Photography Blog Post #7 - Mastering Photoshop Tools, Layer Blend Modes and Text Effects

September has come and gone and we have taken our second break from our field assignments to focus on some more creative elements you can add to your photography by using Photoshop. This week you will complete two photoshop tutorials. The first one gives you an opportunity to take an image and use Photoshop to flip, rotate and mirror designs and patterns. The second assignments allows you to add a transparent text area to an image . You can complete this weeks blog as 1 posting but please make sure you include a before and after photo highlighting the effects you used in Photoshop. In addition, before completing your blog today, please take a moment to complete this short Google Form in preparation for next weeks 1st mentor meeting: https://goo.gl/4i2ioi

Add a Transparent Text Area to an Image in Photoshop

• Post your original image(s) and your adjusted image for this assignment.  Please discuss the following in detail:
• Discuss the process you took to complete this Photoshop tutorial.
• What do you like about the final image and the text effect? Does this seem like a neat tool to you? Why or why not? Lastly, what did you think of this project? Easy, challenging? Would you be able to use this for any photographs you have for either personal or academic use?

Take an Image and Use Photoshop to Flip, Rotate and Mirror Designs and Patterns

• Post your original image and adjusted image for this assignment
• Please discuss the following in detail
• Discuss the different tools you used to complete this effect.  Be specific.  Be sure to also discuss the layer blend modes you applied at the end of the tutorial and the effects you noticed as you applied them.
• What did you think of your final product in comparison to your original image?
• How could the tools learned to complete this project be used again for a project of your choice?  Could you envision using these tools for a school project you have done in the past?  Have coming up this year?  For a personal project?
• Given the newest skills you learned this week, how are you enjoying our photography and Photoshop unit? What has been your favorite part to date?  What are some skills or tools you would still like to learn more about?  Please take a little time and elaborate on this.

Photography Blog Post #6 - White Balance

You are really learning all the tools of the camera aren't you ... well, not really - there's a long way to go but you are learning about some of the most important adjustments you can make on your camera so that you can truly take unique, one of a kind, photos!! That's honestly, pretty awesome!! This week we learned about white balance and why we need to be good about telling our camera what color the light we are shooting in is. For today's blog:

• Please post your Photoshop Assignment
• Discuss White Balance. What did you notice about the different settings you used this week and how did each setting specifically affect the color of the image you took.
• Do you notice a significant difference between the images you took with different WB settings? Having completed this assignment does it seem important to adjust these settings or not particularly?
• Discuss whether you think the best photo taken for each subject was the one that aligned best. For example, if you took a picture of a flower on a bright sunny day, did it look best under the "Daylight" setting or did you think it actually ended up looking better using a different setting?
• Discuss what you enjoyed about this assignment? Were there any challenges you faced? What could you have done, if anything, to make the process go smoother.

Thank you!

Photography Blog Post #5 - Shutter Speed

This week you had the opportunity to learn about and experience what various shutter speeds can do for your photography!  Shutter speed is another amazing tool you can use to create incredible images and gives you the specific power to freeze motion or show motion with your photography!!  For today's blog, please complete the following:

• Post your completed Photoshop assignment
• Respond to the following questions:
• Explain to your readers what shutter speed is/does.  Be sure to explain it clearly and discuss how your images above demonstrate the different shutter speeds you used.
• Explain how you would show motion and how you would freeze motion.  This is a good opportunity for you to discuss what slower shutter speeds can do for you and what faster shutter speeds can do for you.
• Discuss a few situations where you would definitely want to use a slower shutter speed and show movement in your photography.  Discuss a few situations where you would definitely want to use a faster shutter speed to freeze movement in your photography.  At minimum, you should discuss 2 examples of each.  Be sure to also discuss how shutter speed can affect your audiences perception about what is going on in the image.
• Lastly, discuss your experience this week with our assignment.  Did you enjoy the assignment?  Did you face any challenges?  What were they?  What did you enjoy about the assignment.

Thank you!!

