Unit 1 - Systems and Processses

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Software - Lightroom

The software I have been using for post processing photo's is lightroom. The reason I use this software over Photoshop is I find it much easier and really its just personal preference. The both have similiar setting and adjustments.

Lightroom Short Cuts

Knowing shortcuts for lightroom makes editing much more straight forward and faster.

Shortcuts
~	Toggle between Grid and Loupe
Esc	Return to previous view
Return	Enter Loupe or 1:1 view
Space	Toggle between Loupe and Zoom
E	Enter Loupe view
C	Enter Compare mode
G	Enter Grid Mode
Command + Return	Enter Quick Slideshow mode
F	Cycle to next Screen Mode
Command + Shift + F	Return to Normal Screen Mode
L	Cycle through Lights Out modes
Command + Shift + H	Turn cell extras on and off
Panel Shortcuts
Tab	Show/Hide the side panels
Shift + Tab	Hide/Show all the panels
Command + F	Activate the search field
Command + Option + A	Show/Hide the Activity window
Command + /	Return to the previous module
Ratings Shortcuts
1-5	Set ratings
0	Reset ratings to none
] , [	Increase and Decrease the rating
Image Shortcuts
Command + Shift + I	Import images
Command + [ , ]	Rotate left and right
Command + E	Edit in Photoshop
Command + - , =	Zoom in and out
Z	Zoom to 100%
H	Hide image There is a checkbox in the Search panel to show hidden images.
Command + R	Reveal in finder
Delete	Remove from Library
Command + Delete	Move image to OS Trash Also removes from the Library
Command + Shift + C	Copy Camera Raw Adjustments
Command + Shift + V	Paste Camera Raw Adjustments
Command + Right/Left Arrow	Next/Previous selected image
Command + Shift + E	Export Image
Quick Collection Shortcuts
B	Add to Quick Collection
Command + B	Show the Quick Collection
Command+Shift+B	Clear Quick Collection

Develop
Edit Shortcuts
Command + E	Edit in Photoshop Renders the current settings into a Tiff file, and opens the file in Photoshop for further editing.
Command + [ , ]	Rotate left and right
1-5	Set Ratings
Command + Shift + C	Copy Camera Raw Adjustments A dialog will come up asking which adjustments to copy.
Command + Shift + V	Paste Camera Raw Adjustments
Output Shortcuts
Command + Return	Show selected images in a slideshow Shows the current selected images in a slideshow based on the current Slideshow module settings.
Command + P	Print selected images
Command + Shift + P	Page Setup
Navigation Shortcuts
Command + Left Arrow	Previous Photo
Command + Right Arrow	Next Photo
UI Shortcuts
Tab	Hide panels
Shift + Tab	Hide all panels
Command + /	Go to previous module
Command + Control + A	Show Activity Window
Mode Shortcuts
F	Cycle screen modes
Command + Shift + F	Go to normal screen mode
L	Cycle Lights Out modes
Command + Shift + L	Go to Lights Dim mode
Quick Collection Shortcuts
Command + B	Show quick collection
Command + Shift + B	Clear quick collection

Slideshow
Show Shortcuts
Command + Return	Play Slideshow
P	Pause Slideshow
Esc	End Slideshow
View Shortcuts
Tab	Hide side panels
Shift + Tab	Hide all panels
Command + /	Go to previous module
Command + Shift + H	Show Guides
Command + Shift + A	Show/Hide Activity Window
Mode Shortcuts
F	Cycle screen modes
Command + Shift + F	Go to normal screen mode
L	Cycle Lights Out modes
Command + Shift + L	Go to Lights Dim mode
Quick Collection Shortcuts
Command + B	Show quick collection
Command + Shift + B	Clear quick collection

Print
Printing Shortcuts
Command + P	Print
Command + Shift + P	Page Setup
View Shortcuts
Command + Left Arrow	Go to first page
Left Arrow	Go to previous page
Command + Right Arrow	Go to last page
Right Arrow	Go to next page
Page Extra Shortcuts
Command + Shift + H	Show all page extras
Command + Shift + M	Show Page Bleed
Command + Shift + T	Show Gutters
Command + R	Show Rulers There is a choice between Wooden and Plastic Rulers
View Shortcuts
Tab	Hide side panels
Shift + Tab	Hide all panels
Command + /	Go to Previous Module
Command + Option + A	Show/Hide Activity Window
Mode Shortcuts
F	Cycle screen modes
Command + Shift + F	Go to normal screen mode
L	Cycle Lights Out modes
Command + Shift + L	Go to Lights Dim mode
Quick Collection Shortcuts
Command + B	Show quick collection
Command + Shift + B	Clear quick collection

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/keyboard_shortcuts.html

Clone / Heal Tool

The clone tool makes a guess at the texture and colour that you are repairing and selects an area adjacent which it thinks will give the best result. 

Curves

This curve tone line is an adjustment to change the color or tone correction.

Cropping

Cropping the image changes the image size and also with this tool you can straighten the image out to. The cropping tool looks like a sqaure and is found on the right hand side of light room ( see examples below).



Dodge and Burn

 Dodging and burning are techniques used to brighten (dodge) and darken (burn) a photograph.

Sharpening

This tool makes the image more sharper. This tool is found on the right hand side under detail.

History Tool

The history Tool is situated on the left hand side and it let you go back and see what adjustments you have all ready done.

Histogram

A histogram is a representation of the number of pixels in a photo at each luminance percentage. A histogram that stretches from the left side of the panel to the right side indicates a photo that takes full advantage of the tonal scale. A histogram that doesn’t use the full tonal range can result in a dull image that lacks contrast. A histogram with spikes at either end indicates a photo with shadow or highlight clipping. Clipping can result in the loss of image detail.

