CUIN 7358 Linked with CUIN 7336

Blog Assignment 2A:

Create a picture collage using the images you selected for Assignment One and post it to your personal blog. You should add some text to this blog posting in which you briefly describe the images you selected and what they mean. When this is done, send me an email message at brobin@uh.edu that includes the link to your blog.

Hands-On Assignment 2:

First, shoot a series of pictures with a digital camera on a particular topic, either related to pop culture or not.

You should try to remember some of the details about what you are photographing, including:

Where are you taking the picture?
What time of day are you shooting the picture and what is the weather like?
Are you using a flash or other type of special lighting?
Plus think about any other special details you feel will be of interest when we review the pictures.

After you have taken several images, you should review them but resist the temptation to delete all the images that you feel are not good enough to save. Some of these images will be helpful if we have an opportunity to review them and come up with suggestions for improving them.

For this assignment, try to post at least 3 different pictures to your personal blog and remember that if you have not already done so, send me an email message at brobin@uh.edu that includes the link to your blog.

Blog Assignment 2B:

Go to the course discussion blog at: http://cuin7358-pop.blogspot.com/ and post a question or comment about any of the material covered in Class 2, including:

* downloading, installing, and using Picasa 3
* creating a picture collage with Picasa
* creating a personal blog on Blogger
* posting a picture collage to your blog

* plus, any questions or comments about digital photography, or
* taking pictures with a digital camera

* or any other question or comment on other topics not mentioned above

Transferring Pictures from Digital Camera to Computer

There are numerous ways to transfer, or download, pictures from a digital camera to a computer. One popular way is to connect a cable from the camera to the computer and then use a software program to import the pictures.

We have explored the use of the software program, Picasa that allows us to work with digital pictures already on the computer, but the application can also be used to transfer pictures from most digital cameras.

Click on the following link for more:
Picasa-transfer.htm

Image Properties

With certain operating systems, such as Windows XP, you can get a wealth of information about photos taken with digital cameras by right-clicking on the image icon in a folder or on the desktop and selecting Properties, then Summary. This information is known as the Exchangeable image file format (Exif). Exif is a specification that was developed as a way to embed information about images taken with digital cameras that includes such items as when the image was taken, what type of camera was used, and many of the camera settings that were used when the image was taken.

You may read more about the Exchangeable image file format (Exif) at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EXIF

You may also be interested in downloading the free Opanda IEXIF 2 program and see if you can use it to find out even more details about you digital camera settings. Go to: http://www.opanda.com/en/iexif/download.htm

Once the program is installed and launched, simply click on the Open button at the top of the window...

and navigate to an image that you have taken with a digital camera. After the image is found, the data related to this image appears in the program window, as shown below.

Automatic Shooting Modes

As we discussed in the last class, all photography, including digital photography, involves light being reflected off of objects and being captured by film or in the case of digital cameras, image sensors. If too much light hits the sensor, the image will be overexposed and the picture will look overly bright and the colors will appear washed out. If not enough light hits the sensor, the image will be underexposed and will appear dark and difficult to see details in the picture.

Many of the newer higher-end digital cameras and digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras have a variety of small pictures on a dial that indicate the various exposure settings the cameras are capable of using. As you will see in the images below, most digital cameras have similar controls for their various exposure settings.

Fully Automatic Mode
Just about all digital cameras use some type of automatic mode for determining the correct exposure of pictures. On some cameras you will see the term Auto or AE which stands for Automatic Exposure. On the Canon Digital Rebel, the fully automatic exposure setting is designated by the green square. Just about all digital cameras, regardless of their type or cost, provide a fully automatic exposure mode that makes all the decisions for you. The electronics in the camera work with the image sensor to evaluate the light, select the correct ISO, perform the white balance and then set the aperture and the shutter speed to get the best exposed image. Most cameras also automatically control a built-in flash and have it fire when the lighting conditions make it necessary.

There is nothing wrong with letting the camera make decisions for you, as this takes much of the guess work out of taking pictures and lets the photographer concentrate on finding the subject and then framing and composing the image. However, many photographers like to have some measure of control so that they can be more creative and have the ability to customize the pictures they take. With the level of sophisticated electronics in today's digital cameras and the ability to take very high resolution images, how much control to leave to the camera and how much to retain for yourself is a decision that every photographer will have to make for her or himself. But having some knowledge about what is possible can aid in this decision making process.