Photography Blog Post #3 & #4 - Mastering Photoshop Filters and Layer Blend Modes

Week 3 has come and we are taking a brief break from our field assignments to focus on some of the creative elements you can add to your photography by using Photoshop. This week you will complete two assignments. The first one gives you an opportunity to take an image and use Photoshop to create a watercolor painting effect. The second assignments allows you to take another image along with a texture of your choice and learn how to blend your chosen textures with your photo in Photoshop.  For this weeks blog there are two parts, please complete them as 2 separate postings!

Watercolor Painting Effect

• Post your original image and adjusted image for the watercolor painting effect assignment
• Please discuss the following in detail:
• Discuss the different filters you used to complete this Watercolor Painting Effect.  Be specific and, as much as possible, discuss what each of the filters you used accomplished.
• What did you think of your final product in comparison to your original image?
• Discuss an image you would like to take and how adding a water color painting effect would either enhance the original image or detract from it.  Does this seem like a tool you would like to use again with your own work?
• What is your impression of Photoshop and what have you liked about working with it to date?  You should include 3 things you think are "neat" about working with the program.

How to Blend Textures with Photos in Photoshop

• Post your original image(s) and your adjusted image for the blending textures with your photo assignment.
• Please discuss the following in detail:
• Discuss the layer blend modes and what that does to your original images.
• Discuss the different blend modes and how they affected the look of your image - be sure to address the Normal, Dissolve, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Soft Light, and Hard Light blend modes and the effect they had on your image.
• Which Blend mode did you ultimately choose to use?  What did you particularly like about this blend mode?
• What does the desaturate command do for your image and did you like the outcome? What about inverting the texture, hue/saturation, Gaussian blur, etc?
• What do you like about the final image and its effect?  What do you not like?  Does this seem like a neat tool to you? Why or why not?  Lastly, what did you think of this project? Easy, challenging? Would you be able to use this for any photographs you have or would take?

Academy Community Building Trip

Oh my!  What a week!!  I can't believe this is my first day on campus since LAST Friday!  I will say though, even though it was hard to be away, this week demonstrated the power of this program!  Tuesday I visited Hidden Villa Farm with the Sophomores.  We spent the day developing community, building trust and participating in a wide range of activities including a small hike (nothing like the one you guys did) through the farm itself and into the hills.  For our Sophomores, naturally the goal was for them to get to know each other.  You guys, however, already know each other.  Wednesday, in my opinion, was amazing!  We were dropped on Ocean Beach looking over the Pacific Ocean before hiking 5 miles up and down and along the coast through million dollar neighborhoods, on Baker Beach and eventually under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge!  Although challenging at times, the friendly encouragement was nice to see and overall people had positive attitudes from start to finish as we confronted the challenge at hand (even when it seemed like the hike might never end!  Finally, yesterday I witnessed what happens after 2 full years together in the Academy.  Our senior beach day showed the camaraderie that our students have developed as the participated in our 1st annual Academy Olympics, ran along the beach/in the ocean and played some highly competitive teacher vs. student volleyball!  Honestly, looking back on the last three days, they were fantastic!

Today I would like you to take a few minutes and reflect on your activity.  Below are a few questions you can answer, however, feel free to also include any other thoughts/feelings that come to mind.

• For your reader, please describe (objectively) the activity from Wednesday in a few sentences.
• What was the goal of the trip?  Be specific and elaborate,  Do you feel the goal was accomplished?  Explain why or why not?
• Thinking back on the day, how would you rate your participation?  How do you think your level of participation alone can help you succeed at M-A and in life in general?
• What was your favorite aspect of the hike in San Francisco?  Talk about a favorite moment in detail.
• What are three things you would say you learned about yourself or your classmates during Wednesday's activities?  
• Restate your goals for this school year and how you plan to accomplish them - what in the world would our activity have anything to do with you accomplishing your goals for the year?
• Having had a day to recover, what, if anything, would you have changed about our hike in San Francisco?  What do you think would make a successful "community building" day if it weren't a hike?

Again, above are a series of question you can/should respond to but feel free to add any additional comments about your experience.  Thank you for a thorough and thoughtful response.