A histogram is made up of three layers of color that represent the Red, Green, and Blue color channels. Gray appears when all three channels overlap; yellow, magenta, and cyan appear when two of the RGB channels overlap (yellow equals the Red + Green channels, magenta equals the Red + Blue channels, and cyan equals the Green + Blue channels).

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/3.0/Using/WS149BB962-AF1E-4e43-A92A-0CEEDB39F84D.html

Local Adjustments

Soften Skin

This tool applies a combination of clarity and sharpness adjustments to make skin tones appear softer.

Exposure - Sets the overall image brightness

Brightness - Adjusts image brightness, mainly affecting midtones.

 Contrast - Adjusts image contrast, mainly affecting midtones.

Saturation - Changes the vividness or purity of the color.

Clarity - Adds depth to an image by increasing local contrast.

Sharpness - Enhances edge definition to bring out details in the photo. A negative value blurs details.

Color - Applies a tint to the selected area.

Metadata

Photoshop

Levels

Levels is a tool in Photoshop and other image editing programs which can move and stretch the brightness levels of an image histogram. It has the power to adjust brightness, contrast, and tonal range by specifying the location of complete black, complete white, and midtones in a histogram. Since every photo's histogram is unique, there is no single way to adjust the levels for all your photos. A proper understanding of how to adjust the levels of an image histogram will help you better represent tones in the final image.

How it Works

The levels tool can move and stretch brightness levels in a histogram using three main components: a black point, white point and midtone slider. The position of the black and white point sliders redefine the histogram's "Input Levels" so they are mapped to the "Output Levels" (default is black (0) or white (255), respectively), whereas the midtone slider redefines the location of middle gray (128). Each slider is shown below as they appear in Photoshop's levels tool, with added blue labels for clarity:

All examples below will use the levels tool on an RGB histogram, although levels can also be performed on other types of histograms. Levels can be performed on an individual color channel by changing the options within the "Channel" box at the top.

When considering adjusting the black and white point levels of your histogram, ask yourself: is there any region in the image which should be completely black or white, and does the image histogram show this?

Most images look best when they utilize the full range dark to light which can be displayed on your screen or in a print. This means that it is often best to perform levels such that the histogram extends all the way from black (0) to white (255).  Images which do not extend to fill the entire tonal range often look washed out and can lack impact. The image below was taken in direct sunlight and includes both bright clouds and dark stone shadows — an example of where there should be at least some regions that are portrayed as nearly white or black. This histogram can be extended to fill the entire tonal range by adjusting the levels sliders as shown:

Histogram Before Levels	Histogram After Levels
Lower Contrast	Higher Contrast

On the other hand, be wary of developing a habit of simply pushing the black and white point sliders to the edges of the histogram — without also paying attention to the content of your image. Images taken in fog, haze or very soft light often never have fully black or white regions. Adjusting levels for such images can ruin the mood and make your image less representative of the actual scene by making it appear as though the lighting is harsher than it actually was.

One should also be cautious when moving the black and white point sliders to the edge of the histogram, as these can easily clip the shadows and highlights. A histogram may contain highlights or shadows that are shown with a height of just one pixel, and these are easily clipped. This is often the case with low-key images, such as the example shown below:

Histogram Before Levels	Histogram After Levels
No Pixel at Full Brightness	Stronger Highlights

Holding down the "ALT" key while dragging the black or white point slider is a trick which can help avoid shadow or highlight clipping, respectively. If I were to have dragged the highlight slider above to a point which was further left (a level of 180 was used, versus 235 above), while simultaneously holding down ALT, the image would have appeared as follows:

If the image is fully black while dragging a black or white point slider, then no clipping has occurred. When the slider is dragged over where there are counts on the histogram, the regions of the image which have become clipped get highlighted as shown above. This can be quite useful because knowing where the clipping will occur can help one assess whether this will actually be detrimental to the artistic intent of the image. Keep in mind though that clipping shown while dragging a slider on an RGB histogram does not necessarily mean that region has become completely white — only that at least one of the red, green, or blue color channels has reached its maximum of 255.

Moving the midtones slider compresses or stretches the tones to the left or right of the slider, depending on which direction it is moved. Movement to the left stretches the histogram to the its right and compresses the histogram to its left (thereby brightening the image by stretching out the shadows and compressing the highlights), whereas movement to the right performs the opposite. Therefore, the midtone slider's main use is to brighten or darken the midtones within an image.

When else should one use the midtone slider?  Consider the following scenario: your image should contain full black and white, and even though the histogram extends to full black, it does not extend to white. If you move the white point slider so that it reaches the edge of the histogram, you end up making the image much brighter and overexposed. Using the midtone slider in conjunction with the white point slider can help you maintain the brightness in the rest of your image, while still stretching the highlights to white:

Histogram Before Levels	Histogram After Levels
Sky Not At Full Brightness	Stronger Highlights Similar Overall Brightness

Note how the sky became more pronounced, even though the overall brightness of the image remained similar. If the midtones tool were not used, the image to the right would have appeared very overexposed.  The same method could be used to darken the shadows while maintaining midtones, except the midtones slider would instead be moved to the left.

Note: Even though the midtones slider is always initially at 128, it is instead shown as 1.00 to avoid confusion when the black and white points change. This way, the midtones slider is always at 1.00 even when the other sliders have been moved. The midtone "Input Level" number actually represents the gamma adjustment, which can be thought of as a relative measure of the number of levels on the sliders left to those on its right. Thus, values greater than one mean there are more levels are to the slider's right, whereas values less than one mean more levels are to its left.

Adjusting Levels with the Dropper ToolThe histogram levels can also be adjusted using the dropper tools, shown below in red:

One can use the dropper tools on the far left and right to set the black and white points by clicking on locations within the image that should be either black or white, respectively. This is often not as precise as using the sliders, because one does not necessarily know whether clicking on a given point will clip the histogram. The black and white point droppers are more useful for computer-generated graphics as opposed to photos.

