used in advertising and fashion photography.

However, not all images that look realistic can claim to be untouched by the ‘brush’ of a photo editing software (remember, some adjustments actually take place inside the photographic camera and well before the image is transferred to a computer). Also, sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the images that are real and are presented without any enhancement from those that have been enhanced. Obviously, there is only so far one can take an image before it starts looking unreal. Hence, there is even some terminology (often used in derogatory way) that emerged around the photo editing process: people talk about imaged being ‘airbrushed’, ‘manipulated’ and appear ‘artificial’.  

The question is: where is the borderline?

I’ve selected this head and shoulder portrait for this exercise and I am setting out to explore this borderline and to find answers.

How much is too much and what level of enhancement is legitimate and natural? Let’s find out!  

Improvement or interpretation?

Continued....The modern editing software makes it remarkably easy to adjust and alter photographic images. But how legitimate and valid are these adjustments?

Picture 4: Adjusting the image using the Curves tool

I then made adjustments using the Curves tool. The key focus for this work was on the face of the young man which happened to be in the shadow area. I wanted to bring back to light his face expression which I noticed whilst taking this picture.

Improvement or interpretation?

The modern editing software makes it remarkably easy to adjust and alter photographic images. But how legitimate and valid are these adjustments?

This exercise was not only a helpful opportunity to practice the range of selection and adjustment tools available in Photoshop, but it also raised questions on the limits of a legitimate digital adjustment. What kind of adjustment could be considered legitimate and when does it reach the limit of a true representation of the image? What is the difference between an improvement and interpretation?  And how far is photographer able to go when adjusting a photographic image?  

For the exercise I selected an image of a young man photographed in Marrakesh.  The strong shadows surrounding the young man attracted me to this street scene. The downside of this particular angle was that the face of the man was also in the shadow area. I set myself a task of making the adjustments to the image without compromising the truthfulness of the scene.  

I started by selecting the image of the young man using a Quick selection tool (Adobe Photoshop). This was relatively easy as the image of the young man was quite consistent in terms of shadows and highlights.

Picture 1: Image before adjustments

Exercise: Corrections

Removing dust specks: image 3

This image shows two objects in the sky area that might represent a distraction: a hair that was probably on the camera lens and a plane in the sky.

This raises an interesting ethical dilemma - whilst it seems right to remove the hair (as an object that was not part of the image), is it ethical to remove the plane that was at the time part of the image. My view is that the answer might depend on the circumstances and the use of the image. I generally think that image adjustments and corrections should be kept to the minimum; however, in some circumstances it might be necessary to make changes to the image.

The plane in this instance is not a permanent feature of the image: it would have been possible to wait for the plane to reach the edge of the image before taking the picture.   

Pictures 7 and 8: Image 3 showing a hair on the lens and a plane

Exercise: Corrections

Picture 4: Final image after adjustment

Image 2 represents more of a challenge in terms of corrections: the hair is still clearly visible and is now superimposed on the tower. The intricate detail of the tower’s brickwork makes it harder to make adjustments. For this correction I considered using a healing brush and a clone stamp tool. Comparing these two tools, I decided in favour of the clone stamp tool.

Exercise: Corrections

Second set of images: Dust specks  

Picture 1: Image 1 before adjustments

 

This picture has some smaller specks of dust as well as a large, clearly visible, curled hair in the area of the sky, to the left of the tower.

Exercise: Corrections

 

Picture 5: Final image after the adjustments

The final image shows no visible traces of flare and, for this particular picture, the final image without the flare is defintely an improvement. I really liked the approach recommended in the assignment manual and found it easy to use. I will definitely use it in the future. I’ve learnt more about the clone tool and I am going to explore it more in the coming months.

Exercise: Corrections

Whilst flare could be a nusance in some images, it can also be used creatively in others. Flare could be very helpful in recreating the ‘whole experience’

Exercise: Corrections

This exercise looks at the corrections applied to digital images, in particular removing dust shadows and lens flare. It also brings up questions about the validity and ‘truthfulness’ of an image that has been altered.