Programmed AE/Program Mode (P)
Program Mode is similar to Fully Automatic but lets you change some settings, such as whether the flash will fire or not, and the type of metering the camera will use when taking a picture.

Aperture Priority (Av)
Aperture Priority mode allows the photographer to set the size of the aperture, also known as the f-stop, and then have the camera decide what shutter speed will be used to take a correctly exposed image.

Shutter Priority (Tv)
Shutter Priority mode is just the opposite of Aperture Priority in that it allows the photographer to set the shutter speed and then have the camera decide the size of the aperture's opening to take a correctly exposed image.

Other Modes

Portrait
Sets the camera for minimum depth of field so that the background of the portrait will have a soft and less distracting look.

Landscape
The reverse of the portrait mode, sets the camera for maximum depth of field so that everything in the picture will be in focus. This mode works best when using a wide angle lens (a lens with a shorter focal distance).

Close-Up
This mode is used when taking pictures of small objects. However, this is not the same as using a macro lens, which we will explore later.

Sports
Used to stop motion when taking pictures of fast-moving objects, such as athletes at sporting events. On some cameras, this mode works in conjunction with the auto-focus mechanism to keep moving subjects in focus. In this mode, the camera may also be set to burst, to continuously take pictures while the shutter release is held down.

Night Portrait
This mode is used to take pictures of people under low light conditions, such as dawn, evening and night. When the subjects are in the foreground, a slower shutter speed will be used to lighten the background and a fill-in flash will fire to illuminate the foreground objects.

Flash Off
As the name suggests, this mode turns the flash off.

Manual Exposure (M)
Allows you to select the shutter speed and the aperture so that you have control over the amount of light, the amount of motion and the depth of field in your pictures.

Auto Depth of Field (A-DEP)
This setting is used so that the camera's automatic focusing capability evaluates various locations within the field of view and then selects the aperture setting that will provide enough depth of field to keep everything in focus.

Exposure Compensation
Exposure Compensation lets you override the camera's automatic exposure setting, usually in 1/3, 1/2 or 1 f-stop increments, either on the plus side for more exposure, or on the minus side for less exposure.

Exposure Lock
Many cameras have this capability that lets you maintain the previous exposure value for additional pictures.

Outdoors: Sunlight is usually used during the day. When taking pictures at night, other options are available, including light bulbs or electronic flash units, most often, built into a digital camera.

Different types of light bulbs give off different colors of light, which can affect overall color of pictures taken with a camera. Most digital cameras attempt to compensate for this by adjusting the white balance, either manually (you do it yourself) or automatically (the camera does it for you). You can read more about white balance by visiting the websites listed below.

Built-In Flash - usually set with a certain ISO rating, a coverage area of some number of feet and a certain angle, and some type of flash metering linked to the auto exposure electronics in the camera.

Accessory Flash - flash units come in a variety of sizes and with different features. We will explore the use of flash units such as the ones shown below.

Full/Normal/Automatic Flash - usually refers to the basic flash that fires indoors or outdoors under low-light conditions.

Red Eye Reduction - usually fires a low intensity pre-flash to cause the pupil of the eye to constrict, thereby reducing the amount of reflected light that comes from the retina.

Bounce Flash - moving an accessory flash unit so that it point up toward the ceiling or sideways toward a wall (assuming they are painted white) - so that the flash bounces off that surface, rather than flashing directly on the subject. Bounce flash is used to reduce the red-eye effect and to soften shadows.

Fill Flash - fills in shadow areas, especially on faces. This technique is often used outdoors when the subject is backlit. The idea is that the exposure will be balanced between the natural light coming from behind and the light from the flash coming from the front.

Ring Flash - these flash units fit around the front of a lens and create a circle of light on a subject. They are most often used in close-up (macro) photography, Ring lights diffuse the light so that there are no harsh shadows and are useful in scientific applications such as medical and dental photography.

Many photographers recommend using a tripod when you want to freeze motion. In fact, some photographers go so far as to suggest that you should always use a tripod (or monopod) every time you take a picture.