Unlike the black and white point droppers, the middle dropper tool does not perform the same function as the midtone slider. The middle dropper actually sets the "gray point," which is a section of the image that should be colorless. This is useful when there is a colorless reference object within your scene; one can click on it with the dropper tool and removing color casts by setting the white balance. On the other hand, it is better to perform a white balance on a RAW file format since this reduces the risk of posterization.

Other Uses for the Level Tool

The levels tool can be performed any type of image histogram in addition to the RGB histograms shown above, including luminance and color histograms. Performing levels on a luminance histogram can be useful to increase contrast without also influencing color saturation, whereas levels on a color histogram can change the color balance for images which suffer from unrealistic color casts (such as those with an incorrect white balance).

Levels can also be used to decrease the contrast in an image by modifying the "Output Levels" instead of the "Input Levels."  This can be a useful step before performing techniques such as local contrast enhancement since it avoids clipping (because this technique may darken or brighten the darkest or brightest regions, respectively), or when your image contains too much contrast.

Precautions

• Minimize use of the levels tool, as anything which stretches the image histogram increases the possibility of posterization.
• Performing levels on a luminance histogram can easily clip an individual color channel, although this may also allow for darker and brighter black and white points, respectively.
• Performing levels on an individual color histogram or channel can adversely affect the color balance, so color channel levels should only be performed when necessary or intentional color shifts are desired.

Layer Blending Modes in Photoshop and Elements

Blending modes Photoshop and Elements allow for layer blend modes that change the way layers react with each other. Some of them you will use in every day work. If you have a photo that is too dark, for example, many times a quick fix is to duplicate the photo layer in the layers palette and change the duplicate layer mode to Screen. If a photo is too light it can sometimes be corrected by duplicating the photo layer and changing the layer mode to Multiply. How do you know what layer blend mode to choose? Let's look at them and how they work, and take some of the mystery away! (Some. Not all.) Color To understand blend modes, you need to know a little about color. Color is light, and likewise, light is made up of many colors. Objects absorb or reflect these light waves. Our eyes perceive these wavelengths as color. Let's start with the color wheel.   The COLOR WHEEL has 12 segments that consist of primary, secondary and tertiary hues, or colors. The three PRIMARY colors are RED, YELLOW, and BLUE. They form a triangle on the wheel. These colors cannot be mixed by combining any other colors. They are indicated on the color wheel with a P. The three SECONDARY colors of ORANGE, VIOLET, and GREEN (marked on the chart by an S) are created by mixing equal parts of the primary colors they fall in between; ie, VIOLET is the secondary color produced by mixing equal parts of RED and BLUE. The TERIARY colors are the colors that result from mixing the primary and secondary colors on either side of them: ie, mixing the secondary color ORANGE with the primary color RED results in red-orange. These colors are marked on the color wheel with a T. Using the color wheel you can determine color schemes fpr balance and harmony in your artwork, webpages, desktop publishing designs or home decorating. Hue: Hue refers to the color...red, blue, etc. The primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, or hues, are these colors at their full saturation or brightness; that is, there, there is no white, gray, or black added. Value: the lightness or darkness of a color, or the relative amount (percentage) of white or black in a hue. Luminosity, or Lightness: A measure of the amount of light reflected from a hue. Those hues with a high content of white have a higher luminance, or value. Tints: white when added in increments to any color results in a lighter value of that color, called a tint. Blue and white make light blue, which is a tint of Blue. Shades: black or gray when added in increments to any color results in a darker value of that color, called a shade. Blue and Black make dark blue, a shade of blue. Saturation: The degree of purity of a hue. Intensity: The brightness or dullness of a hue. Iintensity maybe lowered by adding white or black.   The blending modes In Photoshop and Elements the layer blend modes can be changed in the layers palette.  In these programs, changing the layer blend mode affects the entire layer, even if you have a selection. In Illustrator the blend modes work basically the same, but a different blend mode may be applied to different objects on the same layer, so the blend mode popup is found in the transparency palette. The dropdown menu on the left contains the blend modes which we'll discuss fully in a minute. Normal is the default, and the objects interact with each other as if they were both solid color objects, at 100% opacity. When one is over the other, what is covered you can't see. The rest of the modes interact with each other in different ways. To use layer blend modes you have to have two or more layers. The blend mode will react with the layer below it. If you have only a background, the blend mode popup will be grayed out, as these modes cannot be applied to backgrounds. For these demos I will be using an image with two layers. The blending mode will be applied to layer 1 and we'll look at the way they interact. The background layer 1   Normal mode Normal mode is the default. The colors of the two layers will not interact in any way, and it will display the full value of the colors in layer 1. What you see in the image window will look like this. Dissolve Dissolve makes the lower layer take on the colors of the top layer, and how much depends on the opacity of the upper layer. The layer 1 opacity is set at 50% here. Disolve only affects pixels with some transparency, which is why I lowered the opacity to 50% in this example. Darken Darken compares each pixel value of the upper layer to its counterpart's pixel value of the lower layer and chooses the darker of the two to display. Multiply Multiply darkens the lower layer based on the darkenss of the upper layer. No part of the image will get lighter. Any applied tone darker than white darkens the lower layer. White becomes transparent. Color Burn Color Burn burns in the color of the upper layer with the lower layer. No part of the image will get lighter. Linear Burn Linear Burn works like multiply but the results are more intense. Lighten Lighten compares the two layers pixel for pixel and uses the lightest pixel value. No part of the image gets darker. Screen Screen brightens by lightning the lower layer based on the lightness of the upper layer. The result is always lighter, and makes it a good mode for correcting exposure in photos that are too dark. Color Dodge Color Dodge dodges the lower layer with the upper layer, resulting in a lighter image. No part of the image will be darkened. Linear Dodge Linear Dodge works like screen but with more intense results. Overlay Overlay multiplies the light colors and screens the dark colors. Soft Light Soft Light will multiply the dark tones and screen the light tones. Hard Light Hard Light muliplies the dark colors and screens the light colors. Vivid Light Vivid Light will dodges or burn the lower layer pixels depending on whether the upper layer pixels are brighter or darker than neutral gray. It works on the contrast of the lower layer. Linear Light Linear Light is the same as Vivid light but it works on the brightness of the lower layer. Pin Light Pin Light changes the lower layer pixels depending on how bright the pixels are in the upper layer. It acts like Multiply when the upper layer color is darker than neutral gray, and acts like screen if the upper layer color is lighter than neutral gray.   Difference Difference reacts to the differences between the upper and lower layer pixels. Large differences lighten the color, and small differences darken the color. Exclusion Exclusion uses the darkness of the lower layer to mask the difference between upper and lower layers. Hue Hue changes the hue of the lower layer to the hue of the upper layer but leaves brightness and saturation alone. Saturation Saturation changes the saturation of the lower layer to the hue of the upper layer but leaves brightness and hue alone. Color Color changes the hue and saturation of the lower layer to the hue and saturation of the upper layer but leaves luminosity alone.   Luminosity Luminosity changes the luminosity of the lower layer to the liminodity of the upper layer while leaving hue and saturation the same. http://www.northlite.net/ps/blend.htm

