Digital Photography and Imaging / Exercises

6.4.2023 - 15.6.2023 (Week 1 - Week 11)
Elysa Wee Qi En / 0355060 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Digital Photography and Imaging
Exercises

LECTURES

Week 2 / Introduction to Photoshop

Learnt about the various tools in Photoshop - there are different variations of certain tools in 'toolboxes' that expand when you click and hold on an icon with a highlighted corner in the tool bar on the left side of the screen.

Marquee tool - click and drag to select a part of the image in a shape
Lasso tool - basically a freehand marquee tool 
    - Polygonal lasso tool: only draws straight lines
    - Magnetic lasso tool: automatically sticks to the edges/ outlines that are detected

The pen tool can also be used to create paths, as it gives more control. Unlike the marquee tool that has a fixed shape or the lasso tool that follows the mouse path, the pen tool allows you to adjust the points and handles individually and even after drawing. 

Layers - gives more control in arranging elements

Week 4 / Introduction to Basic Composition

Design Principles
Focal point - A key element for a good composition. Brings the viewers' eyes to the most important pieces of the design first. 

Scale and hierarchy - Scale helps in establishing hierarchy by drawing the viewers' eyes to and away from parts of the design, making them more or less significant.

Balance - Imagining that every element in the design has a 'weight'. This way, creating an asymmetrical balance is easier. 

White space - The negative or empty space in a design that doesn't have any elements in it. Used to balance the main focus of the composition and help the design seem less busy and make it easier to look at or decipher.

Rule of Thirds
The process of dividing the image into a 3x3 grid with two horizontal and two vertical lines, making 9 'boxes' and four intersection points. 

Positioning key elements of the design on these intersection points can help make the image look more natural. Horizons are usually suggested to be placed on the top or bottom horizontal lines. 

The rule is a way to creatively use negative space, create a composition that is naturally pleasing to the eye, and help unite the subject and background. 

Golden Ratio
A mathematical ratio that is commonly found in nature. Using it in designs helps make the composition look more natural and organic. It's about aesthetics, helping the composition have harmony and be proportionate. 

It can be used to determine the dimensions of layouts, by setting dimensions to 1:1.618. 

Week 6 / Digital Photography

Exposure settings
Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the sensor in your camera. Underexposure (less light) leads to darker colours, and vice versa with overexposure. 

Shutter speed and aperture (iris) both affect the exposure of your image. ISO affects the brightness.

The iris/ aperture affects the amount of light entering the camera body through the lens (the body itself is light proof). It is measured by f-stop (f/1, f/2 etc.). The lower the number, the larger the lens opening is and the more light can enter the body. 

The shutter is a plastic sheet that opens and closes, unblocking and blocking the lens and allowing or preventing light from reaching the film. It is measured in seconds (1/500 seconds, 1/250 s etc.) A faster shutter speed (1/500 s) means less motion blur and is used to capture fast-moving subjects. 

ISO refers to the sensitivity of the camera's sensor. The lower the number, the lower the sensitivity, which leads to photos with more grain/ noise. 

Lens perspective
There are wide angle lens, standard lens and tele lens. Different lenses have different focal lengths and are therefore used for different purposes. 

Wide angle lens - Good for landscape and street photography due to its wide focal length.
Standard lens - More closely shows what the human eyes see. Images taken with these lenses are seen as more natural.
Tele lens - Good for subjects that are far away due to their high magnification. 

Focal length is the distance (in millimetres) between the centre of the camera lens and the camera sensor. The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle of view (the more zoomed out the picture is). 

Aperture can also affect what's called the 'depth of field', which refers to the proportion of the image that is in focus. The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field. Meaning if the aperture is large, the foreground is in focus while the background is blurry. 

Week 10 / Digital Surrealism

Realism vs Surrealism
Realism is what it sounds like - the imagery is realistic and common, with no special way of thinking. 
Surrealism commonly uses imagery that is dream-like and unrealistic, that is logic-defying.

Dadaism is an anti-war art movement that promoted satirical and nonsensical imagery, and this is an inspiration for surrealism today. Salvador Dali is an artist famous for his surreal paintings.

To create surrealism, you can have a random barrage of ordinary objects, childlike imagery, bizarre and illogical imagery etc. 

INSTRUCTIONS

Fig. 1. Module Information Booklet

1. Week 1: Bezier game

Fig. 2.1. Bezier game (6/4/2023)

This was technically my second try at the bezier game, which is how I got such a high score. The purpose of this exercise was to train us in using one of the more important tools in Photoshop, the pen tool. I've used similar tools in different programs before, but not really to this extent. 

2. Three Photoshop designs I like from Pinterest:

Fig. 2.2. First design (12/4/2023)

I like this design because of the contrast between the colourful, cartoon edit and the black & white realistic photograph. The texture of the edits also resembles the environment around the girl, so it looks like graffiti art around the streets. The colours are vibrant and match the mood set by the girl's smile, so the black & white colouring of the rest of the image gives a more vintage aesthetic rather than set a sad tone. The vintage look of the cartoon dress also helps with this. 

Fig. 2.3. Second design (12/4/2023)

I'm a fan of neon glow in darkness, so this caught my appeal. I think it's cool how they could turn such a simple image into something so different. The lighting and colouring were completely changed, while still maintaining the original colours of the image, as seen more clearly from the girl's coat, which you can still identify as brown in the edited image. 

Fig. 2.4. Third design (12/4/2023)

I think the text effect used here is very cool. The word 'party' overlaps the figure of the boy, but the effect almost makes it look like you're seeing the text through him. The striking yellow is bright and stands out against the rest of the darker colours, so even though only the outline is visible on the boy, it's still clearly legible, also thanks to the thick font used.

