Photo-enhancing skin color

The tutorial I used was on enhancing the skin color of a subject in an image. The tutorial I used is:

http://www.photoshopu.com/?p=33

This tutorial is very detailed and the instruction are easy to follow. Overall, I think it takes some practice to get the skin tone right and not looking too over saturated.

Here is the before image:


And here is the after:



It's not perfect, but I learned a lot doing this tutorial, and it is pretty useful.

Depth of Field--photos

So, taking photos of these dinosaurs, showing different depths of fields. Here are 4 photos:

In this photo, I used a greater depth of field, and all the objects are in focus:

This photo shows only the closest subject in focus:

Here, although more difficult to do and it isn't as clear what is in focus, the 2nd subject is in focus, while the others aren't focused as well:

Finally, this photo shows only the furthest subject in focus:

Depth of Field

Depth of field is the range of distance around the focal plane which is acceptably sharp.
The depth of field depends on:
-focal length
-sensor size
-aperture
-focal distance
The depth of field does not, all of a sudden, change from sharp to unsharp. It is more of a gradual transistion. Actually, everything immediately in front of or behind the focusing distance begins to lose focus, although it may be so slight that our eyes or resolution don't perceive it. Since there is no definite point of definite transition between sharp and unsharp, the term "circle of confusion" is used to define how much a point needs to be blurred in order to no longer be perceived as acceptably sharp. This is an exaggerated diagram of circle of confusion. In reality, it would be just a tiny fraction of the camera's sensor area.
An acceptable circle of confusion is loosely defined as one that would go unnoticed when the photo is put onto an 8by10 print, and viewed from 1 foot away.
These are three photos taken from the same point, with different focuses.



How aperture affects DOF:
As the aperture gets smaller, the depth of field is increased. If you want very great depth of field, use a very small aperture. If you want the effect of a blurred background, with a smaller amount of the picture in focus, set a higher aperture. This means to set the f/stops smaller if you want the photo having a greater DOF.

The focal length is how close to the subject your actual lens is. With a longer focal length of the lens, the DOF will be shallower because the lens is closer to the subject. If you use a shorter lens, the background of the subject will be less blurred. If a very long lens is used, the back of the subject will be very blurred, since you are so far zoomed into the subject.

Sensor size:
The actual size of the sensor affects the Depth of Field. The smaller the sensor size, the greater the depth of field is at a given focal length and f/stops. Sensor are classified by their crop factor. Using this, the sensor is compared to a frame of 35 mm film. If a camera has a ratio of 1/4.5 (the one being the comparison to the frame of film) it has a smaller sensor size than that with a ratio of 1/3. The greater the denominator, the less the sensor size.

Homecoming Week

Here are a series of photos from homecoming week, with some pumpkin carving. Enjoy!


Taken after soccer practice on 10/17/07 at about 5 pm at the La Conner Middle School soccer field. This is Hana Van Pelt and Robin Coe, carving pumpkins for LCHS girls soccer team Senior night on 10/18/07. The pumpkins will spell out "Thank You Fans," one letter on each pumpkin.

The LCHS girls soccer team members hard at work, still carving pumpkins. They didn't have any spoons to scoop out the pumpkin flesh, so they did it by hand.

One of the pumpkins, a final result. This is Anna Raymond (left) and Galena Graham's artistic take on the common letter "O."

So that's the end of the pumpkin story. The pumpkins looked great, each holding a candle, in the dark at our Senior Night Game.

I will put the other Homecoming week photo story in another blog a little later.

Exposure

I recently took a series of photos, to find what exposure worked best in the environment I was taking the pictures.

This photo was taken with a shutter speed that was too slow, and the aperture was also too high. The lighting was too bright for the exposure which I set, so the image appears washed out and white.


I took this photo in the same lighting, but the shutter speed was too fast for the given aperture. This is why the photo appears so dark. It did not have a long enough exposure.

Finally, after taking the previous photos, one with an exposure that was too long and one that was too short, I set an aperture and shutter speed to accommodate the lighting. The result is the right exposure ( and therefor right shutter speed and aperture). This produced a clear and detailed image.