Assessed Studio Task

Towards our grades we had to be assessed in the studio.  

There were five category's and these were chosen by the lecturer.

My chosen task was task four which was:

Use a floor stand with its extension to under light a still life table with a 400 watt head fitted with a standard reflector.

Objectives:

Selecting and setting up the appropriate lighting equipment.

Setting model lights.

Determine the correct exposure.

Take an appropriately lit, correctly exposed Image.

Dismantle and return equipment.

Demonstrate safe working practise.

Through out the assessment my nerves got the better of me as the first mistake happened as soon the assessment began, I picked up a 500 watt instead of a 400 watt and also put the wrong head on but then changed my mind. After I was pleased with my set up and I had reailsed my mistakes I could take my photo.

This is the set up I finished with.

This task did seem scarey but it was shown me what my strenghts and weaknesses are. It has also proved that my confidence in the studio has to improve because realistically there is going to be people watching me in the studio while I set up equipment in the future.

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Photograms

A photogram takes the principles of photography right back to its roots using light to paint pictures. The principle is simple - you expose a sheet of light sensitive emulsion, in our example photographic paper, to light and block its path with the subject to create silhouette shapes were the light is blocked. Fox Talbot had used this technique to make shadowgrams, but it was arguably the surrealist Man Ray who made the technique popular. He stumbled across the process by accident when he placed a small glass funnel, graduate and thermometer over an unexposed sheet of paper that had accidentally been previously submerged in developer. When he turned on the light he noticed silhouettes of the objects begin to appear, distorted as the subject became further away from the emulsion. He started to experiment with other objects exposing them first to light and called the resulting photos rayographs. Man Ray's rayographs have a three-dimensional feel with various tones of grey as the 3D subject distorts the light. Fox Talbot's paper negatives are more two-dimensional because the subject, feathers, leaves etc are in contact with the paper.

Solutions Needed

Developer
A developer reacts with the exposed areas of silver in the paper's emulsion turning these parts black to form an image. Areas that receive more light become blacker when developed. Areas that receive no light stay clear. You have to use a developer to produce a result.
Stop Bath
 An acid solution that quickly counteracts the developer to prevent over development of the paper.

Fixer
This dissolves any unused silver halides that were not developed and stops the paper from being light sensitive.

1 Set up the light source so that it covers an area bigger than the paper you are going to use.  

2 With the lights out and the safelight on, at a safe distance, arrange your objects on the paper

3 Make a test strip (see separate article)

4 Switch the enlarger on and expose for the time determined by the test strip. As a guide ten seconds should be long enough with the lens set at f/8.

5 Carefully take the objects off the paper and place the paper in the developer, then stop bath, then fix (see test strip article for times). 

6 Wash and dry - success your first photogram! Ideally this should have clean white silhouettes against a rich black background. If you use transparent objects you'll end up with results more like Man Ray's rayograms with areas of grey too.

I got this information off :

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/making-a-photogram---traditional-darkroom-ideas-4688 

Other Websites I researched:

http://www.photogram.org/frame.html 

http://www.dancingbrush.com/photogram.htm

I brought in some objects to make pictograms in the darkroom. This was the first time I had been in the dark room so I didn't know what to expect. After following the above procedure this was my result.

The long object through the middle is a pandora bracelet, the object on the left hand side is a flower broche and the object bottom right is ring. The bracelet is easiest to identify.

The next time I do a photogram I am going to try objects that can be easily identified such as scissors and keys.

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I been using a Seagull camera, this is a film medium format camera.

I took a light meter with me to take the images so I could get the correct exposure. Once I had taken all my images I took them into the dark room to development the negatives.

Equipment Needed

Developing tank and spirals

Film cap remover

Film leader retriever

Plastic measuring cylinder

Plastic beakers

Plastic storage bottles

Funnels

Stirring rod

Thermometer

Stop clock/watch

Film clips or pegs

Scissors

Negative storage bags

Squeegee or chamois cloth

Set out the film and equipment in a logical order,

so that you will be able to find them in the dark.

You need only the equipment to get the film out of

the cassette and into the light-tight developing

tank.

Note: if the film end has not been wound

completely into the cassette, you can trim the end

and start it in the spiral in daylight. Of course the

exposed part of the film must be wound on in

complete darkness.