All digital cameras (and film cameras, too) that have automatic exposure capability use some form of metering the light to correctly gauge the correct settings so that pictures will come out properly exposed (not too light and not too dark). The most common types of metering are:

Center-Weighted Metering - measures the light from the entire field of view but gives more weight, or importance, to the area in the center of the image seen in the viewfinder. The theory is that whatever is in the center of the field of view is probably the most important part of the image you want to be properly exposed. Although this is the most common type of metering, some professional photographers feel it is the least accurate and should be avoided.

Matrix Metering - this type of metering breaks the image into multiple parts and then the light from each of these segments is measured individually. The camera then assigns values to each segment, giving more or less weight, depending on where the segment is located. The results are usually very good under a wide array of lighting conditions.

Spot Metering - is designed for special conditions where the central location of the image is the most important and its lighting is different from the rest of the field of view. For example, an opera singer being lit by a spotlight while the rest of the stage area is dark, would be a time when the other metering options would not provide good results.

Some digital cameras use different nomenclature for their metering. The Canon Digital Rebel for example, uses the following three metering settings:

Evaluative Metering - basically the same as Matrix Metering, works by taking several different readings of each scene and then automatically using its built-in electronics to choose a setting that the camera "thinks" will provide the best exposure. This method is good for most general photographic situations. Like most recent digital cameras, the Digital Rebel is quite good at distinguishing light and dark areas and then selecting a setting that will provide useful results.

Partial Metering - basically the same as Spot Metering evaluates just a small area seen through the viewfinder, approximately 10% of the central area being photographed. This metering method only pays attention to the central area of the subject being photographed, since photographers often compose their images so that the most important part of the subject is in the middle of the frame and the background can be ignored. This metering mode may yield more accurate results in unusual lighting situations, where the evaluative metering mode does not produce desired results. And of course, if you're using the Rule of Thirds, the most important subject may not always be in the center of the frame.

CW Average Metering - Center Weighted metering that goes one step farther by taking an average reading of the entire area seen through the viewfinder but then using the camera's electronics to emphasize the central area of the subject being photographed.

Take a look at: photo-composition.ppt - created by Nancy Barnhart, a former UH Digital Photography Student

Also, we will discuss "Bokeh," a Japanese term that describes the quality of out-of-focus areas of an image created by certain types of camera lenses.

In-Class Activity: Transferring Digital Camera Images from the Computer & Basic Image Editing

Popular Image Editing Software Programs

Photoshop Elements

Adobe Photoshop Elements is a basic version of Adobe's more popular Photo Shop image editing software.

To begin using Photoshop Elements, you need to become familiar with the two main windows, what Adobe calls the workspaces:

The Organizer - used to find and organize photos and other media files.

At the top of the Organizer workspace, you will see the following shortcut buttons, from left to right:

A. Move backward between views and arrangements
B. Move forward between views and arrangements
C. Get photos
D. Print photos
E. E-mail and share photos
F. Undo
G. Redo
H. Start a new creation
I. Edit photo

The Editor - used to create and edit images, such as resizing, cropping, adding brightness & contrast and adding special effects.

A. Menu bar
B. Shortcuts bar
C. Toolbox
D. Photo bin
E. Options bar
F. Palettes
G. Active image area
H. Palette bin

Click here to view a tutorial on getting started with Photoshop Elements 4.0.

Hands-On Assignment 3:

For this week's hands-on assignment, you should use any image editing program of your choice and edit several images you took with your digital camera. Then, upload at least 2 pairs of before and after images, that is both the unedited picture and the edited version, to your personal blog. Be sure to include information about which editing program you used and discuss what edits you made to the images.

For this assignment, go to the course discussion blog at: http://cuin7358-pop.blogspot.com/ and post your mini-review of the online image editing software program listed above. As we discussed in class, you should try to review the web-based program where your name appears, however, if that program is not available or you have other issues, you may select another resource form the list to evaluate. Your review should include the following information:

* the name and web address of the program you are evaluating
* which editing features you used
* did the program perform as expected
* was the program easy to use
* did you experience any problems using the program
* would you use this program again and/or would you recommend this program to others
* do you have any other comments you think would be helpful

IMPORTANT NOTE: There will be no digital photo class next week on September 18. You should also bring something you would like to scan, such as a photograph, book, magazine or other document, to Class 4 on September 25, 2008.