Photo techniques

Panning is a technique used in which, when used to capture in an image, the main subject will be clear and sharp against a blurred background. It idea of panning is to follow the subject with your camera as it passes in front of you, and continue following it as you press the shutter, even after the shot is taken. If you pan at the same speed the subject is moving, the subject will appear sharp against a blurred or streaked background. You can do this best by keeping your feet still, and rotating the top of your body as you follow the subject. To make sure your subject will appear sharp, prefocus the camera at a point where you subject will pass. Make sure the background isn’t too light or dark and you are good to go. It may take a couple tries, but panning is a great technique to use.

Stopped action is used to take a photo, mid-motion, in which there appears to be no movement actually in the shot. Usually we know it is taken of an action by the circumstances (such as someone’s leg in the air and a soccer ball above it). Having a very fast shutter speed and anticipating an event or movement achieve stopped action. When the action occurs, the image must be taken with a very fast shutter speed, so that the subject is captured in that small moment in time in which the action is occurring.

Blurred action is used to take a photo of an action in which the action appears blurred because of a slow shutter speed. The image will appear streaked or blurred because the shutter speed is not fast enough to capture the exact moment the action is occurring.

Exposure Basics

Exposure is the amount of light collected by the sensor in your camera during a single picture. If a shot is exposed too long, the photo will be washed out. If it is not exposed long enough, the photo will be too dark. Almost all camera today have light meters which light in a given shot and set the ideal focus automatically.
The primary controls for exposure on a camera are aperture and shutter speed:
Aperture-the size of the lens opening that lets light into the camera. Apertures are measured in "f/stops" ex. f/2.8 is a very wide aperture, f/19 is very small.
Shutter Speed-the amount of time the light is exposed to the sensor. Shutter speed is measured in seconds (or fractions of a second). 1/2000 of a second is very fast and 8' seconds is extremely slow.



This is an example of a photo with a very low shutter speed, and a slightly narrow aperture

The relationship between shutter speed and aperture:

To maintain the same exposure value, if you change one of the two settings, you must change the other value in the opposite direction. Take this situation for example: The camera meter is 1/60th second and f8.0 and you wanted a faster shutter of 1/250th second. To have a faster shutter speed of 1/250th second it is underexposing three stops. So to keep this the same, the aperture must be overexposed three stops. This would be f/2.0. The exposure of 1/60 and f8.0 has an equivalent exposure to 1/250 and f/2.0. This is a table showing the relationship between shutter speed and aperture.

Photos-10/8

This is a flower along a fence in La Conner. These photos were taken last night on 10/7/07 at 6:30 p.m. I tried taking photos without the flash also, but they ended up being shaky and not as focused.




(This is late because of computer trouble I was having yesterday). Thanks!

1st photo

This is a photo of Robin, Hana and Anna after soccer practice on 9/26/07.

Dorothea Lange

After looking at some work from various photographers, I am interested in Dorothea Lange's photography. Dorothea Lange lived from 1895 to 1965. I like her photographs because they seem to focus on the ordinary. It seems, after looking through some of her work, she has empathy for her subjects. Her photographs don't seem to be staged or set up. They are of opportunity and real events happening. Here is a sample work of Dorothea's, which is quite famous. It is called "Migrant Mother," a photo of a woman in raggedy clothing with three small children:

How a CCD (Charged Couple Device) Works

A CCD works in this way:
- Light, or photons, travels through a lens and strikes the CCD.
- The photons strike an atom, freeing electrons which accumulate in capacitors.
- The circuit at the bottom of the array measures the voltage of each element in the last row of the capacitors and clears the information.
- The remaining rows pass information, or electrons, to the row below which is in turn read. This is repeated until all rows are read.

What I know now

I know some things about cameras, but there is still much more I need to know.

I Know:
- cameras need a lens, shutter, light-tight box and something to record the images
- there are many different kinds of cameras
- cameras can use film or be digital
- Not all cameras have batteries

I wonder:

- Does a film camera or digital camera produce better final products?
- How to attachable lenses make a difference?
- How long does a shutter stay open on most cameras?
- Why does the shutter need to be open for so long on a pinhole camera compared to other cameras?