Mixing the Chemical

To process one 35mm film, mix the developer.

Pour exactly 60ml of ILFOTEC DD–X into a

measuring cup. The dilution needed is 1+4, so

pour 240ml of water into a large (600ml size)

cylinder. Mix hot and cold so the water is at about

23°C/73ºF. Pour the developer into the water, stir

with a stirring rod, and measure the temperature of

the solution.

Adjusting and Maintaing the Tempture

If you have three cylinders or plastic containers,

mix up the stop bath and fixer as well. For the stop

bath 1+19 use 15ml of ILFOSTOP plus 285ml of

water. For the fixer 1+4, use 60ml of ILFORD

RAPID FIXER plus 240ml of water.

Stand the three containers in a bath of water that

is a couple of degrees warmer than the chosen

working temperature of 20°C/68ºF.

Preparing the Film

Take hold of the cassette and your end cap

remover and turn out the light. Lever the cap off

the cassette, and slide the film spool part way out.

Find the film‘s shaped leader, slot this through the

light-trap opening, then slide the spool back. This

saves having 1.4m/4ft 8in of loose film falling on

the floor.

Preparing the Film Leader

Pull all of the leader (the cutaway portion) beyond

the lips of the cassette.

Hold the cassette as shown in the diagram, so

your finger-ends are out of the way of the scissors,

and cut off the leader.

Loading the Spiral

Pick up the spiral and find the projecting lugs

which mark the film entry point.

Have these lined up and pointing towards you.

Grip the end of the film and pull about 5cm/2in

into the first channel, between the lugs. Pull about

30cm/1ft of film out of the cassette. Rotate the

sides of the reel back and forth to wind the film

into the spiral.

Loading the Development Tank

Continue step 7 until you reach the end of the film,

then cut this away from the cassette spool. Give a

few extra turns to wind the film all the way on.

Finally, put the spiral into the developing tank with

its plastic sealing ring (if needed), and screw on

the tank lid. The film is now sealed inside a lighttight

container, so you can switch on the room

lights.

Deveolpment

Start the development by pouring the

ILFOTEC DD–X developer solution smoothly, but as

quickly as possible, into the tank.

The developer should start at 21°C/70ºF, to allow

for a slight temperature drop during processing.

The tank should stand in a development dish or

tray, to collect drips. Start your timer when you

finish pouring.

Agitation

Fit the sealing cap and turn the tank upside down

four times during the first 10 seconds and again

for 10 seconds (that is, four inversions) at the start

of every further minute to agitate the developer.

Each time you invert the tank tap it on the bench to

dislodge any air bubbles which may have formed

on the film.

End Development

100 DELTA PROFESSIONAL film needs 12 minutes

in ILFOTEC DD–X (1+4) at 20°C/68ºF. Therefore,

15 seconds before the 12 minute mark is reached,

start to pour the developer out of the tank.

This developer solution won‘t be used again, so it

can be poured straight down the sink. The timer

should come to 12 minutes just as you finish

pouring.

Stop Bath and Fixer

Pour the ILFOSTOP stop bath solution (at

20°C/68ºF) into the tank. Agitate by turning the

tank upside down twice. After 10 seconds, pour it

out. The time in the stop bath is not critical. It must

be at least 10 seconds. Zero the timer and pour in

the ILFORD RAPID FIXER solution (also at 20°C/68ºF).

Start the clock as you finish pouring, then agitate,

as during development, until fixation is complete,

this will take 3 minutes. Once again the time is not

critical provided it is over 3 minutes. Then pour the

fixer into a storage bottle.

Wash

Now the film is fixed you can remove the tank lid.

If you have running water at about 20°C/68ºF,

use a piece of rubber tubing to feed this down the

centre of the spiral to the bottom of the tank. Wash

the film in running water for about 5 to 10

minutes.

Alternatively, fill the spiral tank with water at the

same temperature, +/– 5ºC (9ºF), as the

processing solutions and invert it five times. Drain

the water away and refill. Invert the tank ten times.

Once more drain the water away and refill.

Finally, invert the tank twenty times and drain the

water away.

Rinse and Perpare for drying

Add 5ml/l (1+200) of ILFOTOL wetting agent to

the final rinse water, stir briefly, then lift the film

spiral out of the tank. Pull the end of the film out of

the spiral, and securely attach a wooden or plastic

film clip to it.(To get a tight grip you may have to

double over the end of the film.)

Sqeegee

Hang the film from a hook, nail or line which must

be about 2m/6ft 6in off the ground. Slowly

unwind the film out of the grooves of the spiral.

To remove any excess water carefully run

squeegee tongs or a clean piece of chamois cloth

down the length of the film. (Take care as any grit

caught up here will scratch the whole film.)

Drying

Attach a weighted film clip to the bottom end of

the film, with a developing dish or tray under it for

drips. Leave it to dry in a still, dust-free

atmosphere. Drying can be speeded up by using a

hair-dryer on a low setting, kept moving and about

30cm/1ft away from the shiny side of the film.

Examing the Negatives

When dry, examine the negatives. The film edges

(rebates) should be clear, with legible frame

numbers along the bottom. A correctly exposed

and processed negative should have a full range

of tones, with some parts almost clear (like the

rebates) and other parts so dense you can only

just read print through them. Handle your

negatives by the edges only.

Storage

Count the negatives: a 36-exposure film may give

37 or 38 pictures. The best way to store them is in

filing sheets which take six or seven strips of six

negatives, so try to cut them up in this way. (You

may be able to drop a blank shot or bad exposure

to do this.) Date and label the filing sheet straight

away, and they are ready for making prints.