3. Week 2 Tutorial: Digital Collage

Fig. 2.5. Digital collage (13/4/2023)

Using what we learnt during the lecture of the week, we were tasked with creating a digital collage in Photoshop using the assets that were provided to us by our lecturer. 

4. Week 3 Tutorial: Recolouring 

Fig. 2.6. Layers and masks in the recolouring tutorial exercise (20/4/2023)

Fig. 2.7. Recolouring tutorial final (20/4/2023)

Following the instructions given, we had to recolour a black and white photo. We used the marquee tool to select parts of the reference photos given to collect colour samples, and then used various masking techniques and blending options to recolour the photo. 

5. Week 4: Blending mode exercises

Blending modes 
Screen: Black becomes transparent, white becomes opaque
Multiply: White becomes transparent, black becomes opaque
Soft light: Black becomes darker, white becomes lighter, grey becomes (gradually) transparent

Using these three techniques, we were guided to complete three exercises that demonstrated them:

Fig. 2.8. Blending mode exercise 1 (27/4/2023)

Fig. 2.9. Blending mode exercise 2 (27/4/2023)

Fig. 2.10. Blending mode exercise 3 (17/7/2023)

6. Preparation for Project 2

Before starting on our second project, we were tasked with doing some research on what poster design is. We also had to research on double exposure, as that was what we were going to learn next.

Research 01:
1a.What is Poster Design?
Poster design is the process of conveying messages and/or information using visual elements like typography, colour and graphics in an appropriate layout. 

1b.What is good poster design?
Good poster design makes the poster look visually appealing and intriguing, to allow the viewer to understand the information easily and clearly.

1c.What is a photographic poster? What is an illustrated poster?
A photographic poster is one that primarily relies on photographic imagery to create the design. It can be comprised of a single photo or a collage of them. These types of posters, because of the realistic nature of photographs, are more often used to promote things like concerts and films.
An illustrated poster is one that primarily relies on drawn illustrations to create the design. These illustrations can be drawn using digital software or by hand, and can be any level of simplicity or complexity. Because illustrations leave more room for creativity, these types of posters are more often used to advertise more abstract events or products. 
The main difference between the two is simply the types of primary elements used, and have their own strengths and weaknesses in promoting different things.

1d. Share 3 good photographic posters.

Fig. 2.11 - 2.13. Examples of photographic posters from Pinterest (27/4/2023)

Research 02:
2a. What is Double Exposure?
Double exposure is the process of overlaying one image on top of the other to 'combine' them. This can be done with the camera itself or in post-editing softwares. This technique is used to create fantastical images that are unique and striking.

2b. What is Digital Double Exposure?
Digital double exposure is the technique of creating double exposure specifically using digital editing softwares in post-editing. By using layers, blending modes and adjusting opacity, this way of creating double exposure allows for more control and creativity. 

2c. Share 3 good Double Exposure.

Fig. 2.14 - 2.16. Examples of double exposure from Pinterest (27/4/2023)

7. Week 5 Tutorial: Double Exposure Exercise

For the tutorial class this week, we learnt a technique called 'double exposure'. This is when you overlay two images on top of each other to create a surrealism effect.

Fig. 2.17. Double exposure exercise (11/5/2023)

8. Week 6 Tutorial: Displacement Map Exercises

For this week, we were taught another Photoshop technique called 'displacement map' which took the texture of one image and transferred it to another.

Fig. 2.18. Displacement map exercise 1 (6/5/2023)

Fig. 2.19. Displacement map exercise 2 (6/5/2023)

Fig. 2.20. Displacement map exercise 3 (6/5/2023)

9. Week 7 Tutorial: Cyborg

In this tutorial, we learned how to edit a normal photograph of a human to make them look like a cyborg (part human part robot). 

Fig. 2.21. Cyborg exercise (18/5/2023)

10. Week 9 Tutorial: Flower Face Portrait

In this lesson we learnt to use different masking techniques and utilise layers to create surrealism effect with flowers. 

Fig. 2.22. Flower face portrait exercise (1/6/2023)

11. Week 10 Tutorial: Animating in Photoshop

For the tutorial this week, we were taught different ways to animate in Photoshop: using keyframes and using the frame-by-frame method.

Fig. 2.23. Photoshop animation using keyframes (8/6/2023)

Fig. 2.24. Photoshop animation with the frame-by-frame method (8/6/2023)

12. Week 11: Animating with After Effects

After understanding the fundamentals of After Effects and keyframes, we were guided to animate in After Effects. 

Fig. 2.25. Animating with After Effects (15/6/2023)

REFLECTIONS

Experience
I learnt a lot of new tips and tricks from these exercises. Some of the things we learnt I never even realised were possible, like the displacement maps and the recolouring of black & white photos. It was a joy to be able to discover so much more of these programs and be able to use what I learnt in other modules and also to help others. There was a lot of room to experiment in these, where we got to play around with the values and colours and do what we liked. 

Observations
A lot of effort goes into creating good Photoshop designs. Layering, masking, blending - there are a lot of steps involved. However, there are also a lot of different ways to do the same thing, so everyone can choose the method they prefer and still achieve the same results. Experimenting with values is also useful, as doing so may uncover new possibilities or effects you did not intend for but end up liking. Design is about creation, and Photoshop provides a lot of tools for creation and imagination.

Findings
Photoshop really has a lot of features that make a lot of things possible. Any photo can be manipulated in so many ways to show different things. Even random pictures from the internet can be changed to be something cool or interesting. Blending modes are also very useful, as it can change the way layers blend together and create different effects. I also did not know that you could directly import Photoshop files into After Effects.