Lars TUNBJÖRK

Beautiful humorous images by Lars TUNBJÖRK at Amador Gallery http://bit.ly/tsQVQ8

Taking inspiration from Vanessa Winship, the Winner of the HCB Award 2011

Winner of the HCB Award 2011:  Vanessa WINSHIP
I really like Vanessa Winship's work. Her photograph of two boys, superimposed on an image of what look like a backyard, is my favorite. Amazing how an accident could become a real winner!
HCB seems a great opportunity as it offers a real chance to a talanted photographer, it buys the most precious commodity in this life - time.
Here is the info about the HCB award as described on their website: Presented by the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, the HCB Award is a prize to stimulate a photographer’s creativity by offering the opportunity to carry out a project that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.
It is intended for a photographer who have already completed a significant body of work, a talented photographer in the emerging phase of his or her career, with an approach close to that of documentary. The prize is of 30 000 Euros and is awarded every other year.
Eighteen months after the reception of the prize, the winner will have an exhibition of his work at the Fondation HCB in Paris and a catalogue will be published.
http://www.henricartierbresson.org/prix/home_en.htm

Quote for the day: Friederich Nietzsche on interpretation

There are no moral phenomena at all, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Some more reflections on Assignment 3: quotes, reading sources and images

Whilst working on the project I looked at the wide range of sources, mostly

philosophy and literature, for inspiration. Some helpful ideas were also found

in the classical and children’s literature, for example, ‘Moominland in Winter’

by Tove Jansson and ‘Dandelion Wine’ by Ray Bradbury. I also used

references from some photography-specific sources, such as Susan Sontag’s

“On photography”.

I looked at some images and work of other photographers (such as John

Blakemore) and painters though I tried not to spend too much time doing this

as it sometimes inhibits my own thought process.

Below is a selection of quotes that helped me to develop my ideas on the

theme.

The world remains ever the same.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

That though the radiance which was once so bright be now forever taken from

my sight. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendour in the grass,

glory in the flower. We will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains

behind.

William Wordsworth

After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and

so on - have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear -

what remains? Nature remains.

Walt Whitman

Quotes, reading sources and images

Theme of assignment: The remains of sunny days

Final reflections and lessons learnt

The final assignment provided a valuable opportunity to use all the skills that have been developed and improved through the previous three parts of the course, including the following:

-       Practice and polish my personal digital workflow

-       Look critically at how different formats perform at different lighting conditions and how the image quality is affected

-       Practice working with Raw and TIF files

-       Get to know the software better: Camera Raw, Adobe Photoshop and  Adobe Lightroom

-       Perform black point and white point adjustments

-       Make intuitive colour, tone, contrast and brightness adjustments

-       Convert colour images to back and white

-       Experiment, break the rules where needed, not being be afraid to go beyond manuals.

Ansel Admas described photography “as a powerful medium of expression and communications” that “offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution”. I feel very fortunate to have access to this wonderful media that helps me to live, experience and express my feelings, share my thoughts and ideas with others around me.

Theme of assignment: The remains of sunny days

The process

This section gives a brief overview of my work on the digital images of the theme.

I followed my digital workflow (developed in the assignment 1) to download, assess and select suitable images. All images were exposed well so there weren’t any rejects on technical grounds. All images were colour. I started working on black and white conversions at a later stage (see Image 2).

Image 1: Adobe Lightroom, Library Mode, Grid View of the collection

Image 2: Black and white conversions and selects as part of the main collection

At this stage, I started selecting images for my collection. I tried to make sure that the images ‘balance out’ against each other and convey all the messages that I wanted to communicate. I also wanted to keep some kind of connection running through the theme so needed different object to ‘talk’ to each other in some of the images (this is why I included the images where the roses share the frame with cabbages etc).

Theme of assignment: The remains of sunny days

Working on the process

There are no moral phenomena at all, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena.

Friedrich Nietzsche

From the brainstorming session, it became apparent that:

1)    Format and tone: black and white or ‘turned down’ cold tone would suit the theme. I thought that the most suitable tone would be a very light hint of pink/ magenta, possibly with a hint of green in leaves. I felt that the ‘cold tone’ format would not only help from the technical point of view but also from the conceptual – as pink/ magenta tones are often associated with summer, warmth and innocence.