I got this information fr processing Black and white film from

                                    http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/200629163442455.pdf

Other websites I have visited for research are:

 

http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/1219/Negative-Development-and-Contrast-Control.html

http://www.tpub.com/content/photography/14209/css/14209_268.htm

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/200629163442455.pdf

http://www.photographytips.com/page.cfm/4875 

 http://www.hybridphotojourney.com/2010/01/16/creating-a-black-and-white-film-processing-kit/

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Friday, December 10, 2010

Colour Management

Today we were learning about the importance of colour management. Learning this takes time as it is quite a difficult subject to understand. We was all asked to bring a vibrant, coloured object or piece of fabric to contribute to a larger set up in the studio. Using a light meter we all set the aperture to the correct exposure and then take some images of the set up. After taking some photos of the set up we went round the class to see the difference. I noticed that my images were very over exposed I think is that was due to the white balance not being on the correct setting.

 

Iso 400, F5.6, 1/30 Sec

White Balance - Flash

 

 I noticed that my images were very over exposed I think is that was due to the white balance not being on the correct setting.

Iso 400, F5.6, 1/30 Sec

White Balance - Daylight

 

Iso 400, F5.6, 1/15 Sec

White Balance - Shadow

 

Every time we altered the white balance the colours on the set up changed. I also noticed I never saw the same image off anyone else in the class which I found very interesting.

This simple task has really helped me learn more on how to use my camera and what setting you put your camera really determine the out come of the image.  

I have been looking on website to get to grips with colour management, these are a few:

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/color-management1.htm 

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/color-spaces.htm

http://shop.colourconfidence.com/section.php?xSec=10322&gclid=CIGXnJvEk6YCFQse4QodWT4kZg 

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/talkshop/CM/Colour%20Management%20Intro.htm

http://oreilly.com/catalog/colormgmt/chapter/ch02.pdf 

Each website basically say the same thing in their own way. I found http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/ be the most helpful as it explains colour management simpler and the diagrams are much more clearer.  (See Below)

- OVERVIEW OF COLOR MANAGEMENT -

"Color management" is a process where the color characteristics for every device in the imaging chain is known precisely and utilized to better control color reproduction. It often occurs behind the scenes and doesn't require any intervention, but when you start to have color problems, understanding this process can be critical.

In digital photography, this imaging chain usually starts with the camera and concludes with the final print, and may include a display device in between:

Many other imaging chains exist, but in general, any device which attempts to reproduce color can benefit from color management. For example, with photography it is often critical that your prints or online gallery appear how they were intended. Color management cannot guarantee identical color reproduction, as this is rarely possible, but it can at least give you more control over any changes which may occur.

THE NEED FOR PROFILES & REFERENCE COLORS

Color reproduction has a fundamental problem: a given "color number" doesn't necessarily produce the same color in all devices. We use an example of spiciness to convey both why this creates a problem, and how it is managed.
Let's say that you're at a restaurant and are about to order a spicy dish. Although you enjoy spiciness, your taste buds are quite sensitive, so you want to be careful that you specify a pleasurable amount. The dilemma is this: simply saying "medium" might convey one level of spice to a cook in Thailand, and a completely different level to someone from England. Restaurants could standardize this based on the number of peppers included in the dish, but this alone wouldn't be sufficient. Spice also depends on how sensitive the taster is to each pepper:

To solve your spiciness dilemma, you could undergo a one-time taste test where you eat a series of dishes, with each containing slightly more peppers (shown above). You could then create a personalized table to carry with you at restaurants which specifies that 3 equals "mild," 5 equals "medium," and so on (assuming that all peppers are the same). Next time, when you visit a restaurant and say "medium," the waiter could look at your personal table and translate this into a standardized concentration of peppers. This waiter could then go to the cook and say to make the dish "extra mild," knowing all too well what this concentration of peppers would actually mean to the cook.
As a whole, this process involved (1) characterizing each person's sensitivity to spice, (2) standardizing this spice based on a concentration of peppers and (3) being able to collectively use this information to translate the "medium" value from one person into an "extra mild" value for another. These same three principles are used to manage color.

COLOR PROFILES

A device's color response is characterized similar to how the personalized spiciness table was created in the above example. Various numbers are sent to this device, and its output is measured in each instance:

Input Number (Green)		Output Color
		Device 1	Device 2
200	—>
150	—>
100	—>
50	—>

Real-world color profiles include all three colors, more values, and are usually more sophisticated than the above table -- but the same core principles apply. However, just as with the spiciness example, a profile on its own is insufficient. These profiles have to be recorded in relation to standardized reference colors, and you need color-aware software that can use these profiles to translate color between devices.

COLOR MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW

Putting it all together, the following diagram shows how these concepts might apply when converting color between a display device and a printer:

Characterized Input Device		Standardized Profile Connection Space		Characterized Output Device
RGB Color Profile (color space)				CMYK Color Profile (color space)

1. Characterize. Every color-managed device requires a personalized table, or "color profile," which characterizes the color response of that particular device.
2. Standardize. Each color profile describes these colors relative to a standardized set of reference colors (the "Profile Connection Space").
3. Translate. Color-managed software then uses these standardized profiles to translate color from one device to another. This is usually performed by a color management module (CMM).

The above color management system was standardized by the International Color Consortium (ICC), and is now used in most computers. It involves several key concepts: color profiles (discussed above), color spaces, and translation between color spaces.
Color Space. This is just a way of referring to the collection of colors/shades that are described by a particular color profile. Put another way, it describes the set of all realizable color combinations. Color spaces are therefore useful tools for understanding the color compatibility between two different devices. See the tutorial on color spaces for more on this topic.
Profile Connection Space (PCS). This is a color space that serves as a standardized reference (a "reference space"), since it is independent of any particular device's characteristics. The PCS is usually the set of all visible colors defined by the Commission International de l'éclairage (CIE) and used by the ICC.