Another Camera

The next camera we looked at was this camera. It is a film camera, unlike the last one which was a digital camera (in pieces). Here are some more pictures of this big camera:

Putting together this broken camera

We were first given the task to identify the different parts of a broken camera (of many parts). This is a photo of the box of "junk" we were given:


The small square in the middle of this photo is the equivalent of the photo paper in our pinhole cameras. It collects the image then stores it in the complex looking green shape:


This photo is piece is the equivalent of our pinhole (it is the lens):



Finally, these pieces connect to create a light-tight box:

Take a Picture: My pinhole camera

This has been quite an experience. Beginning digital studios, I never thought that we may would be making our own cameras. We did this to see the concept of how a camera works, so we know some background information of how a more complicated camera works.

A pinhole camera is a very simple camera. There is a light tight box with a very small hole at one end. On the opposite inside "wall" of the box is either a piece of film or photo paper. The small hole is covered until the picture is to be taken. When the hole is uncovered, an image is displayed, essentially "flipped." The photo paper absorbs the light and produces (when developed) a negative image. It is important to transfer the paper in and out of the camera without exposing it to any light.

Materials

- small cardboard box
- black paper
- scissors
- scotch tape
- pin or tack
- black electrical tape
- photographic paper
- access to a dark room
- utility (exacto) knife

Instructions:

1. Open the card board box and cover inside with black paper, attaching with scotch tape. Note: If you are taping so the tape will remain exposed in the box, use the black electrical tape instead of scotch tape.
2. Using the knife, cut a 2" circular or square section from the middle of one of the short sides of the box. Make sure to cut all the way through the paper also, and remove the cut-out.
3. Cover the entire hole (you just cut) with a piece of tinfoil on the outside of the box. Tape it down with the scotch tape.
4. There are two long flaps and two short flaps on the top of the box. Cut the back (opposite of tinfoil and hole) 1/3 of the two long flaps off. The front 2/3 of the box should not change. On the bag 1/3, only the short flap should remain. Lift it up so it is above the other parts flaps of the box.
5. Fold the top of the box back down (front 2/3) taping it completely shut (excluding the back third).
5. Attach a small loop of scotch tape to the middle of the inside back wall of the box.
6. Attach strips of tape to the top of the back flap so it will stay tightly shut to on the box when you press it, but can also come up.
7. Finally, in the middle of the tinfoil, poke the pin through and remove it, leaving a small pinhole.

To load the camera:
- Bring into the dark room with you a piece of photographic paper thoroughly wrapped in tinfoil so no light can get in, and your camera.
- Once in the dark room, turn on the red light if there is one.
- Unwrap the photo paper.
- Open your camera (the flap at the top of the box).
- Stick the photo paper to the back inside wall of the box on the loop of tape ( with the shiny side out). Make sure the paper is flat against the box, not at even a slight
- Close the box, and tape it completely shut (so that it is light-tight).

Now take some pictures:
Place the camera on a flat surface, aiming at the object you are photographing.
Our camera worked best with bright indoor light, with an exposure time of 3 and 1/2 minutes. Feel free to experiment with what conditions work best for you!


Overall...
This project went fairly well overall. We began and were not exactly sure what box to use for our camera. We ended up finding one after we went dumpster diving, and it turned out a very good box. We worked well together as a group. We could have researched exposure times more. Also, we should have gotten the photopaper to lie completely flat at the back of the box, because ours may have been at a slight angle.
We were, however, the only team to actually get a photo to work, which I am very proud of. And here...is our pinhole camera:

Pinhole Camera

We are going to make a pinhole camera. It is going to be made of a shoe box box, aluminum foil, photographic paper, piece of cardboard. First we open the shoe box, and towards th back of it, tape a thin cardboard track on the bottom and top of the box 1 mm away from the back. On the side of the box, we make a slit that will line up between the back of the box and the track, 1 cm thick and as tall as the photo paper. Then we make a 1 inch hole on the opposite edge of the box, and on the inside of it, tape a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover it. Next, in the middle of the piece of foil, we will make small pinhole. The photo paper will be slid in through the slit, while being covered by a slice of cardboard. the paper will be slid into the rack, and stay in until the photo is taken, then slid back out.

We are all going to bring the needed supplies, and assemble the camera together.

Carrie, Myca, Megan

Digital Studios-Sept. 5

In this class, I would like to really advance my knowledge about
photography. This to me would include how to capture images with the
best techniques. For example, I would like to learn how close to zoom
in on subjects to get certain effects, along with how to photograph
silhouettes, and how to take into account shadows and lighting. I want
to become familar with how to edit photos and use effects on the
computer. Thanks.