Note: The thin trapezoidal region drawn within the PCS is what is called a "working space." The working space is used in image editing programs (such as Adobe Photoshop), and defines the subset of colors available to work with when performing any image editing.

Color Translation. The color management module (CMM) is the workhorse of color management, and is what performs all the calculations needed to translate from one color space into another. Contrary to previous examples, this is rarely a clean and simple process. For example, what if the printer weren't capable of producing as intense a color as the display device? This is called a "gamut mismatch," and would mean that accurate reproduction is impossible. In such cases the CMM therefore just has to aim for the best approximation that it can. See the tutorial on color space conversion for more on this topic

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Monday, October 18, 2010

Contact Sheet

Every week we are given a weekly picture project and this weeks project is October light and colour. When I think of October my first thought is leaves falling off trees and cold whether. When taking these images for this weeks project I went to a local woods and took some snap shots. After I had finished this task we were asked to make a contact sheet in lightroom.

I created this contact sheet by pressing print on the right hand side and it gave me many options such as layout, image setting and page options. I chose the size of each grid and how much margin I wanted in the layout option.

I then added the date of when each image was taken and what exposure I have used. Almost any information can added. I find this tool to be quite simple but very effective.
I have leant a lot from this task as I never knew how to create a contact sheet and I will find this very useful in the future.

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Friday, October 29, 2010

Portraits

This week we were asked to get into pairs and take some portraits of each other using different kinds of lighting techiques. I teamed up with Collette and we both had our own ideas of what we wanted to produce.

Natural lighting

I took this image in front of the window.

Honeycone Stop Light

When applying a honey cone stop light I moved the light at different angles of the face to create a shadowed effect.

Beauty Dish

I found this kind of lighting for portraits to be suitable for this genre of photography as it gave a diffused subtle look. I placed the Beauty dish straight on so the main focus is on the face. When post processing this image I have cropped the image and smoothed the skin to give a more youthful appearance. 



Using the same image I have changed the appearance by applying different presets. This tool is simple and very resultant.

Antique light preset - I like the effect old fashioned look it gives.

High contrast - I prefer this preset because the image is more bold. 

Manipulation

I have never done this before and I found it to be more simple then I expected to. I opened out Photoshop and selected half the image and copied the layer. I then used the free transform tool and flipped the half selected image horizontally. I then positioned how I wanted it. I repeated this and manipulated both sides are the face.

These are all the image I have taken on this shoot and turned them into a contact sheet. 

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CD Cover

For this week brief I have been asked to design a cover c.d. of my choice. I had so many songs I wanted to chose but I decided on Travis McCoy - Billionaire as it is one of my favourites. I thought the best idea was to go out and about for this brief instead of staying in the studio.
With the songs name being Billionaire and lyrics rapping about money I thought of the lottery. So I went and got some lottery ticket and scratch cards to take photos of. After many attempts I was still not entirely happy with my images even after post processing them.

First Attempt



Second Attempt 

I wanted to create an image that look like someone had just won the jackpot on the lottery and they are looking happy and excited, but after glancing at this image I have found the composition is all wrong. I am still not happy with the image after editing.

When setting up my camera I had taken a few test shot to get the correct exposure, these images were much better then my original ideal as they were more interesting.

In lightroom I applied a black and white preset and increased the blacks to give a scared vulnerable look. Then in Photoshop I added to text and cropped the image to fit a cd cover.



I tried out two examples for this song title The Recluse, I have chosen the first image to summit as I think it fits the brief best. I am happy with the outcome of both pictures than I was with my first thought.

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Camera Basics

Macro Photography

Today we had a very productive lesson with macro photography. I have learnt a lot in this session as things are very new to me with this side of photography.

Macro

Macro means taking close up photographs and it gets recorded onto the camera sensor at a 1:1 ratio. Bokeh (暈け or ボケ) which just means out of focus or blur comes from Japan. Bokeh is usually found in the back ground of image when there is a shallow depth of field.
 
I took some macro images of objects in the studio using different lighting techniques to create alternative moods.

White balance - day light

To get the correct exposure I had to change the white balance into tungsten.

To create a different elision to this simple object I have used a mirror to add more of a shine. The out come is quite noticeable.

Side lit

Back lit - un mirrored

Back lit and mirrored to give a sparkled effect.

Although I am happy with the studio work they all don’t show any depth of field so at home I took some more images that show this.

I have place in the ring in the background and to get a bokeh effect. 　
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Monday, October 11, 2010

Studio Introduction

I have recently been introduced to the studio, I have been shown many important pieces of equipment and their uses that I will use regularly. I am going to talk about each piece of equipment individually that I’ve learnt within the session.

Studio Equipment

Soft box - The soft box is used to create soft diffused light and it also is used as a modifier.

Beauty dish - The beauty dish is used for soft lighting and gives a dramatic effect.

Honeycomb Grid - A honeycomb shaped grid attaches on to the modifier and slightly diffuses the light.

Reflectors - Comes in black (absorb the light) and white (reflect the light) and are made from large pieces of polystyrene.

Snoot - A snoot is a cone tube that fit over the lights to give's a controlled beam light.

Tripod - The tripod is used for keeping the camera elevated and balanced.

Hot Shoe
Accessory holder usually on top of the camera to mount a flash and other accessories. It has the necessary electric contacts to communicate with a dedicated speedlight.

Health and safety

Don’t touch bulb because they could be hot.

Don’t leave wires trailing because this cause trips or fall.

In case of fire don’t use the lifts, use the stairs.

Dont take food or drinks in the studio.

When I went in the studio learning about the types of lighting I decided to try them out, so I used a soft box and took some images of still object but each image I took I change the setting on my camera to see what effect it would have on each image.

Iso - 100, F7.1, 1/60sec

I took this image in the studio with using Tungsten lighting on my camera to see what it effect it would give.

I like the effect it gives because its not the normal setting I would generally use.

Iso - 200, F7.1, 1/60 sec

I used just the soft box tilted over the perfume bottle (top lit), doing this has given a reflection. 

Iso - 200, F29, 1/200 sec

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Lenses

Macro - Macro lenses are used for close ups I.e. flowers and insects. The macro lens records data onto the camera at a 1:1 ratio.

Wide angle - A wide angle lens is used for wide angles such as landscape. The lens gives a good deep depth of field so the image has a sharp focus.

Telephoto - A Telephoto lens is a Long focus lens. It creates a shallow depth of field. It is ideally used for portraits, sun sets and sports. The lens can make the subject look much larger and closer when photographed through a telephoto lens.

Lens-baby - A lens baby is used to create a blur to an image. It creates a decorative look.

Extension tubes - Extension tubes are accessory for lenses primarily used for macro photography. The tube contains no optical elements. The tubes allow the camera to come in closer to the subject.

Fixed lens - The fixed lens is a lens that cant be altered or manipulated. This type of lens is can be used anything such as animal, people and landscape as long as the camera is in the appropriate depth of field.

I have been asked to talk about camera basics that I have learnt within the session.

Aperture ( F-stop)
The aperture is the opening of the lens this controls how much light passes through the camera. The aperture is like the pupil of a human eye. To change the aperture on the camera you should change the f number. An easy way to remember the f number is:
The lower the f number the more light is let through ( shallow depth of field).
The higher the f number the less light is let through ( deep depth of field).

Shutter Speed
The longer the shutter speed the more light is let in. (blurs action).

(Images off Google)

The shorter the shutter speed the less light is let in. (freezes action).

(Images off google)


ISO
ISO stands for International standards Organization. Iso is how sensitive the sensor is to light. The lower the Iso the better quality the image will be and using a higher ISO will give images noise.

Raw
Raw gives the best quality of image and when post processing images, items can be changed such as white balance and colouring. When shooting Raw you get less images on a card than you would with JPEG. - Is how long in which the image is taken. An easy way to remember about the shutter speed is: long the aperture stays open.

JPEG
JPEG is a small compressed file so more images can be stored on a card. When shooting on JPEG a lot of quality of the image is lost. JPEG’s are used on the world wide web. - This is a large file that has come straight from the camera and hasn’t been altered by built in camera software.

Raw
This is a large file that has come straight from the camera and hasn’t been altered by built in camera soft ware. Raw gives the best quality of image and when post processing images, items can be changed such as white balance and colouring. When shooting Raw you get less images on a card than you would with JPEG.


Modes

All are DSLR cameras are different but they all have more or less the same modes. I have a canon 400D and this come with the following modes:

Macro - Taking close ups and records onto the camera senser at a 1:1 ratio.
Manual - This should be used, you have to set the aperture and shutter speed so your telling the camera what to do, not the camera telling you what to do.
Night - Taking images in the dark so it gives a longer exposure and needs a higher Iso.
Landscape - Using landscape will capture a lot of detailed scenery using high a f stop.
Aperture priority - This mode sets the aperture.
Sports - Uses a high shutter speed to capture moment.
Shutter Priority - Sets the shutter speed.
Portrait - For taking portrait images. The back ground will blurred out and uses a low f number.

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Induction Project

For my Induction project I have been asked to research two objects that are meant for two different photographic purposes. I have to decided to use Jonathan Knowles's image for an advertising image and one of Edward Weston's for a still life image. Both are from different eras as well as photographic genres.

Advertisement 

Jonathan Knowles is photographer of our era who has many famous images; such as O2 and Daz washing powder. I think the concept is referring to the big bang theory (the start of creation) as the text says “Lager Evolved” which I think is likening the larger to humans evolving through time. The image is very clear & mimimalistic. The bottle is sharp and bold, this draws your attention to the bottle. The photographer has used a high F number to give a deep depth of field so everything is sharp and in focus. When post processing this image the photographer has changed the back ground.

I decided to use this image by Jonathan Knowles because I believe his work is very creative and diverse. I like the effect he has used making the back ground blue, it gives an ice cold feel to the bottle making the image enticing. The way he has used the rays of light behind the bottle draws your eye to the centre of the image making this the main aspect of the actual advertisement.

Still life

This image I have chosen of a cabbage leaf was taken in 1931 by a famous photographer, Edward Weston. He also took many still images such as rocks and peppers. The image was taken on a 10x8 view camera and are gelatin silver prints. The image is top lit and he has used a high F number to achieve a deep depth of field, this has made the object detailed and made the leaf veins more emphasized. Edward Weston took pictures of objects that looked like parts of the human body or form. This particular image is thought to look like ripples of a ladies skirt.

I chose this image to research because I found it to be different because when I first glanced at the image I didn’t automatically know what it was. It took a moment to realised it was a cabbage leaf. I like that the photographer has his own unique style taking simple still life objects and turning them into more of an interesting object. I also like the way it has been captured because it makes the leaf look quite fluid.

I have compared both images and I found that I prefer Jonathan Knowles image of the Guinness bottle because I feel theres more of a concept behind this than the cabbage leaf. But also they are both relevant to today even though they were both taken at total different periods of time.   

Test Shots

I have taken some test shots of still life photography using fruit. I have chosen still life because I like the way you can take simple everyday objects and show them as something interesting and beautiful.

 I took this image of a necterine and edited it in lightroom. I applied a preset called colour creative and increased the blacks. Doing this it has given the peach a velvety look to it and made it stand out more.

Iso 100, F 5.6, shutter speed 125/sec

Using the same same settings as above I took a picture of a pear. These pears are the same image but the second pear has been post processed in lightroom. I’ve changed the look by slightly cropping the image & applying a preset called antique, I also made the clarity higher altogether this gives it an older look.